Publications

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• Displaced Drude peak and bad metal from the interaction with slow fluctuations.

  Simone Fratini, Sergio Ciuchi

  SciPost Phys. 11, 039 (2021) · published 24 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Scattering by slowly fluctuating degrees of freedom can cause a transient localization of the current-carrying electrons in metals, driving the system away from normal metallic behavior. We illustrate and characterize this general phenomenon by studying how signatures of localization emerge in the optical conductivity of electrons interacting with slow bosonic fluctuations. The buildup of quantum localization corrections manifests itself in the emergence of a displaced Drude peak (DDP), whose existence strongly alters the low frequency optical response and suppresses the d.c. conductivity. We find that for sufficiently strong interactions, many-body renormalization of the fluctuating field induced at metallic densities enhances electron localization and the ensuing DDP phenomenon in comparison with the well-studied low concentration limit. Our results are compatible with the frequent observation of DDPs in electronic systems where slowly fluctuating degrees of freedom couple significantly to the charge carriers.

  16 citations

• Jacobi-Lie T-plurality

  Jose J. Fernandez-Melgarejo, Yuho Sakatani

  SciPost Phys. 11, 038 (2021) · published 23 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We propose a Leibniz algebra, to be called DD$^+$, which is a generalization of the Drinfel'd double. We find that there is a one-to-one correspondence between a DD$^+$ and a Jacobi-Lie bialgebra, extending the known correspondence between a Lie bialgebra and a Drinfel'd double. We then construct generalized frame fields $E_A{}^M\in\text{O}(D,D)\times\mathbb{R}^+$ satisfying the algebra ${\cal L}_{E_A}E_B = - X_{AB}{}^C\,E_C$, where $X_{AB}{}^C$ are the structure constants of the DD$^+$ and ${\cal L}$ is the generalized Lie derivative in double field theory. Using the generalized frame fields, we propose the Jacobi-Lie $T$-plurality and show that it is a symmetry of double field theory. We present several examples of the Jacobi-Lie $T$-plurality with or without Ramond-Ramond fields and the spectator fields.

  5 citations

• Weak integrability breaking and level spacing distribution

  D. Szász-Schagrin, B. Pozsgay, G. Takács

  SciPost Phys. 11, 037 (2021) · published 23 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Recently it was suggested that certain perturbations of integrable spin chains lead to a weak breaking of integrability in the sense that integrability is preserved at the first order in the coupling. Here we examine this claim using level spacing distribution. We find that the volume dependent crossover between integrable and chaotic level spacing statistics which marks the onset of quantum chaotic behaviour, is markedly different for weak vs. strong breaking of integrability. In particular, for the gapless case we find that the crossover coupling as a function of the volume $L$ scales with a $1/L^2$ law for weak breaking as opposed to the $1/L^3$ law previously found for the strong case.

  17 citations

• Proving the 6d Cardy formula and matching global gravitational anomalies

  Chi-Ming Chang, Martin Fluder, Ying-Hsuan Lin, Yifan Wang

  SciPost Phys. 11, 036 (2021) · published 23 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A Cardy formula for 6d superconformal field theories (SCFTs) conjectured by Di Pietro and Komargodski governs the universal behavior of the supersymmetric partition function on $S^1_\beta \times S^5$ in the limit of small $\beta$ and fixed squashing of the $S^5$. For a general 6d SCFT, we study its 5d effective action, which is dominated by the supersymmetric completions of perturbatively gauge-invariant Chern-Simons terms in the small $\beta$ limit. Explicitly evaluating these supersymmetric completions gives the precise squashing dependence in the Cardy formula. For SCFTs with a pure Higgs branch (also known as very Higgsable SCFTs), we determine the Chern-Simons levels by explicitly going onto the Higgs branch and integrating out the Kaluza-Klein modes of the 6d fields on $S^1_\beta$. We then discuss tensor branch flows, where an apparent mismatch between the formula in Di Pietro-Komargodski and the free field answer requires an additional contribution from BPS strings. This "missing contribution" is further sharpened by the relation between the fractional part of the Chern-Simons levels and the (mixed) global gravitational anomalies of the 6d SCFT. We also comment on the Cardy formula for 4d $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs in relation to Higgs branch and Coulomb branch flows.

  4 citations

• Spontaneous symmetry breaking in free theories with boundary potentials

  Vladimir Procházka, Alexander Söderberg

  SciPost Phys. 11, 035 (2021) · published 19 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Patterns of symmetry breaking induced by potentials at the boundary of free $O(N)$-models in $d=3- \epsilon$ dimensions are studied. We show that the spontaneous symmetry breaking in these theories leads to a boundary RG flow ending with $N - 1$ Neumann modes in the IR. The possibility of fluctuation-induced symmetry breaking is examined and we derive a general formula for computing one-loop effective potentials at the boundary. Using the $\epsilon$-expansion we test these ideas in an $O(N)\oplus O(N)$-model with boundary interactions. We determine the RG flow diagram of this theory and find that it has an IR-stable critical point satisfying conformal boundary conditions. The leading correction to the effective potential is computed and we argue the existence of a phase boundary separating the region flowing to the symmetric fixed point from the region flowing to a symmetry-broken phase with a combination of Neumann and Dirchlet boundary conditions.

  3 citations

• Late time physics of holographic quantum chaos

  Alexander Altland, Julian Sonner

  SciPost Phys. 11, 034 (2021) · published 18 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Quantum chaotic systems are often defined via the assertion that their spectral statistics coincides with, or is well approximated by, random matrix theory. In this paper we explain how the universal content of random matrix theory emerges as the consequence of a simple symmetry-breaking principle and its associated Goldstone modes. This allows us to write down an effective-field theory (EFT) description of quantum chaotic systems, which is able to control the level statistics up to an accuracy ${\cal O} \left(e^{-S} \right)$ with $S$ the entropy. We explain how the EFT description emerges from explicit ensembles, using the example of a matrix model with arbitrary invariant potential, but also when and how it applies to individual quantum systems, without reference to an ensemble. Within AdS/CFT this gives a general framework to express correlations between "different universes" and we explicitly demonstrate the bulk realization of the EFT in minimal string theory where the Goldstone modes are bound states of strings stretching between bulk spectral branes. We discuss the construction of the EFT of quantum chaos also in higher dimensional field theories, as applicable for example for higher-dimensional AdS/CFT dual pairs.

  59 citations

• Universal features of higher-form symmetries at phase transitions

  Xiao-Chuan Wu, Chao-Ming Jian, Cenke Xu

  SciPost Phys. 11, 033 (2021) · published 18 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the behavior of higher-form symmetries at various quantum phase transitions. We consider discrete 1-form symmetries, which can be either part of the generalized concept ``categorical symmetry" (labelled as $\tilde{Z}_N^{(1)}$) introduced recently, or an explicit $Z_N^{(1)}$ 1-form symmetry. We demonstrate that for many quantum phase transitions involving a $Z_N^{(1)}$ or $\tilde{Z}_N^{(1)}$ symmetry, the following expectation value $ \langle \left( \log O_\mathcal{C} \right)^2 \rangle$ takes the form $\langle \left( \log O_\mathcal{C} \right)^2 \rangle \sim - \frac{A}{\epsilon} P+ b \log P $, where $O_\mathcal{C} $ is an operator defined associated with loop $\mathcal{C} $ (or its interior $\mathcal{A} $), which reduces to the Wilson loop operator for cases with an explicit $Z_N^{(1)}$ 1-form symmetry. $P$ is the perimeter of $\mathcal{C} $, and the $b \log P$ term arises from the sharp corners of the loop $\mathcal{C} $, which is consistent with recent numerics on a particular example. $b$ is a universal microscopic-independent number, which in $(2+1)d$ is related to the universal conductivity at the quantum phase transition. $b$ can be computed exactly for certain transitions using the dualities between $(2+1)d$ conformal field theories developed in recent years. We also compute the ``strange correlator" of $O_\mathcal{C} $: $S_{\mathcal{C} } = \langle 0 | O_\mathcal{C} | 1 \rangle / \langle 0 | 1 \rangle$ where $|0\rangle$ and $|1\rangle$ are many-body states with different topological nature.

  25 citations

• Comments on foliated gauge theories and dualities in 3+1d

  Po-Shen Hsin, Kevin Slagle

  SciPost Phys. 11, 032 (2021) · published 17 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the properties of foliated gauge fields and construct several foliated field theories in 3+1d that describe foliated fracton orders both with and without matter, including the recent hybrid fracton models. These field theories describe Abelian or non-Abelian gauge theories coupled to foliated gauge fields, and they fall into two classes of models that we call the electric models and the magnetic models. We show that these two classes of foliated field theories enjoy a duality. We also construct a model (using foliated gauge fields and an exactly solvable lattice Hamiltonian model) for a subsystem-symmetry protected topological (SSPT) phase, which is analogous to a one-form symmetry protected topological phase, with the subsystem symmetry acting on codimension-two subregions. We construct the corresponding gauged SSPT phase as a foliated two-form gauge theory. Some instances of the gauged SSPT phase are a variant of the X-cube model with the same ground state degeneracy and the same fusion, but different particle statistics.

  25 citations

• Entanglement entropy with Lifshitz fermions

  Dion Hartmann, Kevin Kavanagh, Stefan Vandoren

  SciPost Phys. 11, 031 (2021) · published 17 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate fermions with Lifshitz scaling symmetry and study their entanglement entropy in 1+1 dimensions as a function of the scaling exponent $z$. Remarkably, in the ground state the entanglement entropy vanishes for even values of $z$, whereas for odd values it is independent of $z$ and equal to the relativistic case with $z=1$. We show this using the correlation method on the lattice, and also using a holographic cMERA approach. The entanglement entropy in a thermal state is a more detailed function of $z$ and $T$ which we plot using the lattice correlation method. The dependence on the even- or oddness of $z$ still shows for small temperatures, but is washed out for large temperatures or large values of $z$.

  6 citations

• Mott transition in a cavity-boson system: A quantitative comparison between theory and experiment

  Rui Lin, Christoph Georges, Jens Klinder, Paolo Molignini, Miriam Büttner, Axel U. J. Lode, R. Chitra, Andreas Hemmerich, Hans Keßler

  SciPost Phys. 11, 030 (2021) · published 17 August 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The competition between short-range and cavity-mediated infinite-range interactions in a cavity-boson system leads to the existence of a superfluid phase and a Mott-insulator phase within the self-organized regime. In this work, we quantitatively compare the steady-state phase boundaries of this transition measured in experiments and simulated using the Multiconfigurational Time-Dependent Hartree Method for Indistinguishable Particles. To make the problem computationally feasible, we represent the full system by the exact many-body wave function of a two-dimensional four-well potential. We argue that the validity of this representation comes from the nature of both the cavity-atomic system and the Bose-Hubbard physics. Additionally we show that the chosen representation only induces small systematic errors, and that the experimentally measured and theoretically predicted phase boundaries agree reasonably. We thus demonstrate a new approach for the quantitative numerical determination of the superfluid--Mott-insulator phase boundary.

  11 citations