Publications

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• Nonsymmorphic spin-space cubic groups and SU(2)$_1$ conformal invariance in one-dimensional spin-1/2 models

  Wang Yang, Alberto Nocera, Chao Xu, Ian Affleck

  SciPost Phys. 17, 097 (2024) · published 1 October 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Recently, extended gapless phases with emergent SU(2)$_1$ conformal invariance occupying finite regions in the phase diagrams have been found in one-dimensional spin-1/2 models with nonsymmorphic $O_h$ symmetry groups. In this work, we investigate the question of whether the conditions for emergent SU(2)$_1$ invariance can be loosened. We find that besides the nonsymmorphic $O_h$ group, the other four smaller nonsymmorphic cubic groups including $O$, $T_h$, $T_d$ and $T$ can also give rise to emergent SU(2)$_1$ invariance. Minimal spin-1/2 models having these nonsymmorphic cubic groups as symmetry groups are constructed, and numerical evidences for the emergent SU(2)$_1$ invariance are provided. Our work is useful for understanding gapless phases in one-dimensional spin systems with nonsymmorphic symmetries.

• Nonequilibrium probability currents in optically-driven colloidal suspensions

  Samudrajit Thapa, Daniel Zaretzky, Ron Vatash, Grzegorz Gradziuk, Chase Broedersz, Yair Shokef, Yael Roichman

  SciPost Phys. 17, 096 (2024) · published 1 October 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In the absence of directional motion it is often hard to recognize athermal fluctuations. Probability currents provide such a measure in terms of the rate at which they enclose area in the reduced phase space. We measure this area enclosing rate for trapped colloidal particles, where only one particle is driven. By combining experiment, theory, and simulation, we single out the effect of the different time scales in the system on the measured probability currents. In this controlled experimental setup, particles interact hydrodynamically. These interactions lead to a strong spatial dependence of the probability currents and to a local influence of athermal agitation. In a multiple-particle system, we show that even when the driving acts only on one particle, probability currents occur between other, non-driven particles. This may have significant implications for the interpretation of fluctuations in biological systems containing elastic networks in addition to a suspending fluid.

• Fractionalization of coset non-invertible symmetry and exotic Hall conductance

  Po-Shen Hsin, Ryohei Kobayashi, Carolyn Zhang

  SciPost Phys. 17, 095 (2024) · published 27 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate fractionalization of non-invertible symmetry in (2+1)D topological orders. We focus on coset non-invertible symmetries obtained by gauging non-normal subgroups of invertible $0$-form symmetries. These symmetries can arise as global symmetries in quantum spin liquids, given by the quotient of the projective symmetry group by a non-normal subgroup as invariant gauge group. We point out that such coset non-invertible symmetries in topological orders can exhibit symmetry fractionalization: each anyon can carry a "fractional charge" under the coset non-invertible symmetry given by a gauge invariant superposition of fractional quantum numbers. We present various examples using field theories and quantum double lattice models, such as fractional quantum Hall systems with charge conjugation symmetry gauged and finite group gauge theory from gauging a non-normal subgroup. They include symmetry enriched $S_3$ and $O(2)$ gauge theories. We show that such systems have a fractionalized continuous non-invertible coset symmetry and a well-defined electric Hall conductance. The coset symmetry enforces a gapless edge state if the boundary preserves the continuous non-invertible symmetry. We propose a general approach for constructing coset symmetry defects using a "sandwich" construction: non-invertible symmetry defects can generally be constructed from an invertible defect sandwiched by condensation defects. The anomaly free condition for finite coset symmetry is also identified.

  1 citation

• Bogoliubov phonons in a Bose-Einstein condensate from the one-loop perturbative renormalization group

  Niklas Rasch, Aleksandr N. Mikheev, Thomas Gasenzer

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 066 (2024) · published 27 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Wilson's renormalization-group approach to the weakly-interacting single-component Bose gas is discussed within the symmetry-broken, condensate phase. Extending upon the work by Bijlsma and Stoof, wave-function renormalization of the temporal derivative contributions to the effective action is included in order to capture sound-like quasiparticle excitations with wave lengths larger than the healing-length scale. By means of a suitable rescaling scheme we achieve convergence of the coupling flows, which serve as a means to determine the condensate depletion in accordance with Bogoliubov theory, as well as the interaction-induced shift of the critical temperature.

• Extracting quantum-critical properties from directly evaluated enhanced perturbative continuous unitary transformations

  L. Schamriß, M. R. Walther, K. P. Schmidt

  SciPost Phys. 17, 094 (2024) · published 26 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Directly evaluated enhanced perturbative continuous unitary transformations (deepCUTs) are used to calculate non-perturbatively extrapolated numerical data for the ground-state energy and the energy gap. The data coincide with numerical evaluations of the truncated perturbative series and provide robust extrapolations beyond the perturbative regime. We develop a general scheme to extract quantum-critical properties from the deepCUT data based on critical scaling and a strict correspondence between the truncation used for deepCUT and the length scale of correlations at the critical point. We apply our approach to transverse-field Ising models (TFIMs) as paradigmatic systems for quantum phase transitions of various universality classes depending on the lattice geometry and the choice of antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic coupling. In particular, we focus on the quantum phase diagram of the bilayer antiferromagnetic TFIM on the triangular lattice with an Ising-type interlayer coupling. Without a field, the model is known to host a classically disordered ground state, and in the limit of decoupled layers it exhibits the 3d-XY 'order by disorder' transition of the corresponding single-layer model. Our starting point for the unknown parts of the phase diagram is a high-order perturbative calculation about the limit of isolated dimers where the model is in a gapped phase.

• Higgs-confinement transitions in QCD from symmetry protected topological phases

  Thomas T. Dumitrescu, Po-Shen Hsin

  SciPost Phys. 17, 093 (2024) · published 26 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In gauge theories with fundamental matter there is typically no sharp way to distinguish confining and Higgs regimes, e.g. using generalized global symmetries acting on loop order parameters. It is standard lore that these two regimes are continuously connected, as has been explicitly demonstrated in certain lattice and continuum models. We point out that Higgsing and confinement sometimes lead to distinct symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases -- necessarily separated by a phase transition -- for ordinary global symmetries. We present explicit examples in 3+1 dimensions, obtained by adding elementary Higgs fields and Yukawa couplings to QCD while preserving parity $\mathsf{P}$ and time reversal $\mathsf{T}$. In a suitable scheme, the confining phases of these theories are trivial SPTs, while their Higgs phases are characterized by non-trivial $\mathsf{P}$- and $\mathsf{T}$-invariant theta-angles $\theta_f, \theta_g = \pi$ for flavor or gravity background gauge fields, i.e. they are topological insulators or superconductors. Finally, we consider conventional three-flavor QCD (without elementary Higgs fields) at finite $U(1)_B$ baryon-number chemical potential $\mu_B$, which preserves $\mathsf{P}$ and $\mathsf{T}$. At very large $\mu_B$, three-flavor QCD is known to be a completely Higgsed color superconductor that also spontaneously breaks $U(1)_B$. We argue that this high-density phase is in fact a gapless SPT, with a gravitational theta-angle $\theta_g = \pi$ that safely co-exists with the $U(1)_B$ Nambu-Goldstone boson. We explain why this SPT motivates unexpected transitions in the QCD phase diagram, as well as anomalous surface modes at the boundary of quark-matter cores inside neutron stars.

• On perturbation around closed exclusion processes

  Masataka Watanabe

  SciPost Phys. 17, 092 (2024) · published 25 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive the formula for the stationary states of particle-number conserving exclusion processes infinitesimally perturbed by inhomogeneous adsorption and desorption. The formula not only proves but also generalises the conjecture proposed in [Phys. Rev. E 97, 032135] to account for inhomogeneous adsorption and desorption. As an application of the formula, we draw part of the phase diagrams of the open asymmetric simple exclusion process with and without Langmuir kinetics, correctly reproducing known results.

• Acceleration from a clustering environment

  Roi Holtzman, Christian Maes

  SciPost Phys. 17, 091 (2024) · published 25 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the effects of correlations in a random environment on a random walker. The dependence of its asymptotic speed on the correlations is a nonperturbative effect as it is not captured by a homogeneous version of the same environment. For a slowly cooling environment, the buildup of correlations modifies the walker's speed and, by so, realizes acceleration. We remark on the possible relevance in the discussion of cosmic acceleration as traditionally started from the Friedmann equations, which, from a statistical mechanical point of view, would amount to a mean-field approximation. Our environment is much simpler though, with transition rates sampled from the one-dimensional Ising model and allowing exact results and detailed velocity characteristics.

• Background independent tensor networks

  Chris Akers, Annie Y. Wei

  SciPost Phys. 17, 090 (2024) · published 25 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Conventional holographic tensor networks can be described as toy holographic maps constructed from many small linear maps acting in a spatially local way, all connected together with "background entanglement", i.e. links of a fixed state, often the maximally entangled state. However, these constructions fall short of modeling real holographic maps. One reason is that their "areas" are trivial, taking the same value for all states, unlike in gravity where the geometry is dynamical. Recently, new constructions have ameliorated this issue by adding degrees of freedom that "live on the links". This makes areas non-trivial, equal to the background entanglement piece plus a new positive piece that depends on the state of the link degrees of freedom. Nevertheless, this still has the downside that there is background entanglement, and hence it only models relatively limited code subspaces in which every area has a definite minimum value. In this note, we simply point out that a version of these constructions goes one step further: they can be background independent, with no background entanglement in the holographic map. This is advantageous because it allows tensor networks to model holographic maps for larger code subspaces. In addition to pointing this out, we address some subtleties involved in making it work.

  2 citations

• The role of atomic interactions in cavity-induced continuous time crystals

  Christian Høj Johansen, Johannes Lang, Francesco Piazza

  SciPost Phys. 17, 089 (2024) · published 24 September 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider continuous time-crystalline phases in dissipative many-body systems of atoms in cavities, focusing on the role of short-range interatomic interactions. First, we show that the latter can alter the nature of the time crystal by changing the type of the underlying critical bifurcation. Second, we characterize the heating mechanism and dynamics resulting from the short-range interactions and demonstrate that they make the time crystal inherently metastable. We argue this is generic for the broader class of dissipative time crystals in atom-cavity systems whenever the cavity loss rate is comparable to the atomic recoil energy. We observe that such a scenario for heating has several similarities to the one proposed for preheating in the early universe, where the oscillating coherent inflation field decays into a cascade of exponentially growing fluctuations. By extending approaches for dissipative dynamical systems to our many-body problem, we obtain analytical predictions for the parameters describing the phase transition and the heating rate inside the time-crystalline phase. We underpin and extend the analytical predictions of the heating rates with numerical simulations, which also show that the metastable regime exists when the inherent stochastic nature is taken into account.