Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Emergent generalized symmetries in ordered phases and applications to quantum disordering

  Salvatore D. Pace

  SciPost Phys. 17, 080 (2024) · published 13 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We explore the rich landscape of higher-form and non-invertible symmetries that emerge at low energies in generic ordered phases. Using that their charge is carried by homotopy defects (i.e., domain walls, vortices, hedgehogs, etc.), in the absence of domain walls we find that their symmetry defects in $D$-dimensional spacetime are described by $(D-1)$-representations of a $(D-1)$-group that depends only on the spontaneous symmetry-breaking (SSB) pattern of the ordered phase. These emergent symmetries are not spontaneously broken in the ordered phase. We show that spontaneously breaking them induces a phase transition into a nontrivial disordered phase that can have symmetry-enriched (non-)Abelian topological orders, photons, and even more emergent symmetries. This SSB transition is between two distinct SSB phases--an ordinary and a generalized one--making it a possible generalized deconfined quantum critical point. We also investigate the 't Hooft anomalies of these emergent symmetries and conjecture that there is always a mixed anomaly between them and the microscopic symmetry spontaneously broken in the ordered phase. One way this anomaly can manifest is through the fractionalization of the microscopic symmetry's quantum numbers. Our results demonstrate that even the most exotic generalized symmetries emerge in ordinary phases and provide a valuable framework for characterizing them and their transitions.

  18 citations

• Localization and fractality in disordered Russian Doll model

  Vedant R. Motamarri, Alexander S. Gorsky, Ivan M. Khaymovich

  SciPost Phys. 13, 117 (2022) · published 24 November 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Motivated by the interplay of Bethe-Ansatz integrability and localization in the Richardson model of superconductivity, we consider a time-reversal symmetry breaking deformation of this model, known as the Russian Doll Model (RDM), and implement diagonal on-site disorder. The localization and ergodicity-breaking properties of the single-particle spectrum are analyzed using a large-energy renormalization group (RG) over the momentum-space spectrum. Based on the above RG, we derive an effective Hamiltonian of the model, discover a fractal phase of non-ergodic delocalized states -- with the fractal dimension different from the paradigmatic Rosenzweig-Porter model -- and explain it in terms of the developed RG equations and the matrix-inversion trick.

  18 citations

• A degeneracy bound for homogeneous topological order

  Jeongwan Haah

  SciPost Phys. 10, 011 (2021) · published 20 January 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We introduce a notion of homogeneous topological order, which is obeyed by most, if not all, known examples of topological order including fracton phases on quantum spins (qudits). The notion is a condition on the ground state subspace, rather than on the Hamiltonian, and demands that given a collection of ball-like regions, any linear transformation on the ground space be realized by an operator that avoids the ball-like regions. We derive a bound on the ground state degeneracy $\mathcal D$ for systems with homogeneous topological order on an arbitrary closed Riemannian manifold of dimension $d$, which reads \[ \log \mathcal D \le c \mu (L/a)^{d-2}.\] Here, $L$ is the diameter of the system, $a$ is the lattice spacing, and $c$ is a constant that only depends on the isometry class of the manifold, and $\mu$ is a constant that only depends on the density of degrees of freedom. If $d=2$, the constant $c$ is the (demi)genus of the space manifold. This bound is saturated up to constants by known examples.

  18 citations

• Coupling quantum corrals to form artificial molecules

  Saoirsé E. Freeney, Samuel T. P. Borman,Jacob W. Harteveld, Ingmar Swart

  SciPost Phys. 9, 085 (2020) · published 10 December 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quantum corrals can be considered as artificial atoms. By coupling many quantum corrals together, artificial matter can be created at will. The atomic scale precision with which the quantum corrals can be made grants the ability to tune parameters that are difficult to control in real materials, such as the symmetry of the states that couple, the on-site energy of these states, the hopping strength and the magnitude of the orbital overlap. Here, we systematically investigate the accessible parameter space for the dominant platform (CO molecules on Cu(111)) by constructing (coupled) quantum corrals of different sizes and shapes. By changing the configuration of the CO molecules that constitute the barrier between two quantum corrals, the hopping integral can be tuned between 0 and -0.3 eV for s- and p-like states, respectively. Incorporation of orbital overlap is essential to account for the experimental observations. Our results aid the design of future artificial lattices.

  18 citations

• Honeycomb rare-earth magnets with anisotropic exchange interactions

  Zhu-Xi Luo, Gang Chen

  SciPost Phys. Core 3, 004 (2020) · published 4 September 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the rare-earth magnets on a honeycomb lattice, and are particularly interested in the experimental consequences of the highly anisotropic spin interaction due to the spin-orbit entanglement. We perform a high-temperature series expansion using a generic nearest-neighbor Hamiltonian with anisotropic interactions, and obtain the heat capacity, the parallel and perpendicular spin susceptibilities, and the magnetic torque coefficients. We further examine the electron spin resonance linewidth as an important signature of the anisotropic spin interactions. Due to the small interaction energy scale of the rare-earth moments, it is experimentally feasible to realize the strong-field regime. Therefore, we perform the spin-wave analysis and study the possibility of topological magnons when a strong field is applied to the system. The application and relevance to the rare-earth Kitaev materials are discussed.

  18 citations

• Linearized regime of the generalized hydrodynamics with diffusion

  Miłosz Panfil, Jacek Pawełczyk

  SciPost Phys. Core 1, 002 (2019) · published 22 November 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the generalized hydrodynamics including the recently introduced diffusion term for an initially inhomogeneous state in the Lieb-Liniger model. We construct a general solution to the linearized hydrodynamics equation in terms of the eigenstates of the evolution operator and study two prototypical classes of initial states: delocalized and localized spatially. We exhibit some general features of the resulting dynamics, among them, we highlight the difference between the ballistic and diffusive evolution. The first one governs a spatial scrambling, the second, a scrambling of the quasi-particles content. We also go one step beyond the linear regime and discuss the evolution of the zero momentum mode that does not evolve in the linear regime.

  18 citations

• Quantum Gutzwiller approach for the two-component Bose-Hubbard model

  Victor E. Colussi, Fabio Caleffi, Chiara Menotti, Alessio Recati

  SciPost Phys. 12, 111 (2022) · published 29 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the effects of quantum fluctuations in the two-component Bose-Hubbard model generalizing to mixtures the quantum Gutzwiller approach introduced recently in [Phys. Rev. Research 2, 033276 (2020)]. As a basis for our study, we analyze the mean-field ground-state phase diagram and spectrum of elementary excitations, with particular emphasis on the quantum phase transitions of the model. Within the quantum critical regimes, we address both the superfluid transport properties and the linear response dynamics to density and spin probes of direct experimental relevance. Crucially, we find that quantum fluctuations have a dramatic effect on the drag between the superfluid species of the system, particularly in the vicinity of the paired and antipaired phases absent in the usual one-component Bose-Hubbard model. Additionally, we analyse the contributions of quantum corrections to the one-body coherence and density/spin fluctuations from the perspective of the collective modes of the system, providing results for the few-body correlations in all the regimes of the phase diagram.

  17 citations

• Multipole theory of optical spatial dispersion in crystals

  Óscar Pozo Ocaña, Ivo Souza

  SciPost Phys. 14, 118 (2023) · published 17 May 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Natural optical activity is the paradigmatic example of an effect originating in the weak spatial inhomogeneity of the electromagnetic field on the atomic scale. In molecules, such effects are well described by the multipole theory of electromagnetism, where the coupling to light is treated semiclassically beyond the electric-dipole approximation. That theory has two shortcomings: it is limited to bounded systems, and its building blocks -the multipole transition moments- are origin dependent. In this work, we recast the multipole theory in a translationally-invariant form that remains valid for crystals. Working in the independent-particle approximation, we introduce "intrinsic" multipole transition moments that are origin independent and transform covariantly under gauge transformations of the Bloch eigenstates. Electric-dipole transitions are given by the interband Berry connection, while magnetic-dipole and electric-quadrupole transitions are described by matrix generalizations of the intrinsic magnetic moment and quantum metric. In addition to multipole-like terms, the response of crystals at first order in the wavevector of light contains band-dispersion terms that have no counterpart in molecular theories. The full response is broken down into magnetoelectric and quadrupolar parts, which can be isolated in the static limit where electric and magnetic fields become decoupled. The rotatory-strength sum rule for crystals is found to be equivalent to the topological constraint for a vanishing chiral magnetic effect in equilibrium, and the formalism is validated by numerical tight-binding calculations.

  17 citations

• Diagnosing weakly first-order phase transitions by coupling to order parameters

  Jonathan D'Emidio, Alexander A. Eberharter, Andreas M. Läuchli

  SciPost Phys. 15, 061 (2023) · published 14 August 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The hunt for exotic quantum phase transitions described by emergent fractionalized degrees of freedom coupled to gauge fields requires a precise determination of the fixed point structure from the field theoretical side, and an extreme sensitivity to weak first-order transitions from the numerical side. Addressing the latter, we revive the classic definition of the order parameter in the limit of a vanishing external field at the transition. We demonstrate that this widely understood, yet so far unused approach provides a diagnostic test for first-order versus continuous behavior that is distinctly more sensitive than current methods. We first apply it to the family of $Q$-state Potts models, where the nature of the transition is continuous for $Q\leq4$ and turns (weakly) first order for $Q>4$, using an infinite system matrix product state implementation. We then employ this new approach to address the unsettled question of deconfined quantum criticality in the $S=1/2$ Néel to valence bond solid transition in two dimensions, focusing on the square lattice $J$-$Q$ model. Our quantum Monte Carlo simulations reveal that both order parameters remain finite at the transition, directly confirming a first-order scenario with wide reaching implications in condensed matter and quantum field theory.

  17 citations

• Perturbative and nonperturbative studies of CFTs with MN global symmetry

  Johan Henriksson, Andreas Stergiou

  SciPost Phys. 11, 015 (2021) · published 16 July 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Fixed points in three dimensions described by conformal field theories with $MN_{m,n}= O(m)^n\rtimes S_n$ global symmetry have extensive applications in critical phenomena. Associated experimental data for $m=n=2$ suggest the existence of two non-trivial fixed points, while the $\varepsilon$ expansion predicts only one, resulting in a puzzling state of affairs. A recent numerical conformal bootstrap study has found two kinks for small values of the parameters $m$ and $n$, with critical exponents in good agreement with experimental determinations in the $m=n=2$ case. In this paper we investigate the fate of the corresponding fixed points as we vary the parameters $m$ and $n$. We find that one family of kinks approaches a perturbative limit as $m$ increases, and using large spin perturbation theory we construct a large $m$ expansion that fits well with the numerical data. This new expansion, akin to the large $N$ expansion of critical $O(N)$ models, is compatible with the fixed point found in the $\varepsilon$ expansion. For the other family of kinks, we find that it persists only for $n=2$, where for large $m$ it approaches a non-perturbative limit with $\Delta_\phi\approx 0.75$. We investigate the spectrum in the case $MN_{100,2}$ and find consistency with expectations from the lightcone bootstrap.

  17 citations