Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Many-body localization in a quasiperiodic Fibonacci chain

  Nicolas Macé, Nicolas Laflorencie, Fabien Alet

  SciPost Phys. 6, 050 (2019) · published 29 April 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the many-body localization (MBL) properties of a chain of interacting fermions subject to a quasiperiodic potential such that the non-interacting chain is always delocalized and displays multifractality. Contrary to naive expectations, adding interactions in this systems does not enhance delocalization, and a MBL transition is observed. Due to the local properties of the quasiperiodic potential, the MBL phase presents specific features, such as additional peaks in the density distribution. We furthermore investigate the fate of multifractality in the ergodic phase for low potential values. Our analysis is based on exact numerical studies of eigenstates and dynamical properties after a quench.

  56 citations

• Fermionic Gaussian states: an introduction to numerical approaches

  Jacopo Surace, Luca Tagliacozzo

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 54 (2022) · published 16 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  This document is meant to be a practical introduction to the analytical and numerical manipulation of Fermionic Gaussian systems. Starting from the basics, we move to relevant modern results and techniques, presenting numerical examples and studying relevant Hamiltonians, such as the transverse field Ising Hamiltonian, in detail. We finish introducing novel algorithms connecting Fermionic Guassian states with matrix product states techniques. All the numerical examples make use of the free Julia package F_utilities.

  55 citations

• Dynamical signatures of topological order in the driven-dissipative Kitaev chain

  Moos van Caspel, Sergio Enrique Tapias Arze, Isaac Pérez Castillo

  SciPost Phys. 6, 026 (2019) · published 27 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the effects of dissipation and driving on topological order in superconducting nanowires. Rather than studying the non-equilibrium steady state, we propose a method to classify and detect dynamical signatures of topological order in open quantum systems. Bulk winding numbers for the Lindblad generator $\hat{\mathcal{L}}$ of the dissipative Kitaev chain are found to be linked to the presence of Majorana edge master modes -- localized eigenmodes of $\hat{\mathcal{L}}$. Despite decaying in time, these modes provide dynamical fingerprints of the topological phases of the closed system, which are now separated by intermediate regions where winding numbers are ill-defined and the bulk-boundary correspondence breaks down. Combining these techniques with the Floquet formalism reveals higher winding numbers and different types of edge modes under periodic driving. Finally, we link the presence of edge modes to a steady state current.

  54 citations

• Correlation functions of three-dimensional Yang-Mills theory from the FRG

  Lukas Corell, Anton K. Cyrol, Mario Mitter, Jan M. Pawlowski, Nils Strodthoff

  SciPost Phys. 5, 066 (2018) · published 21 December 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We compute correlation functions of three-dimensional Landau-gauge Yang-Mills theory with the Functional Renormalisation Group. Starting from the classical action as only input, we calculate the non-perturbative ghost and gluon propagators as well as the momentum-dependent ghost-gluon, three-gluon, and four-gluon vertices in a comprehensive truncation scheme. Compared to the physical case of four spacetime dimensions, we need more sophisticated truncations due to significant contributions from non-classical tensor structures. In particular, we apply a special technique to compute the tadpole diagrams of the propagator equations, which captures also all perturbative two-loop effects, and compare our correlators with lattice and Dyson-Schwinger results.

  54 citations

• Lack of symmetry restoration after a quantum quench: An entanglement asymmetry study

  Filiberto Ares, Sara Murciano, Eric Vernier, Pasquale Calabrese

  SciPost Phys. 15, 089 (2023) · published 12 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the quantum quench in the XX spin chain starting from a tilted Néel state which explicitly breaks the $U(1)$ symmetry of the post-quench Hamiltonian. Very surprisingly, the $U(1)$ symmetry is not restored at large time because of the activation of a non-Abelian set of charges which all break it. The breaking of the symmetry can be effectively and quantitatively characterised by the recently introduced entanglement asymmetry. By a combination of exact calculations and quasi-particle picture arguments, we are able to exactly describe the behaviour of the asymmetry at any time after the quench. Furthermore we show that the stationary behaviour is completely captured by a non-Abelian generalised Gibbs ensemble. While our computations have been performed for a non-interacting spin chain, we expect similar results to hold for the integrable interacting case as well because of the presence of non-Abelian charges also in that case.

  54 citations

• Quantum minimal surfaces from quantum error correction

  Chris Akers, Geoff Penington

  SciPost Phys. 12, 157 (2022) · published 12 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that complementary state-specific reconstruction of logical (bulk) operators is equivalent to the existence of a quantum minimal surface prescription for physical (boundary) entropies. This significantly generalizes both sides of an equivalence previously shown by Harlow; in particular, we do not require the entanglement wedge to be the same for all states in the code space. In developing this theorem, we construct an emergent bulk geometry for general quantum codes, defining "areas" associated to arbitrary logical subsystems, and argue that this definition is "functionally unique." We also formalize a definition of bulk reconstruction that we call "state-specific product unitary" reconstruction. This definition captures the quantum error correction (QEC) properties present in holographic codes and has potential independent interest as a very broad generalization of QEC; it includes most traditional versions of QEC as special cases. Our results extend to approximate codes, and even to the "non-isometric codes" that seem to describe the interior of a black hole at late times.

  53 citations

• Bounds on the entanglement entropy by the number entropy in non-interacting fermionic systems

  Maximilian Kiefer-Emmanouilidis, Razmik Unanyan, Jesko Sirker, Michael Fleischhauer

  SciPost Phys. 8, 083 (2020) · published 3 June 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Entanglement in a pure state of a many-body system can be characterized by the R\'enyi entropies $S^{(\alpha)}=\ln\textrm{tr}(\rho^\alpha)/(1-\alpha)$ of the reduced density matrix $\rho$ of a subsystem. These entropies are, however, difficult to access experimentally and can typically be determined for small systems only. Here we show that for free fermionic systems in a Gaussian state and with particle number conservation, $\ln S^{(2)}$ can be tightly bound---from above and below---by the much easier accessible R\'enyi number entropy $S^{(2)}_N=-\ln \sum_n p^2(n)$ which is a function of the probability distribution $p(n)$ of the total particle number in the considered subsystem only. A dynamical growth in entanglement, in particular, is therefore always accompanied by a growth---albeit logarithmically slower---of the number entropy. We illustrate this relation by presenting numerical results for quenches in non-interacting one-dimensional lattice models including disorder-free, Anderson-localized, and critical systems with off-diagonal disorder.

  52 citations

• Entanglement measures in a nonequilibrium steady state: Exact results in one dimension

  Shachar Fraenkel, Moshe Goldstein

  SciPost Phys. 11, 085 (2021) · published 29 October 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Entanglement plays a prominent role in the study of condensed matter many-body systems: Entanglement measures not only quantify the possible use of these systems in quantum information protocols, but also shed light on their physics. However, exact analytical results remain scarce, especially for systems out of equilibrium. In this work we examine a paradigmatic one-dimensional fermionic system that consists of a uniform tight-binding chain with an arbitrary scattering region near its center, which is subject to a DC bias voltage at zero temperature. The system is thus held in a current-carrying nonequilibrium steady state, which can nevertheless be described by a pure quantum state. Using a generalization of the Fisher-Hartwig conjecture, we present an exact calculation of the bipartite entanglement entropy of a subsystem with its complement, and show that the scaling of entanglement with the length of the subsystem is highly unusual, containing both a volume-law linear term and a logarithmic term. The linear term is related to imperfect transmission due to scattering, and provides a generalization of the Levitov-Lesovik full counting statistics formula. The logarithmic term arises from the Fermi discontinuities in the distribution function. Our analysis also produces an exact expression for the particle-number-resolved entanglement. We find that although to leading order entanglement equipartition applies, the first term breaking it grows with the size of the subsystem, a novel behavior not observed in previously studied systems. We apply our general results to a concrete model of a tight-binding chain with a single impurity site, and show that the analytical expressions are in good agreement with numerical calculations. The analytical results are further generalized to accommodate the case of multiple scattering regions.

  52 citations

• Current operators in integrable spin chains: lessons from long range deformations

  Balázs Pozsgay

  SciPost Phys. 8, 016 (2020) · published 3 February 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the finite volume mean values of current operators in integrable spin chains with local interactions, and provide an alternative derivation of the exact result found recently by the author and two collaborators. We use a certain type of long range deformation of the local spin chains, which was discovered and explored earlier in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. This method is immediately applicable also to higher rank models: as a concrete example we derive the current mean values in the SU(3)-symmetric fundamental model, solvable by the nested Bethe Ansatz. The exact results take the same form as in the Heisenberg spin chains: they involve the one-particle eigenvalues of the conserved charges and the inverse of the Gaudin matrix.

  51 citations

• Universal front propagation in the quantum Ising chain with domain-wall initial states

  Viktor Eisler, Florian Maislinger, Hans Gerd Evertz

  SciPost Phys. 1, 014 (2016) · published 30 December 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the melting of domain walls in the ferromagnetic phase of the transverse Ising chain, created by flipping the order-parameter spins along one-half of the chain. If the initial state is excited by a local operator in terms of Jordan-Wigner fermions, the resulting longitudinal magnetization profiles have a universal character. Namely, after proper rescalings, the profiles in the noncritical Ising chain become identical to those obtained for a critical free-fermion chain starting from a step-like initial state. The relation holds exactly in the entire ferromagnetic phase of the Ising chain and can even be extended to the zero-field XY model by a duality argument. In contrast, for domain-wall excitations that are highly non-local in the fermionic variables, the universality of the magnetization profiles is lost. Nevertheless, for both cases we observe that the entanglement entropy asymptotically saturates at the ground-state value, suggesting a simple form of the steady state.

  51 citations