Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Bosonic and fermionic Gaussian states from Kähler structures

  Lucas Hackl, Eugenio Bianchi

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 025 (2021) · published 22 September 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that bosonic and fermionic Gaussian states (also known as "squeezed coherent states") can be uniquely characterized by their linear complex structure $J$ which is a linear map on the classical phase space. This extends conventional Gaussian methods based on covariance matrices and provides a unified framework to treat bosons and fermions simultaneously. Pure Gaussian states can be identified with the triple $(G,\Omega,J)$ of compatible K\"ahler structures, consisting of a positive definite metric $G$, a symplectic form $\Omega$ and a linear complex structure $J$ with $J^2=-1\!\!1$. Mixed Gaussian states can also be identified with such a triple, but with $J^2\neq -1\!\!1$. We apply these methods to show how computations involving Gaussian states can be reduced to algebraic operations of these objects, leading to many known and some unknown identities. We apply these methods to the study of (A) entanglement and complexity, (B) dynamics of stable systems, (C) dynamics of driven systems. From this, we compile a comprehensive list of mathematical structures and formulas to compare bosonic and fermionic Gaussian states side-by-side.

  23 citations

• Dark matter in anomaly-free gauge extensions

  Martin Bauer, Sascha Diefenbacher, Tilman Plehn, Michael Russell, Daniel A. Camargo

  SciPost Phys. 5, 036 (2018) · published 19 October 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A consistent model for vector mediators to dark matter needs to be anomaly-free and include a scalar mode from mass generation. For the leading U(1) extensions we review the structure and constraints, including kinetic mixing at loop level. The thermal relic density suggests that the vector and scalar masses are similar. For the LHC we combine a $Z'$ shape analysis with mono-jets. For the latter, we find that a shape analysis offers significant improvement over existing cut-and-count approaches. Direct detection limits strongly constrain the kinetic mixing angle and we propose a $\ell^+\ell^- E_T$ search strategy based on the scalar mediator.

  22 citations

• (Non) equilibrium dynamics: a (broken) symmetry of the Keldysh generating functional

  Camille Aron, Giulio Biroli, Leticia F. Cugliandolo

  SciPost Phys. 4, 008 (2018) · published 31 January 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We unveil the universal (model-independent) symmetry satisfied by Schwinger-Keldysh quantum field theories whenever they describe equilibrium dynamics. This is made possible by a generalization of the Schwinger-Keldysh path-integral formalism in which the physical time can be re-parametrized to arbitrary contours in the complex plane. Strong relations between correlation functions, such as the fluctuation-dissipation theorems, are derived as immediate consequences of this symmetry of equilibrium. In this view, quantum non-equilibrium dynamics -- e.g. when driving with a time-dependent potential -- are seen as symmetry-breaking processes. The symmetry-breaking terms of the action are identified as a measure of irreversibility, or entropy creation, defined at the level of a single quantum trajectory. Moreover, they are shown to obey quantum fluctuation theorems. These results extend stochastic thermodynamics to the quantum realm.

  22 citations

• Selection rules for the S-Matrix bootstrap

  Anjishnu Bose, Aninda Sinha, Shaswat S Tiwari

  SciPost Phys. 10, 122 (2021) · published 31 May 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We examine the space of allowed S-matrices on the Adler zeros' plane using the recently resurrected (numerical) S-matrix bootstrap program for pion scattering. Two physical quantities, an averaged total scattering cross-section, and an averaged entanglement power for the boundary S-matrices, are studied. Emerging linearity in the leading Regge trajectory is correlated with a reduction in both these quantities. We identify two potentially viable regions where the S-matrices give decent agreement with low energy S- and P-wave scattering lengths and have leading Regge trajectory compatible with experiments. We also study the line of minimum averaged total cross section in the Adler zeros' plane. The Lovelace-Shapiro model, which was a precursor to modern string theory, is given by a straight line in the Adler zeros' plane and, quite remarkably, we find that this line intersects the space of allowed S-matrices near both these regions.

  22 citations

• Quark formation and phenomenology in binary neutron-star mergers using V-QCD

  Samuel Tootle, Christian Ecker, Konrad Topolski, Tuna Demircik, Matti Järvinen, Luciano Rezzolla

  SciPost Phys. 13, 109 (2022) · published 16 November 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Using full 3+1 dimensional general-relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of equal- and unequal-mass neutron-star binaries with properties that are consistent with those inferred from the inspiral of GW170817, we perform a detailed study of the quark-formation processes that could take place after merger. We use three equations of state consistent with current pulsar observations derived from a novel finite-temperature framework based on V-QCD, a non-perturbative gauge/gravity model for Quantum Chromodynamics. In this way, we identify three different post-merger stages at which mixed baryonic and quark matter, as well as pure quark matter, are generated. A phase transition triggered collapse already $\lesssim 10\,\rm{ms}$ after the merger reveals that the softest version of our equations of state is actually inconsistent with the expected second-long post-merger lifetime of GW170817. Our results underline the impact that gravitational wave observations of binary neutron-star mergers can have in constraining the equation of state of nuclear matter, especially in its most extreme regimes.

  22 citations

• Solving 3d gravity with Virasoro TQFT

  Scott Collier, Lorenz Eberhardt, Mengyang Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 15, 151 (2023) · published 11 October 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a precise reformulation of 3d quantum gravity with negative cosmological constant in terms of a topological quantum field theory based on the quantization of the Teichmüller space of Riemann surfaces that we refer to as "Virasoro TQFT". This TQFT is similar, but importantly not equivalent, to SL(2, $\mathbb{R}$) Chern-Simons theory. This sharpens the folklore that 3d gravity is related to SL(2, $\mathbb{R}$) Chern-Simons theory into a precise correspondence, and resolves some well-known issues with this lore at the quantum level. Our proposal is computationally very useful and provides a powerful tool for the further study of 3d gravity. In particular, we explain how together with standard TQFT surgery techniques this leads to a fully algorithmic procedure for the computation of the gravity partition function on a fixed topology exactly in the central charge. Mathematically, the relation leads to many nontrivial conjectures for hyperbolic 3-manifolds, Virasoro conformal blocks and crossing kernels.

  22 citations

• Lessons from the Ramond sector

  Nathan Benjamin, Ying-Hsuan Lin

  SciPost Phys. 9, 065 (2020) · published 6 November 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We revisit the consistency of torus partition functions in (1+1)$d$ fermionic conformal field theories, combining traditional ingredients of modular invariance/covariance with a modernized understanding of bosonization/fermionization dualities. Various lessons can be learned by simply examining the oft-ignored Ramond sector. For several extremal/kinky modular functions in the bootstrap literature, we can either rule out or identify the underlying theory. We also revisit the ${\cal N} = 1$ Maloney-Witten partition function by calculating the spectrum in the Ramond sector, and further extending it to include the modular sum of seed Ramond characters. Finally, we perform the full ${\cal N} = 1$ RNS modular bootstrap and obtain new universal results on the existence of relevant deformations preserving different amounts of supersymmetry.

  22 citations

• Induced density correlations in a sonic black hole condensate

  Yi-Hsieh Wang, Ted Jacobson, Mark Edwards, Charles W. Clark

  SciPost Phys. 3, 022 (2017) · published 26 September 2017 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Analog black/white hole pairs, consisting of a region of supersonic flow, have been achieved in a recent experiment by J. Steinhauer using an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate. A growing standing density wave, and a checkerboard feature in the density-density correlation function, were observed in the supersonic region. We model the density-density correlation function, taking into account both quantum fluctuations and the shot-to-shot variation of atom number normally present in ultracold-atom experiments. We find that quantum fluctuations alone produce some, but not all, of the features of the correlation function, whereas atom-number fluctuation alone can produce all the observed features, and agreement is best when both are included. In both cases, the density-density correlation is not intrinsic to the fluctuations, but rather is induced by modulation of the standing wave caused by the fluctuations.

  22 citations

• Logarithmic CFT at generic central charge: from Liouville theory to the $Q$-state Potts model

  Rongvoram Nivesvivat, Sylvain Ribault

  SciPost Phys. 10, 021 (2021) · published 29 January 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Using derivatives of primary fields (null or not) with respect to the conformal dimension, we build infinite families of non-trivial logarithmic representations of the conformal algebra at generic central charge, with Jordan blocks of dimension $2$ or $3$. Each representation comes with one free parameter, which takes fixed values under assumptions on the existence of degenerate fields. This parameter can be viewed as a simpler, normalization-independent redefinition of the logarithmic coupling. We compute the corresponding non-chiral conformal blocks, and show that they appear in limits of Liouville theory four-point functions. As an application, we describe the logarithmic structures of the critical two-dimensional $O(n)$ and $Q$-state Potts models at generic central charge. The validity of our description is demonstrated by semi-analytically bootstrapping four-point connectivities in the $Q$-state Potts model to arbitrary precision. Moreover, we provide numerical evidence for the Delfino--Viti conjecture for the three-point connectivity. Our results hold for generic values of $Q$ in the complex plane and beyond.

  22 citations

• Mean-field model of interacting quasilocalized excitations in glasses

  Corrado Rainone, Pierfrancesco Urbani, Francesco Zamponi, Edan Lerner, and Eran Bouchbinder

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 008 (2021) · published 16 April 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Structural glasses feature quasilocalized excitations whose frequencies $\omega$ follow a universal density of states ${\cal D}(\omega)\!\sim\!\omega^4$. Yet, the underlying physics behind this universality is not yet fully understood. Here we study a mean-field model of quasilocalized excitations in glasses, viewed as groups of particles embedded inside an elastic medium and described collectively as anharmonic oscillators. The oscillators, whose harmonic stiffness is taken from a rather featureless probability distribution (of upper cutoff $\kappa_0$) in the absence of interactions, interact among themselves through random couplings (characterized by strength $J$) and with the surrounding elastic medium (an interaction characterized by a constant force $h$). We first show that the model gives rise to a gapless density of states ${\cal D}(\omega)\!=\!A_{\rm g}\,\omega^4$ for a broad range of model parameters, expressed in terms of the strength of stabilizing anharmonicity, which plays a decisive role in the model. Then --- using scaling theory and numerical simulations --- we provide a complete understanding of the non-universal prefactor $A_{\rm g}(h,J,\kappa_0)$, of the oscillators' interaction-induced mean square displacement and of an emerging characteristic frequency, all in terms of properly identified dimensionless quantities. In particular, we show that $A_{\rm g}(h,J,\kappa_0)$ is a non-monotonic function of $J$ for a fixed $h$, varying predominantly exponentially with $-(\kappa_0 h^{2/3}\!/J^2)$ in the weak interactions (small $J$) regime --- reminiscent of recent observations in computer glasses --- and predominantly decays as a power-law for larger $J$, in a regime where $h$ plays no role. We discuss the physical interpretation of the model and its possible relations to available observations in structural glasses, along with delineating some future research directions.

  22 citations