Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• The Gauge-Higgs legacy of the LHC run II

  Anke Biekoetter, Tyler Corbett, Tilman Plehn

  SciPost Phys. 6, 064 (2019) · published 5 June 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present a global analysis of the Higgs and electroweak sector based on LHC Run II and electroweak precision observables. We show which measurements provide the leading constraints on Higgs-related operators, and how the achieved LHC precision makes it necessary to combine rate measurements with electroweak precision observables. The SFitter framework allows us to include kinematic distributions beyond pre-defined ATLAS and CMS observables, independently study correlations, and avoid Gaussian assumptions for theory uncertainties. These Run II results are a step towards a precision physics program at the LHC, interpreted in terms of effective operators.

  77 citations

• The propagator of the finite XXZ spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ chain

  Gyorgy Z. Fehér, Balázs Pozsgay

  SciPost Phys. 6, 063 (2019) · published 28 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive contour integral formulas for the real space propagator of the spin-$\tfrac12$ XXZ chain. The exact results are valid in any finite volume with periodic boundary conditions, and for any value of the anisotropy parameter. The integrals are on fixed contours, that are independent of the Bethe Ansatz solution of the model and the string hypothesis. The propagator is obtained by two different methods. First we compute it through the spectral sum of a deformed model, and as a by-product we also compute the propagator of the XXZ chain perturbed by a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction term. As a second way we also compute the propagator through a lattice path integral, which is evaluated exactly utilizing the so-called $F$-basis in the mirror (or quantum) channel. The final expressions are similar to the Yudson representation of the infinite volume propagator, with the volume entering as a parameter. As an application of the propagator we compute the Loschmidt amplitude for the quantum quench from a domain wall state.

  3 citations

• Integrable Matrix Product States from boundary integrability

  Balázs Pozsgay, Lorenzo Piroli, Eric Vernier

  SciPost Phys. 6, 062 (2019) · published 27 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider integrable Matrix Product States (MPS) in integrable spin chains and show that they correspond to "operator valued" solutions of the so-called twisted Boundary Yang-Baxter (or reflection) equation. We argue that the integrability condition is equivalent to a new linear intertwiner relation, which we call the "square root relation", because it involves half of the steps of the reflection equation. It is then shown that the square root relation leads to the full Boundary Yang-Baxter equations. We provide explicit solutions in a number of cases characterized by special symmetries. These correspond to the "symmetric pairs" $(SU(N),SO(N))$ and $(SO(N),SO(D)\otimes SO(N-D))$, where in each pair the first and second elements are the symmetry groups of the spin chain and the integrable state, respectively. These solutions can be considered as explicit representations of the corresponding twisted Yangians, that are new in a number of cases. Examples include certain concrete MPS relevant for the computation of one-point functions in defect AdS/CFT.

  38 citations

• Planckian dissipation, minimal viscosity and the transport in cuprate strange metals

  Jan Zaanen

  SciPost Phys. 6, 061 (2019) · published 20 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Could it be that the matter from the electrons in high Tc superconductors is of a radically new kind that may be called "many body entangled compressible quantum matter"? Much of this text is intended as an easy to read tutorial, explaining recent theoretical advances that have been unfolding at the cross roads of condensed matter- and string theory, black hole physics as well as quantum information theory. These developments suggest that the physics of such matter may be governed by surprisingly simple principles. My real objective is to present an experimental strategy to test critically whether these principles are actually at work, revolving around the famous linear resistivity characterizing the strange metal phase. The theory suggests a very simple explanation of this "unreasonably simple" behavior that is actually directly linked to remarkable results from the study of the quark gluon plasma formed at the heavy ion colliders: the "fast hydrodynamization" and the "minimal viscosity". This leads to high quality predictions for experiment: the momentum relaxation rate governing the resistivity relates directly to the electronic entropy, while at low temperatures the electron fluid should become unviscous to a degree that turbulent flows can develop even on the nanometre scale.

  132 citations

• Conditions for fully gapped topological superconductivity in topological insulator nanowires

  Fernando de Juan, Jens H. Bardarson, Roni Ilan

  SciPost Phys. 6, 060 (2019) · published 17 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Among the different platforms to engineer Majorana fermions in one-dimensional topological superconductors, topological insulator nanowires remain a promising option. Threading an odd number of flux quanta through these wires induces an odd number of surface channels, which can then be gapped with proximity induced pairing. Because of the flux and depending on energetics, the phase of this surface pairing may or may not wind around the wire in the form of a vortex. Here we show that for wires with discrete rotational symmetry, this vortex is necessary to produce a fully gapped topological superconductor with localized Majorana end states. Without a vortex the proximitized wire remains gapless, and it is only if the symmetry is broken by disorder that a gap develops, which is much smaller than the one obtained with a vortex. These results are explained with the help of a continuum model and validated numerically with a tight binding model, and highlight the benefit of a vortex for reliable use of Majorana fermions in this platform.

  20 citations

• On the size of the space spanned by a nonequilibrium state in a quantum spin lattice system

  Maurizio Fagotti

  SciPost Phys. 6, 059 (2019) · published 15 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We consider the time evolution of a state in an isolated quantum spin lattice system with energy cumulants proportional to the number of the sites $L^d$. We compute the distribution of the eigenvalues of the time averaged state over a time window $[t_0,t_0+t]$ in the limit of large $L$. This allows us to infer the size of a subspace that captures time evolution in $[t_0,t_0+t]$ with an accuracy $1-\epsilon$. We estimate the size to be $ \frac{\sqrt{2\mathfrak{e}_2}}{\pi}\mathrm{erf}^{-1}(1-\epsilon) L^{\frac{d}{2}}t$, where $\mathfrak{e}_2$ is the energy variance per site, and $\mathrm{erf}^{-1}$ is the inverse error function.

  3 citations

• The impact of non-ideal surfaces on the solid-water interaction: a time-resolved adsorption study

  Matthias M. May, Helena Stange, Jonas Weinrich, Thomas Hannappel, Oliver Supplie

  SciPost Phys. 6, 058 (2019) · published 13 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The initial interaction of water with semiconductors determines the electronic structure of the solid-liquid interface. The exact nature of this interaction is, however, often unknown. Here, we study gallium phosphide-based surfaces exposed to H2O by means of in situ reflection anisotropy spectroscopy. We show that the introduction of typical imperfections in the form of surface steps or trace contaminants not only changes the dynamics of the interaction, but also its qualitative nature. This emphasises the challenges for the comparability of experiments with (idealised) electronic structure models for electrochemistry.

  4 citations

• Free fermions at the edge of interacting systems

  Jean-Marie Stéphan

  SciPost Phys. 6, 057 (2019) · published 10 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the edge behavior of inhomogeneous one-dimensional quantum systems, such as Lieb-Liniger models in traps or spin chains in spatially varying magnetic fields. For free systems these fall into several universality classes, the most generic one being governed by the Tracy-Widom distribution. We investigate in this paper the effect of interactions. Using semiclassical arguments, we show that since the density vanishes to leading order, the strong interactions in the bulk are renormalized to zero at the edge, which simply explains the survival of Tracy-Widom scaling in general. For integrable systems, it is possible to push this argument further, and determine exactly the remaining length scale which controls the variance of the edge distribution. This analytical prediction is checked numerically, with excellent agreement. We also study numerically the edge scaling at fronts generated by quantum quenches, which provide new universality classes awaiting theoretical explanation.

  29 citations

• Renormalization group consistency and low-energy effective theories

  Jens Braun, Marc Leonhardt, Jan M. Pawlowski

  SciPost Phys. 6, 056 (2019) · published 9 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Low-energy effective theories have been used very successfully to study the low-energy limit of QCD, providing us with results for a plethora of phenomena, ranging from bound-state formation to phase transitions in QCD. These theories are consistent quantum field theories by themselves and can be embedded in QCD, but typically have a physical ultraviolet cutoff that restricts their range of validity. Here, we provide a discussion of the concept of renormalization group consistency, aiming at an analysis of cutoff effects and regularization-scheme dependences in general studies of low-energy effective theories. For illustration, our findings are applied to low-energy effective models of QCD in different approximations including the mean-field approximation. More specifically, we consider hot and dense as well as finite systems and demonstrate that violations of renormalization group consistency affect significantly the predictive power of the corresponding model calculations.

  33 citations

• Experimental input from $e^+e^-$ for $a_{\mu}$ light-by-light

  Yuping Guo on behalf of BESIII Collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 1, 054 (2019) · published 9 May 2019 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The anomalous magnetic momentum of the muon, $a_{\mu}$, has been measured and calculated with a precision up to $~0.5$ ppm, but there is a 3 to 4 standard deviations between these two values. The uncertainty in the calculation is dominated by the hadronic part, including the hadronic vacuum polarization and the hadronic light-by-light. The meson transition form factors and the helicity amplitudes can be used as input or constraint to the calculation of the hadronic light-by-light contribution. Latest experimental studies of the transition form factors of $\pi^0$, $\eta$, and $\eta^{*}$ and the cross-section of $\gamma\gamma^*\to\pi^+\pi-$from $e^+e^-$ collider are presented.