Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• Finite-size corrections for universal boundary entropy in bond percolation

  Jan de Gier, Jesper Lykke Jacobsen, Anita Ponsaing

  SciPost Phys. 1, 012 (2016) · published 19 December 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We compute the boundary entropy for bond percolation on the square lattice in the presence of a boundary loop weight, and prove explicit and exact expressions on a strip and on a cylinder of size $L$. For the cylinder we provide a rigorous asymptotic analysis which allows for the computation of finite-size corrections to arbitrary order. For the strip we provide exact expressions that have been verified using high-precision numerical analysis. Our rigorous and exact results corroborate an argument based on conformal field theory, in particular concerning universal logarithmic corrections for the case of the strip due to the presence of corners in the geometry. We furthermore observe a crossover at a special value of the boundary loop weight.

  7 citations

• One step replica symmetry breaking and extreme order statistics of logarithmic REMs

  Xiangyu Cao, Yan V. Fyodorov, Pierre Le Doussal

  SciPost Phys. 1, 011 (2016) · published 19 December 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Building upon the one-step replica symmetry breaking formalism, duly understood and ramified, we show that the sequence of ordered extreme values of a general class of Euclidean-space logarithmically correlated random energy models (logREMs) behave in the thermodynamic limit as a randomly shifted decorated exponential Poisson point process. The distribution of the random shift is determined solely by the large-distance ("infra-red", IR) limit of the model, and is equal to the free energy distribution at the critical temperature up to a translation. the decoration process is determined solely by the small-distance ("ultraviolet", UV) limit, in terms of the biased minimal process. Our approach provides connections of the replica framework to results in the probability literature and sheds further light on the freezing/duality conjecture which was the source of many previous results for log-REMs. In this way we derive the general and explicit formulae for the joint probability density of depths of the first and second minima (as well its higher-order generalizations) in terms of model-specific contributions from UV as well as IR limits. In particular, we show that the second min statistics is largely independent of details of UV data, whose influence is seen only through the mean value of the gap. For a given log-correlated field this parameter can be evaluated numerically, and we provide several numerical tests of our theory using the circular model of $1/f$-noise.

  9 citations

• Detecting a many-body mobility edge with quantum quenches

  Piero Naldesi, Elisa Ercolessi, Tommaso Roscilde

  SciPost Phys. 1, 010 (2016) · published 27 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The many-body localization (MBL) transition is a quantum phase transition involving highly excited eigenstates of a disordered quantum many-body Hamiltonian, which evolve from "extended/ergodic" (exhibiting extensive entanglement entropies and fluctuations) to "localized" (exhibiting area-law scaling of entanglement and fluctuations). The MBL transition can be driven by the strength of disorder in a given spectral range, or by the energy density at fixed disorder - if the system possesses a many-body mobility edge. Here we propose to explore the latter mechanism by using "quantum-quench spectroscopy", namely via quantum quenches of variable width which prepare the state of the system in a superposition of eigenstates of the Hamiltonian within a controllable spectral region. Studying numerically a chain of interacting spinless fermions in a quasi-periodic potential, we argue that this system has a many-body mobility edge; and we show that its existence translates into a clear dynamical transition in the time evolution immediately following a quench in the strength of the quasi-periodic potential, as well as a transition in the scaling properties of the quasi-stationary state at long times. Our results suggest a practical scheme for the experimental observation of many-body mobility edges using cold-atom setups.

  51 citations

• A conformal bootstrap approach to critical percolation in two dimensions

  Marco Picco, Sylvain Ribault, Raoul Santachiara

  SciPost Phys. 1, 009 (2016) · published 27 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study four-point functions of critical percolation in two dimensions, and more generally of the Potts model. We propose an exact ansatz for the spectrum: an infinite, discrete and non-diagonal combination of representations of the Virasoro algebra. Based on this ansatz, we compute four-point functions using a numerical conformal bootstrap approach. The results agree with Monte-Carlo computations of connectivities of random clusters.

  40 citations

• Correlations of zero-entropy critical states in the XXZ model: integrability and Luttinger theory far from the ground state

  R. Vlijm, I. S. Eliëns, J. -S. Caux

  SciPost Phys. 1, 008 (2016) · published 25 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Pumping a finite energy density into a quantum system typically leads to `melted' states characterized by exponentially-decaying correlations, as is the case for finite-temperature equilibrium situations. An important exception to this rule are states which, while being at high energy, maintain a low entropy. Such states can interestingly still display features of quantum criticality, especially in one dimension. Here, we consider high-energy states in anisotropic Heisenberg quantum spin chains obtained by splitting the ground state's magnon Fermi sea into separate pieces. Using methods based on integrability, we provide a detailed study of static and dynamical spin-spin correlations. These carry distinctive signatures of the Fermi sea splittings, which would be observable in eventual experimental realizations. Going further, we employ a multi-component Tomonaga-Luttinger model in order to predict the asymptotics of static correlations. For this effective field theory, we fix all universal exponents from energetics, and all non-universal correlation prefactors using finite-size scaling of matrix elements. The correlations obtained directly from integrability and those emerging from the Luttinger field theory description are shown to be in extremely good correspondence, as expected, for the large distance asymptotics, but surprisingly also for the short distance behavior. Finally, we discuss the description of dynamical correlations from a mobile impurity model, and clarify the relation of the effective field theory parameters to the Bethe Ansatz solution.

  13 citations

• Role of fluctuations in the phase transitions of coupled plaquette spin models of glasses

  Giulio Biroli, Charlotte Rulquin, Gilles Tarjus, Marco Tarzia

  SciPost Phys. 1, 007 (2016) · published 25 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the role of fluctuations on the thermodynamic glassy properties of plaquette spin models, more specifically on the transition involving an overlap order parameter in the presence of an attractive coupling between different replicas of the system. We consider both short-range fluctuations associated with the local environment on Bethe lattices and long-range fluctuations that distinguish Euclidean from Bethe lattices with the same local environment. We find that the phase diagram in the temperature-coupling plane is very sensitive to the former but, at least for the $3$-dimensional (square pyramid) model, appears qualitatively or semi-quantitatively unchanged by the latter. This surprising result suggests that the mean-field theory of glasses provides a reasonable account of the glassy thermodynamics of models otherwise described in terms of the kinetically constrained motion of localized defects and taken as a paradigm for the theory of dynamic facilitation. We discuss the possible implications for the dynamical behavior.

  12 citations

• Dispersive hydrodynamics of nonlinear polarization waves in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates

  T. Congy, A. M. Kamchatnov, N. Pavloff

  SciPost Phys. 1, 006 (2016) · published 25 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study one dimensional mixtures of two-component Bose-Einstein condensates in the limit where the intra-species and inter-species interaction constants are very close. Near the mixing-demixing transition the polarization and the density dynamics decouple. We study the nonlinear polarization waves, show that they obey a universal (i.e., parameter free) dynamical description, identify a new type of algebraic soliton, explicitly write simple wave solutions, and study the Gurevich-Pitaevskii problem in this context.

  25 citations

• Exactly solvable quantum few-body systems associated with the symmetries of the three-dimensional and four-dimensional icosahedra

  T. Scoquart, J. J. Seaward, S. G. Jackson, M. Olshanii

  SciPost Phys. 1, 005 (2016) · published 23 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that non-crystallographic reflection groups can be used to build new solvable quantum particle systems. We explicitly construct a one-parametric family of solvable four-body systems on a line, related to the symmetry of a regular icosahedron: in two distinct limiting cases the system is constrained to a half-line. We repeat the program for a 600-cell, a four-dimensional generalization of the regular three-dimensional icosahedron.

  6 citations

• Quantum-optical magnets with competing short- and long-range interactions: Rydberg-dressed spin lattice in an optical cavity

  Jan Gelhausen, Michael Buchhold, Achim Rosch, Philipp Strack

  SciPost Phys. 1, 004 (2016) · published 23 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The fields of quantum simulation with cold atoms [1] and quantum optics [2] are currently being merged. In a set of recent pathbreaking experiments with atoms in optical cavities [3,4] lattice quantum many-body systems with both, a short-range interaction and a strong interaction potential of infinite range -mediated by a quantized optical light field- were realized. A theoretical modelling of these systems faces considerable complexity at the interface of: (i) spontaneous symmetry-breaking and emergent phases of interacting many-body systems with a large number of atoms $N\rightarrow\infty$, (ii) quantum optics and the dynamics of fluctuating light fields, and (iii) non-equilibrium physics of driven, open quantum systems. Here we propose what is possibly the simplest, quantum-optical magnet with competing short- and long-range interactions, in which all three elements can be analyzed comprehensively: a Rydberg-dressed spin lattice [5] coherently coupled to a single photon mode. Solving a set of coupled even-odd sublattice Master equations for atomic spin and photon mean-field amplitudes, we find three key results. (R1): Superradiance and a coherent photon field can coexist with spontaneously broken magnetic translation symmetry. The latter is induced by the short-range nearest-neighbor interaction from weakly admixed Rydberg levels. (R2): This broken even-odd sublattice symmetry leaves its imprint in the light via a novel peak in the cavity spectrum beyond the conventional polariton modes. (R3): The combined effect of atomic spontaneous emission, drive, and interactions can lead to phases with anomalous photon number oscillations. Extensions of our work include nano-photonic crystals coupled to interacting atoms and multi-mode photon dynamics in Rydberg systems.

  14 citations

• Time evolution during and after finite-time quantum quenches in the transverse-field Ising chain

  Tatjana Puskarov, Dirk Schuricht

  SciPost Phys. 1, 003 (2016) · published 23 October 2016 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We study the time evolution in the transverse-field Ising chain subject to quantum quenches of finite duration, ie, a continuous change in the transverse magnetic field over a finite time. Specifically, we consider the dynamics of the total energy, one- and two-point correlation functions and Loschmidt echo during and after the quench as well as their stationary behaviour at late times. We investigate how different quench protocols affect the dynamics and identify universal properties of the relaxation.

  38 citations