Publications

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Triplet character of 2D-fermion dimers arising from $s$-wave attraction via spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman splitting

Ulrich Ebling, Ulrich Zülicke, Joachim Brand

SciPost Phys. 12, 167 (2022) · published 19 May 2022 | · pdf

We theoretically study spin-$1/2$ fermions confined to two spatial dimensions and experiencing isotropic short-range attraction in the presence of both spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman spin splitting - a prototypical system for developing topological superfluidity in the many-body sector. Exact solutions for two-particle bound states are found to have a triplet contribution that dominates over the singlet part in an extended region of parameter space where the combined Zeeman- and center-of-mass-motion-induced spin-splitting energy is large. The triplet character of dimers is purest in the regime of weak $s$-wave interaction strength. Center-of-mass momentum is one of the parameters determining the existence of bound states, which we map out for both two- and one-dimensional types of spin-orbit coupling. Distinctive features emerging in the orbital part of the bound-state wave function, including but not limited to its $p$-wave character, provide observable signatures of unconventional pairing.
Localization control born of intertwined quasiperiodicity and non-Hermiticity

Junmo Jeon, SungBin Lee

SciPost Phys. Core 6, 077 (2023) · published 9 November 2023 | · pdf

Quasiperiodic systems are neither randomly disordered nor translationally invariant in the absence of periodic length scales. Based on their incommensurate order, novel physical properties such as critical states and self-similar wavefunctions have been actively discussed. However, in open systems generally described by the non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, it is hardly known how such quasiperiodic order would lead to new phenomena. In this work, we show that the intertwined quasiperiodicity and non-Hermiticity can give rise to striking effects: perfect delocalization of the critical and localized states to the extended states. In particular, we explore the wave function localization character in the Aubry-André-Fibonacci (AAF) model where non-reciprocal hopping phases are present. Here, the AAF model continuously interpolates the two different limits between metal to insulator transition and the critical states, and the non-Hermiticity is encoded in the hopping phase factors. Surprisingly, their interplay results in the perfect delocalization of the states, which is never allowed in quasiperiodic systems with Hermiticity. By quantifying the localization via the inverse participation ratio and the fractal dimension, we discuss that the non-Hermitian hopping phase leads to delicate control of localization characteristics of the wave function. Our work offers (1) emergent delocalization transition in quasiperiodic systems via non-Hermitian hopping phase and (2) detailed localization control of the critical states. In addition, we suggest an experimental realization of controllable localized, critical and delocalized states, using photonic crystals.
Abelian combinatorial gauge symmetry

Hongji Yu, Dmitry Green, Andrei E. Ruckenstein, Claudio Chamon

SciPost Phys. Core 7, 014 (2024) · published 26 March 2024 | · pdf

Combinatorial gauge symmetry is a principle that allows us to construct lattice gauge theories with two key and distinguishing properties: a) only one- and two-body interactions are needed; and b) the symmetry is exact rather than emergent in an effective or perturbative limit. The ground state exhibits topological order for a range of parameters. This paper is a generalization of the construction to any finite Abelian group. In addition to the general mathematical construction, we present a physical implementation in superconducting wire arrays, which offers a route to the experimental realization of lattice gauge theories with static Hamiltonians.
Quantum spin nematic liquid in the low-dimensional anisotropic magnets -S=1/2 delta spin chain with the anisotropic ferromagnetic interaction in magnetic field-

Toru Sakai, Rito Furuchi, Hiroki Nakano, Kiyomi Okamoto

SciPost Phys. Proc. 11, 001 (2023) · published 5 June 2023 | · pdf

The magnetization process of the $S=1/2$ delta chain with the anisotropic ferromagnetic interaction is investigated using the numerical diagonalization of finite-size clusters. It is found that the spin nematic liquid phase appears in higher magnetization region, as well as the SDW liquid one in lower region.
Bistabilities and domain walls in weakly open quantum systems

Florian Lange, Achim Rosch

SciPost Phys. 9, 057 (2020) · published 21 October 2020 | · pdf

Weakly pumped systems with approximate conservation laws can be efficiently described by a generalized Gibbs ensemble if the steady state of the system is unique. However, such a description can fail if there are multiple steady state solutions, for example, a bistability. In this case domains and domain walls may form. In one-dimensional (1D) systems any type of noise (thermal or non-thermal) will in general lead to a proliferation of such domains. We study this physics in a 1D spin chain with two approximate conservation laws, energy and the $z$-component of the total magnetization. A bistability in the magnetization is induced by the coupling to suitably chosen Lindblad operators. We analyze the theory for a weak coupling strength $\epsilon$ to the non-equilibrium bath. In this limit, we argue that one can use hydrodynamic approximations which describe the system locally in terms of space- and time-dependent Lagrange parameters. Here noise terms enforce the creation of domains, where the typical width of a domain wall goes as $\sim 1/\sqrt{\epsilon}$ while the density of domain walls is exponentially small in $1/\sqrt{\epsilon}$. This is shown by numerical simulations of a simplified hydrodynamic equation in the presence of noise.
Topological defects in Floquet circuits

Mao Tian Tan, Yifan Wang, Aditi Mitra

SciPost Phys. 16, 075 (2024) · published 13 March 2024 | · pdf

We introduce a Floquet circuit describing the driven Ising chain with topological defects. The corresponding gates include a defect that flips spins as well as the duality defect that explicitly implements the Kramers-Wannier duality transformation. The Floquet unitary evolution operator commutes with such defects, but the duality defect is not unitary, as it projects out half the states. We give two applications of these defects. One is to analyze the return amplitudes in the presence of "space-like" defects stretching around the system. We verify explicitly that the return amplitudes are in agreement with the fusion rules of the defects. The second application is to study unitary evolution in the presence of "time-like" defects that implement anti-periodic and duality-twisted boundary conditions. We show that a single unpaired localized Majorana zero mode appears in the latter case. We explicitly construct this operator, which acts as a symmetry of this Floquet circuit. We also present analytic expressions for the entanglement entropy after a single time step for a system of a few sites, for all of the above defect configurations.
Free fermions beyond Jordan and Wigner

Paul Fendley, Balazs Pozsgay

SciPost Phys. 16, 102 (2024) · published 10 April 2024 | · pdf

The Jordan-Wigner transformation is frequently utilised to rewrite quantum spin chains in terms of fermionic operators. When the resulting Hamiltonian is bilinear in these fermions, i.e. the fermions are free, the exact spectrum follows from the eigenvalues of a matrix whose size grows only linearly with the volume of the system. However, several Hamiltonians that do not admit a Jordan-Wigner transformation to fermion bilinears still have the same type of free-fermion spectra. The spectra of such "free fermions in disguise" models can be found exactly by an intricate but explicit construction of the raising and lowering operators. We generalise the methods further to find a family of such spin chains. We compute the exact spectrum, and generalise an elegant graph-theory construction. We also explain how this family admits an N=2 lattice supersymmetry.
Andreev bound states at boundaries of polarized 2D Fermi superfluids with s-wave pairing and spin-orbit coupling

Kadin Thompson, Joachim Brand, Ulrich Zuelicke

SciPost Phys. 14, 115 (2023) · published 16 May 2023 | · pdf

A topological superfluid phase characterized by an emergent chiral-p-wave pair potential is expected to form in a two-dimensional Fermi superfluid subject to s-wave pairing, spin-orbit coupling and a large-enough Zeeman splitting. Andreev bound states appear at phase boundaries, including Majorana zero modes whose existence is assured by the bulk-boundary correspondence principle. Here we study the physical properties of these subgap-energy bound states at step-like interfaces using the spin-resolved Bogoliubov-de$\,$Gennes mean-field formalism and assuming small spin-orbit coupling. Extending a recently developed spin-projection technique based on Feshbach partitioning [SciPost Phys. 5, 016 (2018)] combined with the Andreev approximation allows us to obtain remarkably simple analytical expressions for the bound-state energies as well as the majority and minority spin components of their wave functions. Besides the vacuum boundary, where a majority-spin Majorana excitation is encountered, we also consider the boundary between the topological and a nontopological superfluid phase that can appear in a coexistence scenario due to the first-order topological phase transition predicted for this system. At this superfluid-superfluid interface, we find a localized chiral Majorana mode hosted by the minority-spin sector. Our theory further predicts majority-spin subgap-energy bound states similar to those found at a Josephson junction between same-chirality p-wave superfluids. Their presence affects the Majorana mode due to a coupling of minority and majority spin sectors only in the small energy range where their spectra overlap. Our results may inform experimental efforts aimed at realizing and characterizing unconventional Majorana quasiparticles.
Faraday rotation and transmittance as markers of topological phase transitions in 2D materials

Manuel Calixto, Alberto Mayorgas, Nicolás A. Cordero, Elvira Romera, Octavio Héctor Castaños Garza

SciPost Phys. 16, 077 (2024) · published 18 March 2024 | · pdf

We analyze the magneto-optical conductivity (and related magnitudes like transmittance and Faraday rotation of the irradiated polarized light) of some elemental two-dimensional Dirac materials of group IV (graphene analogues, buckled honeycomb lattices, like silicene, germanene, stannane, etc.), group V (phosphorene), and zincblende heterostructures (like HgTe/CdTe quantum wells) near the Dirac and gamma points, under out-of-plane magnetic and electric fields, to characterize topological-band insulator phase transitions and their critical points. We provide plots of the Faraday angle and transmittance as a function of the polarized light frequency, for different external electric and magnetic fields, chemical potential, HgTe layer thickness and temperature, to tune the material magneto-optical properties. We have shown that absortance/transmittance acquires extremal values at the critical point, where the Faraday angle changes sign, thus providing fine markers of the topological phase transition. In the case of non-topological materials as phosphorene, a minimum of the transmittance is also observed due to the energy gap closing by an external electric field.
Majorana lattice gauge theory: Symmetry breaking, topological order and intertwined orders all in one

Jian-Jian Miao

SciPost Phys. 14, 111 (2023) · published 15 May 2023 | · pdf

The Majorana lattice gauge theory purely composed of Majorana fermions on square lattice is studied throughly. The ground state is obtained exactly and exhibits the coexistence of symmetry breaking and topological order. The $Z_2$ symmetry breaking of matter fields leads to the intertwined antiferromagnetic spin order and $\eta$-pairing order. The topological order is reflected in the $Z_2$ quantum spin liquid ground state of gauge fields. The Majorana lattice gauge theory, alternatively can be viewed as interacting Majorana fermion model, is possibly realized on a Majorana-zero-mode lattice.

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