Publications

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• Exact dynamical correlations of nonlocal operators in quadratic open Fermion systems: a characteristic function approach

  Qing-Wei Wang

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 027 (2022) · published 3 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The dynamical correlations of nonlocal operators in general quadratic open fermion systems is still a challenging problem. Here we tackle this problem by developing a new formulation of open fermion many-body systems, namely, the characteristic function approach. Illustrating the technique, we analyze a finite Kitaev chain with boundary dissipation and consider anyon-type nonlocal excitations. We give explicit formula for the Green's functions, demonstrating an asymmetric light cone induced by the anyon statistical parameter and an increasing relaxation rate with this parameter. We also analyze some other types of nonlocal operator correlations such as the full counting statistics of the charge number and the Loschmidt echo in a quench from the vacuum state. The former shows clear signature of a nonequilibrium quantum phase transition, while the later exhibits cusps at some critical times and hence demonstrates dynamical quantum phase transitions.

  4 citations

• Magnetic properties of a capped kagome molecule with 60 quantum spins

  Roman Rausch, Matthias Peschke, Cassian Plorin, Christoph Karrasch

  SciPost Phys. 12, 143 (2022) · published 2 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We compute ground-state properties of the isotropic, antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the sodalite cage geometry. This is a 60-spin spherical molecule with 24 vertex-sharing tetrahedra which can be regarded as a molecular analogue of a capped kagome lattice and which has been synthesized with high-spin rare-earth atoms. Here, we focus on the $S=1/2$ case where quantum effects are strongest. We employ the SU(2)-symmetric density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG). We find a threefold degenerate ground state that breaks the spatial symmetry and that splits up the molecule into three large parts which are almost decoupled from each other. This stands in sharp contrast to the behaviour of most known spherical molecules. On a methodological level, the disconnection leads to ``glassy dynamics'' within the DMRG that cannot be targeted via standard techniques. In the presence of finite magnetic fields, we find broad magnetization plateaus at 4/5, 3/5, and 1/5 of the saturation, which one can understand in terms of localized magnons, singlets, and doublets which are again nearly decoupled from each other. At the saturation field, the zero-point entropy is $S=\ln(182)\approx 5.2$ in units of the Boltzmann constant.

  3 citations

• Primordial black holes as dark matter candidates

  Bernard Carr, Florian Kuhnel

  SciPost Phys. Lect. Notes 48 (2022) · published 2 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We review the formation and evaporation of primordial black holes (PBHs) and their possible contribution to dark matter. Various constraints suggest they could only provide most of it in the mass windows $10^{17}$ - $10^{23}\,$g or $10$ - $10^{2}\,M_{\odot}$, with the last possibility perhaps being suggested by the LIGO/Virgo observations. However, PBHs could have important consequences even if they have a low cosmological density. Sufficiently large ones might generate cosmic structures and provide seeds for the supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei. Planck-mass relics of PBH evaporations or stupendously large black holes bigger than $10^{12}\,M_{\odot}$ could also be an interesting dark component.

  71 citations

• From integrability to chaos in quantum Liouvillians

  Álvaro Rubio-García, Rafael A. Molina, Jorge Dukelsky

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 026 (2022) · published 2 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The dynamics of open quantum systems can be described by a Liouvillian, which in the Markovian approximation fulfills the Lindblad master equation. We present a family of integrable many-body Liouvillians based on Richardson-Gaudin models with a complex structure of the jump operators. Making use of this new region of integrability, we study the transition to chaos in terms of a two-parameter Liouvillian. The transition is characterized by the spectral statistics of the complex eigenvalues of the Liouvillian operators using the nearest neighbor spacing distribution and by the ratios between eigenvalue distances.

  13 citations

• Fractons in curved space

  Akash Jain, Kristan Jensen

  SciPost Phys. 12, 142 (2022) · published 29 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consistently couple simple continuum field theories with fracton excitations to curved spacetime backgrounds. We consider homogeneous and isotropic fracton field theories, with a conserved $U(1)$ charge and dipole moment. Coupling to background fields allows us to consistently define a stress-energy tensor for these theories and obtain the respective Ward identities. Along the way, we find evidence for a mixed gauge-gravitational anomaly in the symmetric tensor gauge theory which naturally couples to conserved dipoles. Our results generalise to systems with arbitrarily higher conserved moments, in particular, a conserved quadrupole moment.

  44 citations

• Second Rényi entropy and annulus partition function for one-dimensional quantum critical systems with boundaries

  Benoit Estienne, Yacine Ikhlef, Andrei Rotaru

  SciPost Phys. 12, 141 (2022) · published 29 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the entanglement entropy in critical one-dimensional quantum systems with open boundary conditions. We show that the second Rényi entropy of an interval away from the boundary can be computed exactly, provided the same conformal boundary condition is applied on both sides. The result involves the annulus partition function. We compare our exact result with numerical computations for the critical quantum Ising chain with open boundary conditions. We find excellent agreement, and we analyse in detail the finite-size corrections, which are known to be much larger than for a periodic system.

  5 citations

• Many-body Bell inequalities for bosonic qubits

  Jan Chwedenczuk

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 025 (2022) · published 29 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Since John Bell formulated his paramount inequality for a pair of spin-$1/2$ particles, quantum mechanics has been confronted with the postulates of local realism with various equivalent configurations. Current technology, with its advanced manipulation and detection methods, allows to extend the Bell tests to more complex structures. The aim of this work is to analyze a set of Bell inequalities suitable for a possibly broad family of many-body systems with the focus on bosonic qubits. We develop a method that allows for a step-by-step study of the many-body Bell correlations, for instance among atoms forming a two-mode Bose-Einstein condensate or between photons obtained from the parametric-down conversion. The presented approach is valid both for cases of fixed and non-fixed number of particles, hence it allows for a thorough analysis of quantum correlations in a variety of many-body systems.

  5 citations

• Crystalline Weyl semimetal phase in Quantum Spin Hall systems under magnetic fields

  Fernando Dominguez, Benedikt Scharf, Ewelina M. Hankiewicz

  SciPost Phys. Core 5, 024 (2022) · published 28 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate an unconventional topological phase transition that occurs in quantum spin Hall (QSH) systems when applying an external in-plane magnetic field. We show that this transition between QSH and trivial insulator phases is separated by a stable topological gapless phase, which is protected by the combination of particle-hole and reflection symmetries, and thus, we dub it as crystalline Weyl semimetal. We explore the stability of this new phase when particle-hole symmetry breaking terms are present. Especially, we predict a robust unconventional topological phase transition to be visible for materials described by Kane and Mele model even if particle-hole symmetry is significantly broken.

  3 citations

• Minimal $(D,D)$ conformal matter and generalizations of the van Diejen model

  Belal Nazzal, Anton Nedelin, Shlomo S. Razamat

  SciPost Phys. 12, 140 (2022) · published 26 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider supersymmetric surface defects in compactifications of the $6d$ minimal $(D_{N+3},D_{N+3})$ conformal matter theories on a punctured Riemann surface. For the case of $N=1$ such defects are introduced into the supersymmetric index computations by an action of the $BC_1\,(\sim A_1\sim C_1)$ van Diejen model. We (re)derive this fact using three different field theoretic descriptions of the four dimensional models. The three field theoretic descriptions are naturally associated with algebras $A_{N=1}$, $C_{N=1}$, and $(A_1)^{N=1}$. The indices of these $4d$ theories give rise to three different Kernel functions for the $BC_1$ van Diejen model. We then consider the generalizations with $N>1$. The operators introducing defects into the index computations are certain $A_{N}$, $C_N$, and $(A_1)^{N}$ generalizations of the van Diejen model. The three different generalizations are directly related to three different effective gauge theory descriptions one can obtain by compactifying the minimal $(D_{N+3},D_{N+3})$ conformal matter theories on a circle to five dimensions. We explicitly compute the operators for the $A_N$ case, and derive various properties these operators have to satisfy as a consequence of $4d$ dualities following from the geometric setup. In some cases we are able to verify these properties which in turn serve as checks of said dualities. As a by-product of our constructions we also discuss a simple Lagrangian description of a theory corresponding to compactification on a sphere with three maximal punctures of the minimal $(D_5,D_5)$ conformal matter and as consequence give explicit Lagrangian constructions of compactifications of this 6d SCFT on arbitrary Riemann surfaces.

  11 citations

• Universal tradeoff relation between speed, uncertainty, and dissipation in nonequilibrium stationary states

  Izaak Neri

  SciPost Phys. 12, 139 (2022) · published 22 April 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive universal thermodynamic inequalities that bound from below the moments of first-passage times of stochastic currents in nonequilibrium stationary states of Markov jump processes in the limit where the thresholds that define the first-passage problem are large. These inequalities describe a tradeoff between speed, uncertainty, and dissipation in nonequilibrium processes, which are quantified, respectively, with the moments of the first-passage times of stochastic currents, the splitting probability, and the mean entropy production rate. Near equilibrium, the inequalities imply that mean-first passage times are lower bounded by the Van't Hoff-Arrhenius law, whereas far from thermal equilibrium the bounds describe a universal speed limit for rate processes. When the current is the stochastic entropy production, then the bounds are equalities, a remarkable property that follows from the fact that the exponentiated negative entropy production is a martingale.

  11 citations