Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Non-unitary dynamics of Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev chain

  Chunxiao Liu, Pengfei Zhang, Xiao Chen

  SciPost Phys. 10, 048 (2021) · published 23 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We construct a series of one-dimensional non-unitary dynamics consisting of both unitary and imaginary evolutions based on the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model. Starting from a short-range entangled state, we analyze the entanglement dynamics using the path integral formalism in the large $N$ limit. Among all the results that we obtain, two of them are particularly interesting: (1) By varying the strength of the imaginary evolution, the interacting model exhibits a first order phase transition from the highly entangled volume law phase to an area law phase; (2) The one-dimensional free fermion model displays an extensive critical regime with emergent two-dimensional conformal symmetry.

  36 citations

• Navigator function for the conformal bootstrap

  Marten Reehorst, Slava Rychkov, David Simmons-Duffin, Benoit Sirois, Ning Su, Balt van Rees

  SciPost Phys. 11, 072 (2021) · published 28 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Current numerical conformal bootstrap techniques carve out islands in theory space by repeatedly checking whether points are allowed or excluded. We propose a new method for searching theory space that replaces the binary information “allowed”/“excluded” with a continuous “navigator” function that is negative in the allowed region and positive in the excluded region. Such a navigator function allows one to efficiently explore high-dimensional parameter spaces and smoothly sail towards any islands they may contain. The specific functions we introduce have several attractive features: they are well-defined in large regions of parameter space, can be computed with standard methods, and evaluation of their gradient is immediate due to an SDP gradient formula that we provide. The latter property allows for the use of efficient quasi-Newton optimization methods, which we illustrate by navigating towards the 3d Ising island.

  36 citations

• Pivot Hamiltonians as generators of symmetry and entanglement

  Nathanan Tantivasadakarn, Ryan Thorngren, Ashvin Vishwanath, Ruben Verresen

  SciPost Phys. 14, 012 (2023) · published 2 February 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  It is well-known that symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases can be obtained from the trivial phase by an entangler, a finite-depth unitary operator $U$. Here, we consider obtaining the entangler from a local 'pivot' Hamiltonian $H_\text{pivot}$ such that $U = e^{i\pi H_\text{pivot}}$. This perspective of Hamiltonians pivoting between the trivial and SPT phase opens up two new directions: (i) Since SPT Hamiltonians and entanglers are now on the same footing, can we iterate this process to create other interesting states? (ii) Since entanglers are known to arise as discrete symmetries at SPT transitions, under what conditions can this be enhanced to $U(1)$ pivot symmetry generated by $H_\text{pivot}$? In this work we explore both of these questions. With regard to the first, we give examples of a rich web of dualities obtained by iteratively using an SPT model as a pivot to generate the next one. For the second question, we derive a simple criterion for when the direct interpolation between the trivial and SPT Hamiltonian has a $U(1)$ pivot symmetry. We illustrate this in a variety of examples, assuming various forms for $H_\text{pivot}$, including the Ising chain, and the toric code Hamiltonian. A remarkable property of such a $U(1)$ pivot symmetry is that it shares a mutual anomaly with the symmetry protecting the nearby SPT phase. We discuss how such anomalous and non-onsite $U(1)$ symmetries explain the exotic phase diagrams that can appear, including an SPT multicritical point where the gapless ground state is given by the fixed-point toric code state.

  35 citations

• Universal bounds on transport in holographic systems with broken translations

  Matteo Baggioli, Wei-Jia Li

  SciPost Phys. 9, 007 (2020) · published 15 July 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the presence of universal bounds on transport in homogeneous holographic models with broken translations. We verify numerically that, in holographic systems with momentum dissipation, the viscosity to entropy bound might be violated but the shear diffusion constant remains bounded by below. This confirms the idea that $\eta/s$ loses its privileged role in non-relativistic systems and that, in order to find more universal bounds, one should rather look at diffusion constants. We strengthen this idea by showing that, in presence of spontaneously broken translations, the Goldstone diffusion constant satisfies a universal lower bound in terms of the Planckian relaxation time and the butterfly velocity. Additionally, all the diffusive processes in the model satisfy an upper bound, imposed by causality, which is given in terms of the thermalization time -- the imaginary part of the first non-hydrodynamic mode in the spectrum -- and the speed of longitudinal sound. Finally, we discuss the existence of a bound on the speed of sound in holographic conformal solids and we show that the conformal value acts as a lower (and not upper) bound on the speed of longitudinal phonons. Nevertheless, we show that the stiffness $\partial p/\partial \epsilon$ is still bounded by above by its conformal value. This suggests that the bounds conjectured in the past have to be considered on the stiffness of the system, related to its equation of state, and not on the propagation speed of sound.

  35 citations

• Probabilistic theories and reconstructions of quantum theory

  Markus P. Müller

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 28 (2021) · published 31 March 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  These lecture notes provide a basic introduction to the framework of generalized probabilistic theories (GPTs) and a sketch of a reconstruction of quantum theory (QT) from simple operational principles. To build some intuition for how physics could be even more general than quantum, I present two conceivable phenomena beyond QT: superstrong nonlocality and higher-order interference. Then I introduce the framework of GPTs, generalizing both quantum and classical probability theory. Finally, I summarize a reconstruction of QT from the principles of Tomographic Locality, Continuous Reversibility, and the Subspace Axiom. In particular, I show why a quantum bit is described by a Bloch ball, why it is three-dimensional, and how one obtains the complex numbers and operators of the usual representation of QT.

  35 citations

• Bootstrapping mixed correlators in three-dimensional cubic theories

  Stefanos R. Kousvos, Andreas Stergiou

  SciPost Phys. 6, 035 (2019) · published 21 March 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Three-dimensional theories with cubic symmetry are studied using the machinery of the numerical conformal bootstrap. Crossing symmetry and unitarity are imposed on a set of mixed correlators, and various aspects of the parameter space are probed for consistency. An isolated allowed region in parameter space is found under certain assumptions involving pushing operator dimensions above marginality, indicating the existence of a conformal field theory in this region. The obtained results have possible applications for ferromagnetic phase transitions as well as structural phase transitions in crystals. They are in tension with previous $\varepsilon$ expansion results, as noticed already in earlier work.

  35 citations

• New sensitivity of current LHC measurements to vector-like quarks

  Andy Buckley, Jonathan M. Butterworth, Louie Corpe, Danping Huang, Puwen Sun

  SciPost Phys. 9, 069 (2020) · published 11 November 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quark partners with non-chiral couplings appear in several extensions of the Standard Model. They may have non-trivial generational structure to their couplings, and may be produced either in pairs via the strong and EM interactions, or singly via the new couplings of the model. Their decays often produce heavy quarks and gauge bosons, which will contribute to a variety of already-measured "Standard Model" cross-sections at the LHC. We present a study of the sensitivity of such published LHC measurements to vector-like quarks, first comparing to limits already obtained from dedicated searches, and then broadening to some so-far unstudied parameter regions.

  35 citations

• Branch Point Twist Field Form Factors in the sine-Gordon Model II: Composite Twist Fields and Symmetry Resolved Entanglement

  David X. Horvath, Pasquale Calabrese, Olalla A. Castro-Alvaredo

  SciPost Phys. 12, 088 (2022) · published 10 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In this paper we continue the programme initiated in Part I, that is the study of entanglement measures in the sine-Gordon model. In both parts, we have focussed on one specific technique, that is the well-known connection between branch point twist field correlators and measures of entanglement in 1+1D integrable quantum field theory. Our papers apply this technique for the first time to a non-diagonal theory with an involved particle spectrum, the sine-Gordon model. In this Part II we focus on a different entanglement measure, the symmetry resolved entanglement, and develop its associated twist field description, exploiting the underlying U(1) symmetry of the theory. In this context, conventional branch point twist fields are no longer the fields required, but instead we must work with one of their composite generalisations, which can be understood as the field resulting from the fusion of a standard branch point twist field and the sine-Gordon exponential field associated with U(1) symmetry. The resulting composite twist field has correlators which as usual admit a form factor expansion. In this paper we write the associated form factor equations and solve them for various examples in the breather sector by using the method of angular quantisation. We show that, in the attractive regime, this is the sector which provides the leading contribution to the symmetry resolved entropies, both Renyi and von Neumann. We compute the latter in the limit of a large region size and show that they satisfy the property of equipartition, that is the leading contribution to the symmetry resolved entanglement is independent of the symmetry sector.

  35 citations

• Carroll black holes

  Florian Ecker, Daniel Grumiller, Jelle Hartong, Alfredo Pérez, Stefan Prohazka, Ricardo Troncoso

  SciPost Phys. 15, 245 (2023) · published 19 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Despite the absence of a lightcone structure, some solutions of Carroll gravity show black hole-like behaviour. We define Carroll black holes as solutions of Carroll gravity that exhibit Carroll thermal properties and have a Carroll extremal surface, notions introduced in our work. The latter is a Carroll analogue of a Lorentzian extremal surface. As examples, we discuss the Carroll versions of Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordström, and BTZ black holes and black hole solutions of generic 1+1 dimensional Carroll dilaton gravity, including Carroll JT and Carroll Witten black holes.

  35 citations

• Relating the topology of Dirac Hamiltonians to quantum geometry: When the quantum metric dictates Chern numbers and winding numbers

  Bruno Mera, Anwei Zhang, Nathan Goldman

  SciPost Phys. 12, 018 (2022) · published 12 January 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quantum geometry has emerged as a central and ubiquitous concept in quantum sciences, with direct consequences on quantum metrology and many-body quantum physics. In this context, two fundamental geometric quantities are known to play complementary roles: the Fubini-Study metric, which introduces a notion of distance between quantum states defined over a parameter space, and the Berry curvature associated with Berry-phase effects and topological band structures. In fact, recent studies have revealed direct relations between these two important quantities, suggesting that topological properties can, in special cases, be deduced from the quantum metric. In this work, we establish general and exact relations between the quantum metric and the topological invariants of generic Dirac Hamiltonians. In particular, we demonstrate that topological indices (Chern numbers or winding numbers) are bounded by the quantum volume determined by the quantum metric. Our theoretical framework, which builds on the Clifford algebra of Dirac matrices, is applicable to topological insulators and semimetals of arbitrary spatial dimensions, with or without chiral symmetry. This work clarifies the role of the Fubini-Study metric in topological states of matter, suggesting unexplored topological responses and metrological applications in a broad class of quantum-engineered systems.

  35 citations