Publications

Order by: publication date number of 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.

  19 citations

• Scattering description of Andreev molecules

  Jean-Damien Pillet, Vincent Benzoni, Joël Griesmar, Jean-Loup Smirr, Çaǧlar Ö. Girit

  SciPost Phys. Core 2, 009 (2020) · published 11 June 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  An Andreev molecule is a system of closely spaced superconducting weak links accommodating overlapping Andreev Bound States. Recent theoretical proposals have considered one-dimensional Andreev molecules with a single conduction channel. Here we apply the scattering formalism and extend the analysis to multiple conduction channels, a situation encountered in epitaxial superconductor/semiconductor weak links. We obtain the multi-channel bound state energy spectrum and quantify the contribution of the microscopic non-local processes leading to the formation of Andreev molecules.

  19 citations

• Codebase release 8.3 for PYTHIA

  Christian Bierlich, Smita Chakraborty, Nishita Desai, Leif Gellersen, Ilkka Helenius, Philip Ilten, Leif Lönnblad, Stephen Mrenna, Stefan Prestel, Christian T. Preuss, Torbjörn Sjöstrand, Peter Skands, Marius Utheim, Rob Verheyen

  SciPost Phys. Codebases 8-r8.3 (2022) · published 10 November 2022 | Toggle abstract · src

  This manual describes the Pythia event generator, the most recent version of an evolving physics tool used to answer fundamental questions in particle physics. The program is most often used to generate high-energy-physics collision "events", i.e. sets of particles produced in association with the collision of two incoming high-energy particles, but has several uses beyond that. The guiding philosophy is to produce and re-produce properties of experimentally obtained collisions as accurately as possible. The program includes a wide ranges of reactions within and beyond the Standard Model, and extending to heavy ion physics. Emphasis is put on phenomena where strong interactions play a major role. The manual contains both pedagogical and practical components. All included physics models are described in enough detail to allow the user to obtain a cursory overview of used assumptions and approximations, enabling an informed evaluation of the program output. A number of the most central algorithms are described in enough detail that the main results of the program can be reproduced independently, allowing further development of existing models or the addition of new ones. Finally, a chapter dedicated fully to the user is included towards the end, providing pedagogical examples of standard use cases, and a detailed description of a number of external interfaces. The program code, the online manual, and the latest version of this print manual can be found on the Pythia web page: https://www.pythia.org/.

  19 citations

• The rare and forbidden: Testing physics beyond the standard model with Mu3e

  Ann-Kathrin Perrevoort on behalf of the Mu3e Collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 052 (2019) · published 22 February 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The upcoming Mu3e experiment aims to search for the lepton flavour violating decay $\mu^+ \to e^+ e^- e^+$ with an unprecedented final sensitivity of one signal decay in $10^{16}$ observed muon decays by making use of an innovative experimental design based on novel ultra-thin silicon pixel sensors. In a first phase, the experiment is operated at an existing muon beam line with rates of up to $10^8$ muons per second. Detailed simulation studies confirm the feasibility of background-free operation and project single event sensitivities in the order of $10^{-15}$ for signal decays modelled in an effective field theory approach. The precise tracking of the decay electrons and large geometric and momentum acceptance of Mu3e enable searches for physics beyond the Standard Model in further signatures. Examples of which are searches for lepton flavour violating two-body decays of the muon into an electron and an undetected boson as well as for electron-positron resonances in $\mu^+ \to e^+ e^- e^+ \bar{\nu}_\mu \nu_e$ which could result for instance from a dark photon decay. The Mu3e experiment is expected to be competitive in all of these channels already in phase I.

  18 citations

• Fusion rules in a Majorana single-charge transistor

  Rubén Seoane Souto, Martin Leijnse

  SciPost Phys. 12, 161 (2022) · published 16 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A demonstration of the theoretically predicted non-abelian properties of Majorana bound states (MBSs) would constitute a definite proof of a topological superconducting phase. Alongside the nontrivial braiding statistics, the fusion rules are fundamental properties of all non-abelian anyons. In this work, we propose and theoretically analyze a way to demonstrate MBS fusion rules in a Majorana single-charge transistor. Our proposal reduces both the number of operations and the device complexity compared to previous designs. Furthermore, we show that the fusion protocol can be adapted to pump a quantized amount of charge in each cycle, providing a straightforward method to detect fusion rules through a DC current measurement. We analyze the protocol numerically and analytically and show that the required operational timescales and expected measurement signals are within experimental capabilities in various superconductor-semiconductor hybrid platforms.

  18 citations

• Charge fluctuation entropy of Hawking radiation: A replica-free way to find large entropy

  Alexey Milekhin, Amirhossein Tajdini

  SciPost Phys. 14, 172 (2023) · published 28 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the fluctuation entropy for two-dimensional matter systems with an internal symmetry coupled to Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity joined to a Minkowski region. The fluctuation entropy is the Shannon entropy associated to probabilities of finding particular charge for a region. We first consider a case where the matter has a global symmetry. We find that the fluctuation entropy of Hawking radiation shows an unbounded growth and exceeds the entanglement entropy in presence of islands. This indicates that the global symmetry is violated. We then discuss the fluctuation entropy for matter coupled to a two-dimensional gauge field. We find a lower bound on the gauge coupling $g_0$ in order to avoid a similar issue. Also, we point out a few puzzles related to the island prescription in presence of a gauge symmetry.

  18 citations

• Edge modes as dynamical frames: charges from post-selection in generally covariant theories

  Sylvain Carrozza, Stefan Eccles, Philipp A. Hoehn

  SciPost Phys. 17, 048 (2024) · published 13 August 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We develop a framework based on the covariant phase space formalism that identifies gravitational edge modes as dynamical reference frames. As such, they enable both the identification of the associated spacetime region and the imposition of boundary conditions in a gauge-invariant manner. While recent proposals considered the finite region in isolation and sought the maximal corner symmetry algebra compatible with that perspective, we here advocate to regard it as a subregion embedded in a global spacetime and study the symmetries consistent with such an embedding. This leads to advantages and differences. It clarifies that the frame, although appearing as "new" for the subregion, is built out of the field content of the complement. Given a global variational principle, it also permits us to invoke a systematic post-selection procedure, previously used in gauge theory [J. High Energy Phys. 02, 172 (2022)], to produce a consistent dynamics for a subregion with timelike boundary. As in gauge theory, requiring the subregion presymplectic structure to be conserved by the dynamics leads to an essentially unique prescription and unambiguous Hamiltonian charges. Unlike other proposals, this has the advantage that all (field-independent) spacetime diffeomorphisms acting on the subregion remain gauge and integrable (as in the global theory), and generate a first-class constraint algebra realizing the Lie algebra of spacetime vector fields. By contrast, diffeomorphisms acting on the frame-dressed spacetime, that we call relational spacetime, are in general physical, and those that are parallel to the timelike boundary are integrable. Upon further restriction to relational diffeomorphisms that preserve the boundary conditions (and hence are symmetries), we obtain a subalgebra of conserved corner charges. Physically, they correspond to reorientations of the frame and so to changes in the relation between the subregion and its complement. Finally, we explain how the boundary conditions and conserved presymplectic structure can both be encoded into boundary actions. While our formalism applies to any generally covariant theory, we illustrate it on general relativity, and conclude with a detailed comparison of our findings to earlier works.

  18 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.

  18 citations

• Polarons and bipolarons in a two-dimensional square lattice

  Shanshan Ding, G. A. Domínguez-Castro, Aleksi Julku, Arturo Camacho-Guardian, Georg M. Bruun

  SciPost Phys. 14, 143 (2023) · published 5 June 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quasiparticles and their interactions are a key part of our understanding of quantum many-body systems. Quantum simulation experiments with cold atoms have in recent years advanced our understanding of isolated quasiparticles, but so far they have provided limited information regarding their interactions and possible bound states. Here, we show how exploring mobile impurities immersed in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a two-dimensional lattice can address this problem. First, the spectral properties of individual impurities are examined, and in addition to the attractive and repulsive polarons known from continuum gases, we identify a new kind of quasiparticle stable for repulsive boson-impurity interactions. The spatial properties of polarons are calculated showing that there is an increased density of bosons at the site of the impurity both for repulsive and attractive interactions. We then derive an effective Schrödinger equation describing two polarons interacting via the exchange of density oscillations in the BEC, which takes into account strong impurity-boson two-body correlations. Using this, we show that the attractive nature of the effective interaction between two polarons combined with the two-dimensionality of the lattice leads to the formation of bound states - i.e. bipolarons. The wave functions of the bipolarons are examined showing that the ground state is symmetric under particle exchange and therefore relevant for bosonic impurities, whereas the first excited state is doubly degenerate and odd under particle exchange making it relevant for fermionic impurities. Our results show that quantum gas microscopy in optical lattices is a promising platform to explore the spatial properties of polarons as well as to finally observe the elusive bipolarons.

  18 citations

• Statistical mechanics of coupled supercooled liquids in finite dimensions

  Benjamin Guiselin, Ludovic Berthier, Gilles Tarjus

  SciPost Phys. 12, 091 (2022) · published 14 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the statistical mechanics of supercooled liquids when the system evolves at a temperature $T$ with a field $\epsilon$ linearly coupled to its overlap with a reference configuration of the same liquid sampled at a temperature $T_0$. We use mean-field theory to fully characterize the influence of the reference temperature $T_0$, and we mainly study the case of a fixed, low-$T_0$ value in computer simulations. We numerically investigate the extended phase diagram in the $(\epsilon,T)$ plane of model glass-forming liquids in spatial dimensions $d=2$ and $d=3$, relying on umbrella sampling and reweighting techniques. For both $2d$ and $3d$ cases, a similar phenomenology with nontrivial thermodynamic fluctuations of the overlap is observed at low temperatures, but a detailed finite-size analysis reveals qualitatively distinct behaviors. We establish the existence of a first-order transition line for nonzero $\epsilon$ ending in a critical point in the universality class of the random-field Ising model (RFIM) in $d=3$. In $d=2$ instead, no phase transition is found in large enough systems at least down to temperatures below the extrapolated calorimetric glass transition temperature $T_g$. Our results confirm that glass-forming liquid samples of limited size display the thermodynamic fluctuations expected for finite systems undergoing a random first-order transition. They also support the relevance of the physics of the RFIM for supercooled liquids, which may then explain the qualitative difference between $2d$ and $3d$ glass-formers.

  18 citations