Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Boundary modes in the Chamon model

  Weslei B. Fontana, Rodrigo G. Pereira

  SciPost Phys. 15, 010 (2023) · published 17 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the fracton phase described by the Chamon model in a manifold with a boundary. The new processess and excitations emerging at the boundary can be understood by means of a diagrammatic framework. From a continuum perspective, the boundary theory is described by a set of scalar fields in similarity with standard $K$-matrix Chern-Simons theory. The continuum theory recovers the gapped boundaries of the lattice model once we include sufficiently strong interactions that break charge conservation. The analysis of the perturbative relevance of the leading interactions reveals a regime in which the Chamon model can have a stable gapless fractonic phase at its boundary.

  5 citations

• Spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet with strong breathing anisotropy

  Saeed S. Jahromi, Román Orús, Didier Poilblanc, Frédéric Mila

  SciPost Phys. 9, 092 (2020) · published 29 December 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the zero-temperature phase diagram of the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Heisenberg model with breathing anisotropy (i.e., with different coupling strength on the upward and downward triangles) on the kagome lattice. Our study relies on large scale tensor network simulations based on infinite projected entangled-pair state and infinite projected entangled-simplex state methods adapted to the kagome lattice. Our energy analysis suggests that the U(1) algebraic quantum spin-liquid (QSL) ground-state of the isotropic Heisenberg model is stable up to very large breathing anisotropy until it breaks down to a critical lattice-nematic phase that breaks rotational symmetry in real space through a first-order quantum phase transition. Our results also provide further insight into the recent experiment on vanadium oxyfluoride compounds which has been shown to be relevant platforms for realizing QSL in the presence of breathing anisotropy.

  5 citations

• Self-dual $S_3$-invariant quantum chains

  Edward O'Brien, Paul Fendley

  SciPost Phys. 9, 088 (2020) · published 16 December 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the self-dual three-state quantum chain with nearest-neighbor interactions and $S_3$, time-reversal, and parity symmetries. We find a rich phase diagram including gapped phases with order-disorder coexistence, integrable critical points with U(1) symmetry, and ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic critical regions described by three-state Potts and free-boson conformal field theories respectively. We also find an unusual critical phase which appears to be described by combining two conformal field theories with distinct "Fermi velocities". The order-disorder coexistence phase has an emergent fractional supersymmetry, and we find lattice analogs of its generators.

  5 citations

• Quasi-particle functional Renormalisation Group calculations in the two-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model at finite temperatures

  Daniel Rohe, Carsten Honerkamp

  SciPost Phys. 9, 084 (2020) · published 7 December 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present a highly parallelisable scheme for treating functional Renormalisation Group equations which incorporates a quasi-particle-based feedback on the flow and provides direct access to real-frequency self-energy data. This allows to map out the boundaries of Fermi-liquid regimes and to study the effect of quasi-particle degradation near Fermi liquid instabilities. As a first application, selected results for the two-dimensional half-filled perfectly nested Hubbard model are shown.

  5 citations

• Classical and quantum harmonic mean-field models coupled intensively and extensively with external baths

  Francesco Andreucci, Stefano Lepri, Stefano Ruffo, Andrea Trombettoni

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 036 (2022) · published 15 July 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the nonequilibrium steady-state of a fully-coupled network of $N$ quantum harmonic oscillators, interacting with two thermal reservoirs. Given the long-range nature of the couplings, we consider two setups: one in which the number of particles coupled to the baths is fixed (intensive coupling) and one in which it is proportional to the size $N$ (extensive coupling). In both cases, we compute analytically the heat fluxes and the kinetic temperature distributions using the nonequilibrium Green's function approach, both in the classical and quantum regimes. In the large $N$ limit, we derive the asymptotic expressions of both quantities as a function of $N$ and the temperature difference between the baths. We discuss a peculiar feature of the model, namely that the bulk temperature vanishes in the thermodynamic limit, due to a decoupling of the dynamics of the inner part of the system from the baths. At variance with usual cases, this implies that the steady state depends on the initial state of the particles in the bulk. We also show that quantum effects are relevant only below a characteristic temperature that vanishes as $1/N$. In the quantum low-temperature regime the energy flux is proportional to the universal quantum of thermal conductance.

  5 citations

• Special transition and extraordinary phase on the surface of a two-dimensional quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet

  Chengxiang Ding, Wenjing Zhu, Wenan Guo, Long Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 15, 012 (2023) · published 18 July 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Continuous phase transitions exhibit richer critical phenomena on the surface than in the bulk, because distinct surface universality classes can be realized at the same bulk critical point by tuning the surface interactions. The exploration of surface critical behavior provides a window looking into higher-dimensional boundary conformal field theories. In this work, we study the surface critical behavior of a two-dimensional (2D) quantum critical Heisenberg model by tuning the surface coupling strength, and discover a direct special transition on the surface from the ordinary phase into an extraordinary phase. The extraordinary phase has a long-range antiferromagnetic order on the surface, in sharp contrast to the logarithmic decaying spin correlations in the 3D classical O(3) model. The special transition point has a new set of critical exponents, $y_{s}=0.86(4)$ and $\eta_{\parallel}=-0.33(1)$, which are distinct from the special transition of the classical O(3) model and indicate a new surface universality class of the 3D O(3) Wilson-Fisher theory.

  5 citations

• On weak ergodicity breaking in mean-field spin glasses

  Giampaolo Folena, Francesco Zamponi

  SciPost Phys. 15, 109 (2023) · published 21 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The weak ergodicity breaking hypothesis postulates that out-of-equilibrium glassy systems lose memory of their initial state despite being unable to reach an equilibrium stationary state. It is a milestone of glass physics, and has provided a lot of insight on the physical properties of glass aging. Despite its undoubted usefulness as a guiding principle, its general validity remains a subject of debate. Here, we present evidence that this hypothesis does not hold for a class of mean-field spin glass models. While most of the qualitative physical picture of aging remains unaffected, our results suggest that some important technical aspects should be revisited.

  5 citations

• Ergodic edge modes in the 4D quantum Hall effect

  Benoit Estienne, Blagoje Oblak, Jean-Marie Stéphan

  SciPost Phys. 11, 016 (2021) · published 20 July 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The gapless modes on the edge of four-dimensional (4D) quantum Hall droplets are known to be anisotropic: they only propagate in one direction, foliating the 3D boundary into independent 1D conduction channels. This foliation is extremely sensitive to the confining potential and generically yields chaotic flows. Here we study the quantum correlations and entanglement of such edge modes in 4D droplets confined by harmonic traps, whose boundary is a squashed three-sphere. Commensurable trapping frequencies lead to periodic trajectories of electronic guiding centers; the corresponding edge modes propagate independently along $S^1$ fibers, forming a bundle of 1D conformal field theories over a 2D base space. By contrast, incommensurable frequencies produce quasi-periodic, ergodic trajectories, each of which covers its invariant torus densely; the corresponding correlation function of edge modes has fractal features. This wealth of behaviors highlights the sharp differences between 4D Hall droplets and their 2D peers; it also exhibits the dependence of 4D edge modes on the choice of trap, suggesting the existence of observable bifurcations due to droplet deformations.

  5 citations

• 3D Ising CFT and exact diagonalization on icosahedron: The power of conformal perturbation theory

  Bing-Xin Lao, Slava Rychkov

  SciPost Phys. 15, 243 (2023) · published 18 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the transverse field Ising model in (2+1)D, putting 12 spins at the vertices of the regular icosahedron. The model is tiny by the exact diagonalization standards, and breaks rotation invariance. Yet we show that it allows a meaningful comparison to the 3D Ising CFT on $\mathbb{R}× S^2$, by including effective perturbations of the CFT Hamiltonian with a handful of local operators. This extreme example shows the power of conformal perturbation theory in understanding finite N effects in models on regularized $S^2$. Its ideal arena of application should be the recently proposed models of fuzzy sphere regularization.

  5 citations

• Quantum coherence from commensurate driving with laser pulses and decay

  Goetz S. Uhrig

  SciPost Phys. 8, 040 (2020) · published 12 March 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Non-equilibrium physics is a particularly fascinating field of current research. Generically, driven systems are gradually heated up so that quantum effects die out. In contrast, we show that a driven central spin model including controlled dissipation in a highly excited state allows us to distill quantum coherent states, indicated by a substantial reduction of entropy. The model is experimentally accessible in quantum dots or molecules with unpaired electrons. The potential of preparing and manipulating coherent states by designed driving potentials is pointed out.

  5 citations