Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Multiple Andreev reflections in diffusive SINIS and SIFIS junctions

  Artem V. Polkin, Pavel A. Ioselevich

  SciPost Phys. 15, 100 (2023) · published 18 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study Multiple Andreev Reflections in long diffusive superconductor(S)-normal metal(N)-superconductor junctions with low-transparency interfaces. Assuming strong thermalization in the weak link, we calculate the current-voltage dependence $I(V)$. At intermediate temperatures, $\varepsilon_\mathrm{Th}\ll T\ll\Delta$, the current is dominated by noncoherent multiple Andreev reflections and is obtained analytically. The results are generalized to a ferromagnetic junction. We find that the exchange field produces a non-trivial splitting of the subharmonic gap structure. This effect relies on thermalization and vanishes in SFS junctions with no energy relaxation in the weak link.

• Symmetries and anomalies of Kitaev spin-S models: Identifying symmetry-enforced exotic quantum matter

  Ruizhi Liu, Ho Tat Lam, Han Ma, Liujun Zou

  SciPost Phys. 16, 100 (2024) · published 9 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We analyze the internal symmetries and their anomalies in the Kitaev spin-$S$ models. Importantly, these models have a lattice version of a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ 1-form symmetry, denoted by $\mathbb{Z}_2^{[1]}$. There is also an ordinary 0-form $\mathbb{Z}_2^{(x)}×\mathbb{Z}_2^{(y)}×\mathbb{Z}_2^T$ symmetry, where $\mathbb{Z}_2^{(x)}×\mathbb{Z}_2^{(y)}$ are $\pi$ spin rotations around two orthogonal axes, and $\mathbb{Z}_2^T$ is the time reversal symmetry. The anomalies associated with the full $\mathbb{Z}_2^{(x)}×\mathbb{Z}_2^{(y)}×\mathbb{Z}_2^T×\mathbb{Z}_2^{[1]}$ symmetry are classified by $\mathbb{Z}_2^{17}$. We find that for $S∈\mathbb{Z}$ the model is anomaly-free, while for $S∈\mathbb{Z}+\frac{1}{2}$ there is an anomaly purely associated with the 1-form symmetry, but there is no anomaly purely associated with the ordinary symmetry or mixed anomaly between the 0-form and 1-form symmetries. The consequences of these symmetries and anomalies apply to not only the Kitaev spin-$S$ models, but also any of their perturbed versions, assuming that the perturbations are local and respect the symmetries. If these local perturbations are weak, generically these consequences still apply even if the perturbations break the 1-form symmetry. A notable consequence is that there should generically be a deconfined fermionic excitation carrying no fractional quantum number under the $\mathbb{Z}_2^{(x)}×\mathbb{Z}_2^{(y)}×\mathbb{Z}_2^T$ symmetry if $S∈\mathbb{Z}+\frac{1}{2}$, which implies symmetry-enforced exotic quantum matter. We also discuss the consequences for $S∈\mathbb{Z}$.

• Hidden symmetry of Bogoliubov de Gennes quasi-particle eigenstates and universal relations in flat band superconducting bipartite lattices

  Georges Bouzerar, Maxime Thumin

  SciPost Phys. Core 7, 018 (2024) · published 9 April 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Unconventional flat band (FB) superconductivity, as observed in van der Waals heterostructures, could open promising avenues towards high-T$_c$ materials. In FBs, pairings and superfluid weight scale linearly with the interaction parameter, such an unusual behaviour justifies and encourages strategies to promote FB engineering. Bipartite lattices (BLs) which naturally host FBs could be particularly interesting candidates. Within Bogoliubov de Gennes theory and in the framework of the attractive Hubbard model in BLs, a hidden symmetry of the quasi-particle eigenstates is revealed. As a consequence, we demonstrate universal relations for the pairings and the superfluid weight that are independent of the characteristics of the hopping term. Remarkably, it is shown that these general properties are insensitive to disorder as long as the bipartite character is protected.

• Excitations of static isolated fermions in the Higgs phase of gauge Higgs theory

  Kazue Matsuyama, Jeff Greensite

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 6, 012 (2022) · published 31 May 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  A spectrum of localized excitations of isolated static fermions has been discovered in several different gauge Higgs theories. In lattice numerical simulations, we show that the charged elementary particles can have the spectrum of excitations in the Higgs phase of SU(3) gauge Higgs theory, q=2 Abelian Higgs theory, Landau-Ginzburg theory, and in chiral U(1) gauge Higgs theory. Possibly these excited states of the isolated fermions can be observed in ARPES studies of conventional superconductors. Also, we consider that similar kinds of excitations could exist in other gauge Higgs theories, such as the electroweak sector of the Standard Model.

• Electron addition spectral functions of low-density polaron liquids

  Alberto Nocera, Mona Berciu

  SciPost Phys. 15, 110 (2023) · published 22 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Spectral functions are important quantities that contain a wealth of information about the quasiparticles of a system, and that can also be measured experimentally. For systems with electron-phonon coupling, good approximations for the spectral function are available only in the Migdal limit (at Fermi energies much larger than the typical phonon frequency, $E_F\gg \Omega$, requiring a large carrier concentration $x$) and in the single polaron limit (at $x=0$). Here we show that the region with $x\ll 1$ ($E_F <\Omega$) can also be reliably investigated with the Momentum Average (MA) variational approximation, which essentially describes the formation of a polaron above an inert Fermi sea. Specifically, we show that for the one-dimensional spinless Holstein model, the MA spectral functions compare favorably with those calculated using variationally exact density matrix renormalization group simulations (DMRG) evaluated directly in frequency-space, so long as $x<0.1$ and the adiabaticity ratio $\Omega/t>0.5$. Unlike in the Migdal limit, here 'polaronic physics' emerges already at moderate couplings. The relevance of these results for a spinful low-$x$ metal is also discussed.

• Exact effective action for the O(N) vector model in the large N limit

  Han Ma, Sung-Sik Lee

  SciPost Phys. 15, 111 (2023) · published 22 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We present the Wilsonian effective action as a solution of the exact RG equation for the critical $O(N)$ vector model in the large $N$ limit. Below four dimensions, the exact effective action can be expressed in a closed form as a transcendental function of two leading scaling operators with infinitely many derivatives. From the exact solution that describes the RG flow from a UV theory to the fixed point theory in the IR, we obtain the mapping between UV operators and IR scaling operators. It is shown that IR scaling operators are given by sums of infinitely many UV operators with infinitely many derivatives.

• Pfaffian invariant identifies magnetic obstructed atomic insulators

  Isidora Araya Day, Anastasiia Varentcova, Daniel Varjas, Anton R. Akhmerov

  SciPost Phys. 15, 114 (2023) · published 25 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We derive a $\mathbb{Z}_4$ topological invariant that extends beyond symmetry eigenvalues and Wilson loops and classifies two-dimensional insulators with a $C_4 \mathcal{T}$ symmetry. To formulate this invariant, we consider an irreducible Brillouin zone and constrain the spectrum of the open Wilson lines that compose its boundary. We fix the gauge ambiguity of the Wilson lines by using the Pfaffian at high symmetry momenta. As a result, we distinguish the four $C_4 \mathcal{T}$-protected atomic insulators, each of which is adiabatically connected to a different atomic limit. We establish the correspondence between the invariant and the obstructed phases by constructing both the atomic limit Hamiltonians and a $C_4 \mathcal{T}$-symmetric model that interpolates between them. The phase diagram shows that $C_4 \mathcal{T}$ insulators allow $\pm 1$ and $2$ changes of the invariant, where the latter is overlooked by symmetry indicators.

• Quantum oscillations in an impurity-band Anderson insulator

  Nigel R. Cooper, Jack Kelsall

  SciPost Phys. 15, 118 (2023) · published 27 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We show that for a system of localized electrons in an impurity band, which form an Anderson insulating state at zero temperature, there can appear quantum oscillations of the magnetization, i.e. the Anderson insulator can exhibit the de Haas-van Alphen effect. This is possible when the electronic band from which the localized states are formed has an extremum that traces out a nonzero area in reciprocal space. Our work extends existing theories for clean band insulators of this form to the situation where they host an impurity band. We show that the energies of these impurity levels oscillate with magnetic field, and compute the conditions under which these oscillations can dominate the de Haas-van Alphen effect. We discuss our results in connection with experimental measurements of quantum oscillations in Kondo insulators, and propose other experimental systems where the impurity band contribution can be dominant.

• 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 | Toggle abstract · 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.

• Monopoles in Dirac spin liquids and their symmetries from instanton calculus

  Shankar Ganesh, Joseph Maciejko

  SciPost Phys. 16, 118 (2024) · published 2 May 2024 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The Dirac spin liquid (DSL) is a two-dimensional (2D) fractionalized Mott insulator featuring massless Dirac spinon excitations coupled to a compact U(1) gauge field, which allows for flux-tunneling instanton events described by magnetic monopoles in (2+1)D Euclidean spacetime. The state-operator correspondence of conformal field theory has been used recently to define associated monopole operators and determine their quantum numbers, which encode the microscopic symmetries of conventional ordered phases proximate to the DSL. In this work, we utilize semiclassical instanton methods not relying on conformal invariance to construct monopole operators directly in (2+1)D spacetime as instanton-induced 't Hooft vertices, i.e., fermion-number-violating effective interactions originating from zero modes of the Euclidean Dirac operator in an instanton background. In the presence of a flavor-adjoint fermion mass, resummation of the instanton gas is shown to select the correct monopole to be proliferated, in accordance with predictions of the state-operator correspondence. We also show that our instanton-based approach is able to determine monopole quantum numbers on bipartite lattices.