Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Probing many-body localization in a disordered quantum dimer model on the honeycomb lattice

  Francesca Pietracaprina, Fabien Alet

  SciPost Phys. 10, 044 (2021) · published 22 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We numerically study the possibility of many-body localization transition in a disordered quantum dimer model on the honeycomb lattice. By using the peculiar constraints of this model and state-of-the-art exact diagonalization and time evolution methods, we probe both eigenstates and dynamical properties and conclude on the existence of a localization transition, on the available time and length scales (system sizes of up to N=108 sites). We critically discuss these results and their implications.

  14 citations

• Tangent-space methods for truncating uniform MPS

  Bram Vanhecke, Maarten Van Damme, Jutho Haegeman, Laurens Vanderstraeten, Frank Verstraete

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 004 (2021) · published 19 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A central primitive in quantum tensor network simulations is the problem of approximating a matrix product state with one of a lower bond dimension. This problem forms the central bottleneck in algorithms for time evolution and for contracting projected entangled pair states. We formulate a tangent-space based variational algorithm to achieve this for uniform (infinite) matrix product states. The algorithm exhibits a favourable scaling of the computational cost, and we demonstrate its usefulness by several examples involving the multiplication of a matrix product state with a matrix product operator.

  10 citations

• Riemannian optimization of isometric tensor networks

  Markus Hauru, Maarten Van Damme, Jutho Haegeman

  SciPost Phys. 10, 040 (2021) · published 17 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Several tensor networks are built of isometric tensors, i.e. tensors satisfying $W^\dagger W = \mathrm{I}$. Prominent examples include matrix product states (MPS) in canonical form, the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA), and quantum circuits in general, such as those needed in state preparation and quantum variational eigensolvers. We show how gradient-based optimization methods on Riemannian manifolds can be used to optimize tensor networks of isometries to represent e.g. ground states of 1D quantum Hamiltonians. We discuss the geometry of Grassmann and Stiefel manifolds, the Riemannian manifolds of isometric tensors, and review how state-of-the-art optimization methods like nonlinear conjugate gradient and quasi-Newton algorithms can be implemented in this context. We apply these methods in the context of infinite MPS and MERA, and show benchmark results in which they outperform the best previously-known optimization methods, which are tailor-made for those specific variational classes. We also provide open-source implementations of our algorithms.

  35 citations

• Bridging nano-optics and condensed matter formalisms in a unified description of inelastic scattering of relativistic electron beams

  Hugo Lourenço-Martins, Axel Lubk, Mathieu Kociak

  SciPost Phys. 10, 031 (2021) · published 10 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In the last decades, the blossoming of experimental breakthroughs in the domain of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) has triggered a variety of theoretical developments. Those have to deal with completely different situations, from atomically resolved phonon mapping to electron circular dichroism passing by surface plasmon mapping. All of them rely on very different physical approximations and have not yet been reconciled, despite early attempts to do so. As an effort in that direction, we report on the development of a scalar relativistic quantum electrodynamic (QED) approach of the inelastic scattering of fast electrons. This theory can be adapted to describe all modern EELS experiments, and under the relevant approximations, can be reduced to any of the last EELS theories. In that aim, we present in this paper the state of the art and the basics of scalar relativistic QED relevant to the electron inelastic scattering. We then give a clear relation between the two once antagonist descriptions of the EELS, the retarded green Dyadic, usually applied to describe photonic excitations and the quasi-static mixed dynamic form factor (MDFF), more adapted to describe core electronic excitations of material. We then use this theory to establish two important EELS-related equations. The first one relates the spatially resolved EELS to the imaginary part of the photon propagator and the incoming and outgoing electron beam wavefunction, synthesizing the most common theories developed for analyzing spatially resolved EELS experiments. The second one shows that the evolution of the electron beam density matrix is proportional to the mutual coherence tensor, proving that quite universally, the electromagnetic correlations in the target are imprinted in the coherence properties of the probing electron beam.

  9 citations

• The multi-faceted inverted harmonic oscillator: Chaos and complexity

  Arpan Bhattacharyya, Wissam Chemissany, S. Shajidul Haque, Jeff Murugan, Bin Yan

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 002 (2021) · published 8 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The harmonic oscillator is the paragon of physical models; conceptually and computationally simple, yet rich enough to teach us about physics on scales that span classical mechanics to quantum field theory. This multifaceted nature extends also to its inverted counterpart, in which the oscillator frequency is analytically continued to pure imaginary values. In this article we probe the inverted harmonic oscillator (IHO) with recently developed quantum chaos diagnostics such as the out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC) and the circuit complexity. In particular, we study the OTOC for the displacement operator of the IHO with and without a non-Gaussian cubic perturbation to explore genuine and quasi scrambling respectively. In addition, we compute the full quantum Lyapunov spectrum for the inverted oscillator, finding a paired structure among the Lyapunov exponents. We also use the Heisenberg group to compute the complexity for the time evolved displacement operator, which displays chaotic behaviour. Finally, we extended our analysis to N-inverted harmonic oscillators to study the behaviour of complexity at the different timescales encoded in dissipation, scrambling and asymptotic regimes.

  57 citations

• Shape of a sound wave in a weakly-perturbed Bose gas

  Oleksandr V. Marchukov, Artem G. Volosniev

  SciPost Phys. 10, 025 (2021) · published 3 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We employ the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to study acoustic emission generated in a uniform Bose gas by a static impurity. The impurity excites a sound-wave packet, which propagates through the gas. We calculate the shape of this wave packet in the limit of long wave lengths, and argue that it is possible to extract properties of the impurity by observing this shape. We illustrate here this possibility for a Bose gas with a trapped impurity atom -- an example of a relevant experimental setup. Presented results are general for all one-dimensional systems described by the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation and can also be used in nonatomic systems, e.g., to analyze light propagation in nonlinear optical media. Finally, we calculate the shape of the sound-wave packet for a three-dimensional Bose gas assuming a spherically symmetric perturbation.

  3 citations

• On the descriptive power of Neural-Networks as constrained Tensor Networks with exponentially large bond dimension

  Mario Collura, Luca Dell'Anna, Timo Felser, Simone Montangero

  SciPost Phys. Core 4, 001 (2021) · published 2 February 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  In many cases, Neural networks can be mapped into tensor networks with an exponentially large bond dimension. Here, we compare different sub-classes of neural network states, with their mapped tensor network counterpart for studying the ground state of short-range Hamiltonians. We show that when mapping a neural network, the resulting tensor network is highly constrained and thus the neural network states do in general not deliver the naive expected drastic improvement against the state-of-the-art tensor network methods. We explicitly show this result in two paradigmatic examples, the 1D ferromagnetic Ising model and the 2D antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, addressing the lack of a detailed comparison of the expressiveness of these increasingly popular, variational ans\"atze.

  6 citations

• Hidden symmetries, the Bianchi classification and geodesics of the quantum geometric ground-state manifolds

  Diego Liska, Vladimir Gritsev

  SciPost Phys. 10, 020 (2021) · published 28 January 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the Killing vectors of the quantum ground-state manifold of a parameter-dependent Hamiltonian. We find that the manifold may have symmetries that are not visible at the level of the Hamiltonian and that different quantum phases of matter exhibit different symmetries. We propose a Bianchi-based classification of the various ground-state manifolds using the Lie algebra of the Killing vector fields. Moreover, we explain how to exploit these symmetries to find geodesics and explore their behaviour when crossing critical lines. We briefly discuss the relation between geodesics, energy fluctuations and adiabatic preparation protocols. Our primary example is the anisotropic transverse-field Ising model. We also analyze the Ising limit and find analytic solutions to the geodesic equations for both cases.

  4 citations

• Approaching the Tsirelson bound with a Sagnac source of polarization-entangled photons

  Sandra Meraner, Robert J. Chapman, Stefan Frick, Robert Keil, Maximilian Prilmüller, Gregor Weihs

  SciPost Phys. 10, 017 (2021) · published 26 January 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  High-fidelity polarization-entangled photons are a powerful resource for quantum communication, distributing entanglement and quantum teleportation. The Bell-CHSH inequality $S\leq2$ is violated by bipartite entanglement and only maximally entangled states can achieve $S=2\sqrt{2}$, the Tsirelson bound. Spontaneous parametric down-conversion sources can produce entangled photons with correlations close to the Tsirelson bound. Sagnac configurations offer intrinsic stability, compact footprint and high collection efficiency, however, there is often a trade off between source brightness and entanglement visibility. Here, we present a Sagnac polarization-entangled source with $2\sqrt{2}-S=(5.65\pm0.57\times10^{-3})$, on-par with the highest $S$ parameters recorded, while generating and detecting $(4660\pm70)pairs/s/mW$, which is a substantially higher brightness than previously reported for Sagnac sources and around two orders of magnitude brighter than for traditional cone sources with the highest $S$ parameters. Our source records $0.9953\pm0.0003$ concurrence and $0.99743\pm0.00014$ fidelity to an ideal Bell state. By studying systematic errors in Sagnac sources, we identify that the precision of the collection focal point inside the crystal plays the largest role in reducing the $S$ parameter in our experiment. We provide a pathway that could enable the highest $S$ parameter recorded with a Sagnac source to-date while maintaining very high brightness.

  7 citations

• Quantum eigenstates from classical Gibbs distributions

  Pieter W. Claeys, Anatoli Polkovnikov

  SciPost Phys. 10, 014 (2021) · published 22 January 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We discuss how the language of wave functions (state vectors) and associated non-commuting Hermitian operators naturally emerges from classical mechanics by applying the inverse Wigner-Weyl transform to the phase space probability distribution and observables. In this language, the Schr\"odinger equation follows from the Liouville equation, with $\hbar$ now a free parameter. Classical stationary distributions can be represented as sums over stationary states with discrete (quantized) energies, where these states directly correspond to quantum eigenstates. Interestingly, it is now classical mechanics which allows for apparent negative probabilities to occupy eigenstates, dual to the negative probabilities in Wigner's quasiprobability distribution. These negative probabilities are shown to disappear when allowing sufficient uncertainty in the classical distributions. We show that this correspondence is particularly pronounced for canonical Gibbs ensembles, where classical eigenstates satisfy an integral eigenvalue equation that reduces to the Schr\"odinger equation in a saddle-point approximation controlled by the inverse temperature. We illustrate this correspondence by showing that some paradigmatic examples such as tunneling, band structures, Berry phases, Landau levels, level statistics and quantum eigenstates in chaotic potentials can be reproduced to a surprising precision from a classical Gibbs ensemble, without any reference to quantum mechanics and with all parameters (including $\hbar$) on the order of unity.

  6 citations