Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Collective radiative interactions in the discrete truncated Wigner approximation

  Christopher D. Mink, Michael Fleischhauer

  SciPost Phys. 15, 233 (2023) · published 8 December 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Interfaces of light and matter serve as a platform for exciting many-body physics and photonic quantum technologies. Due to the recent experimental realization of atomic arrays at sub-wavelength spacings, collective interaction effects such as superradiance have regained substantial interest. Their analytical and numerical treatment is however quite challenging. Here we develop a semiclassical approach to this problem that allows to describe the coherent and dissipative many-body dynamics of interacting spins while taking into account lowest-order quantum fluctuations. For this purpose we extend the discrete truncated Wigner approximation, originally developed for unitarily coupled spins, to include collective, dissipative spin processes by means of truncated correspondence rules. This maps the dynamics of the atomic ensemble onto a set of semiclassical, numerically inexpensive stochastic differential equations. We benchmark our method with exact results for the case of Dicke decay, which shows excellent agreement. For small arrays we compare to exact simulations, again showing good agreement at early times and at moderate to strong driving, and to a second order cumulant expansion. We conclude by studying the radiative properties of a spatially extended three-dimensional, coherently driven gas and compare the coherence of the emitted light to experimental results.

  22 citations

• Extracting subleading corrections in entanglement entropy at quantum phase transitions

  Menghan Song, Jiarui Zhao, Zi Yang Meng, Cenke Xu, Meng Cheng

  SciPost Phys. 17, 010 (2024) · published 11 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We systematically investigate the finite size scaling behavior of the Rényi entanglement entropy (EE) of several representative 2d quantum many-body systems between a subregion and its complement, with smooth boundaries as well as boundaries with corners. In order to reveal the subleading correction, we investigate the quantity "subtracted EE" $S^s(l) = S(2l) - 2S(l)$ for each model, which is designed to cancel out the leading perimeter law. We find that (1) for a spin-1/2 model on a 2d square lattice whose ground state is the Neel order, the coefficient of the logarithmic correction to the perimeter law is consistent with the prediction based on the Goldstone modes; (2) for the $(2+1)d$ O(3) Wilson-Fisher quantum critical point (QCP), realized with the bilayer antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, a logarithmic subleading correction exists when there is sharp corner of the subregion, but for subregion with a smooth boundary our data suggests the absence of the logarithmic correction to the best of our efforts; (3) for the $(2+1)d$ SU(2) J-Q$_2$ and J-Q$_3$ model for the deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP), we find a logarithmic correction for the EE even with smooth boundary.

  22 citations

• CrystalNets.jl: Identification of Crystal Topologies

  Lionel Zoubritzky, François-Xavier Coudert

  SciPost Chem. 1, 005 (2022) · published 17 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present here an open-source Julia library for the topological identification of crystalline materials, with algorithmic and computational improvements over the previously available software in the field, resulting in a speed increase of one order of magnitude. This new algorithm and implementation can therefore be used at large scale in high-throughput screening methodologies. We have validated and benchmarked CrystalNets.jl against a diverse set of crystal databases, covering in particular metal–organic frameworks, aluminophosphates, zeolites, and other inorganic compounds.

  22 citations

• Physical representations for scattering amplitudes and the wavefunction of the universe

  Paolo Benincasa, William J. Torres Bobadilla

  SciPost Phys. 12, 192 (2022) · published 10 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The way we organise perturbation theory is of fundamental importance both for computing the observables of relevance and for extracting fundamental physics out of them. If on one hand the different ways in which the perturbative observables can be written make manifest different features ({\it e.g.} symmetries as well as principles such as unitarity, causality and locality), on the other hand precisely demanding that some concrete features are manifest lead to different ways of organising perturbation theory. In the context of flat-space scattering amplitudes, a number of them are already known and exploited, while much less is known for cosmological observables. In the present work, we show how to systematically write down both the wavefunction of the universe and the flat-space scattering amplitudes, in such a way that they manifestly show physical poles only. We make use of the invariant definition of such observables in terms of {\it cosmological polytopes} and their {\it scattering facet}. In particular, we show that such representations correspond to triangulations of such objects through hyperplanes identified by the intersection of their facets outside of them. All possible triangulations of this type generate the different representations. This allows us to provide a general proof for the conjectured all-loop causal representation of scattering amplitudes. Importantly, all such representations can be viewed as making explicit a subset of compatible singularities, and our construction provides a way to extend Steinmann relations to higher codimension singularities for both the flat-space scattering amplitudes and the cosmological wavefunction.

  22 citations

• Full counting statistics for interacting trapped fermions

  Naftali R. Smith, Pierre Le Doussal, Satya N. Majumdar, Grégory Schehr

  SciPost Phys. 11, 110 (2021) · published 22 December 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study $N$ spinless fermions in their ground state confined by an external potential in one dimension with long range interactions of the general Calogero-Sutherland type. For some choices of the potential this system maps to standard random matrix ensembles for general values of the Dyson index $\beta$. In the fermion model $\beta$ controls the strength of the interaction, $\beta=2$ corresponding to the noninteracting case. We study the quantum fluctuations of the number of fermions ${\cal N}_{\cal D}$ in a domain $\cal{D}$ of macroscopic size in the bulk of the Fermi gas. We predict that for general $\beta$ the variance of ${\cal N}_{\cal D}$ grows as $A_{\beta} \log N + B_{\beta}$ for $N \gg 1$ and we obtain a formula for $A_\beta$ and $B_\beta$. This is based on an explicit calculation for $\beta\in\left\{ 1,2,4\right\} $ and on a conjecture that we formulate for general $\beta$. This conjecture further allows us to obtain a universal formula for the higher cumulants of ${\cal N}_{\cal D}$. Our results for the variance in the microscopic regime are found to be consistent with the predictions of the Luttinger liquid theory with parameter $K = 2/\beta$, and allow to go beyond. In addition we present families of interacting fermion models in one dimension which, in their ground states, can be mapped onto random matrix models. We obtain the mean fermion density for these models for general interaction parameter $\beta$. In some cases the fermion density exhibits interesting transitions, for example we obtain a noninteracting fermion formulation of the Gross-Witten-Wadia model.

  22 citations

• Returning CP-observables to the frames they belong

  Jona Ackerschott, Rahool Kumar Barman, Dorival Gonçalves, Theo Heimel, Tilman Plehn

  SciPost Phys. 17, 001 (2024) · published 2 July 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Optimal kinematic observables are often defined in specific frames and then approximated at the reconstruction level. We show how multi-dimensional unfolding methods allow us to reconstruct these observables in their proper rest frame and in a probabilistically faithful way. We illustrate our approach with a measurement of a CP-phase in the top Yukawa coupling. Our method makes use of key advantages of generative unfolding, but as a constructed observable it fits into standard LHC analysis frameworks.

  22 citations

• Multiplet supercurrent in Josephson tunneling circuits

  André Melo, Valla Fatemi, Anton R. Akhmerov

  SciPost Phys. 12, 017 (2022) · published 12 January 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The multi-terminal Josephson effect allows DC supercurrent to flow at finite commensurate voltages. Existing proposals to realize this effect rely on nonlocal Andreev processes in superconductor-normal-superconductor junctions. However, this approach requires precise control over microscopic states and is obscured by dissipative current. We show that standard tunnel Josephson circuits also support multiplet supercurrent mediated only by local tunneling processes. Furtheremore, we observe that the supercurrents persist even in the high charging energy regime in which only sequential Cooper transfers are allowed. Finally, we demonstrate that the multiplet supercurrent in these circuits has a quantum geometric component that is distinguinshable from the well-known adiabatic contribution.

  21 citations

• Areas and entropies in BFSS/gravity duality

  Tarek Anous, Joanna L. Karczmarek, Eric Mintun, Mark Van Raamsdonk, Benson Way

  SciPost Phys. 8, 057 (2020) · published 15 April 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The BFSS matrix model provides an example of gauge-theory / gravity duality where the gauge theory is a model of ordinary quantum mechanics with no spatial subsystems. If there exists a general connection between areas and entropies in this model similar to the Ryu-Takayanagi formula, the entropies must be more general than the usual subsystem entanglement entropies. In this note, we first investigate the extremal surfaces in the geometries dual to the BFSS model at zero and finite temperature. We describe a method to associate regulated areas to these surfaces and calculate the areas explicitly for a family of surfaces preserving $SO(8)$ symmetry, both at zero and finite temperature. We then discuss possible entropic quantities in the matrix model that could be dual to these regulated areas.

  21 citations

• The edge of chaos: quantum field theory and deep neural networks

  Kevin T. Grosvenor, Ro Jefferson

  SciPost Phys. 12, 081 (2022) · published 3 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We explicitly construct the quantum field theory corresponding to a general class of deep neural networks encompassing both recurrent and feedforward architectures. We first consider the mean-field theory (MFT) obtained as the leading saddlepoint in the action, and derive the condition for criticality via the largest Lyapunov exponent. We then compute the loop corrections to the correlation function in a perturbative expansion in the ratio of depth T to width N, and find a precise analogy with the well-studied O(N) vector model, in which the variance of the weight initializations plays the role of the 't Hooft coupling. In particular, we compute both the O(1) corrections quantifying fluctuations from typicality in the ensemble of networks, and the subleading O(T/N) corrections due to finite-width effects. These provide corrections to the correlation length that controls the depth to which information can propagate through the network, and thereby sets the scale at which such networks are trainable by gradient descent. Our analysis provides a first-principles approach to the rapidly emerging NN-QFT correspondence, and opens several interesting avenues to the study of criticality in deep neural networks.

  21 citations

• Perturbative unitarity and the wavefunction of the Universe

  Soner Albayrak, Paolo Benincasa, Carlos Duaso Pueyo

  SciPost Phys. 16, 157 (2024) · published 20 June 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Unitarity of time evolution is one of the basic principles constraining physical processes. Its consequences in the perturbative Bunch-Davies wavefunction in cosmology have been formulated in terms of the cosmological optical theorem. In this paper, we re-analyse perturbative unitarity for the Bunch-Davies wavefunction, focusing on: $i)$ the role of the $i\epsilon$-prescription and its compatibility with the requirement of unitarity; $ii)$ the origin of the different ``cutting rules''; $iii)$ the emergence of the flat-space optical theorem from the cosmological one. We take the combinatorial point of view of the cosmological polytopes, which provide a first-principle description for a large class of scalar graphs contributing to the wavefunctional. The requirement of the positivity of the geometry together with the preservation of its orientation determine the $i\epsilon$-prescription. In kinematic space it translates into giving a small negative imaginary part to all the energies, making the wavefunction coefficients well-defined for any value of their real part along the real axis. Unitarity is instead encoded into a non-convex part of the cosmological polytope, which we name \textit{optical polytope}. The cosmological optical theorem emerges as the equivalence between a specific polytope subdivision of the optical polytope and its triangulations, each of which provides different cutting rules. The flat-space optical theorem instead emerges from the non-convexity of the optical polytope. On the more mathematical side, we provide two definitions of this non-convex geometry, none of them based on the idea of the non-convex geometry as a union of convex ones.

  21 citations