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Orth, Peter P.

Publications and source records attributed to Orth, Peter P..

Probing Majorana Wave Functions in Kitaev Honeycomb Spin Liquids with Second-Order Two-Dimensional Spectroscopy

Two-dimensional coherent terahertz spectroscopy (2DCS) emerges as a valuable tool to probe the nature, couplings, and lifetimes of excitations in quantum materials. It thus promises to identify unique signatures of spin liquid states in quantum magnets by directly probing properties of their exotic fractionalized excitations. Here, in this study, we calculate the second-order 2DCS of the Kitaev honeycomb model and demonstrate that distinct spin liquid fingerprints appear already in this lowest-order nonlinear response $\chi^{(2)}_{yzx}$⁡($ω_1$, $ω_2$) when using crossed light polarizations. We further relate the off-diagonal 2DCS peaks to the localized nature of the matter Majorana excitations trapped by $\mathbb{Z}_2$ flux excitations and show that 2DCS thus directly probes the inverse participation ratio of Majorana wave functions. By providing experimentally observable features of spin liquid states in the 2D spectrum, our Letter can guide future 2DCS experiments on Kitaev magnets.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Two-dimensional coherent spectrum of high-spin models via a quantum computing approach

Here in this work we present and benchmark a quantum computing approach to calculate the two-dimensional coherent spectrum (2DCS) of high-spin models. Our approach is based on simulating their real-time dynamics in the presence of several magnetic field pulses, which are spaced in time. We utilize the adaptive variational quantum dynamics simulation algorithm for the study due to its compact circuits, which enables simulations over sufficiently long times to achieve the required resolution in frequency space. Specifically, we consider an antiferromagnetic quantum spin model that incorporates Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and single-ion anisotropy. The obtained 2DCS spectra exhibit distinct peaks at multiples of the magnon frequency, arising from transitions between different eigenstates of the unperturbed Hamiltonian. By comparing the one-dimensional coherent spectrum with 2DCS, we demonstrate that 2DCS provides a higher resolution of the energy spectrum. We further investigate how the quantum resources scale with the magnitude of the spin using two different binary encodings of the high-spin operators: the standard binary encoding and the Gray code. At low magnetic fields both encodings require comparable quantum resources, but at larger field strengths the Gray code is advantageous. Numerical simulations for spin models with increasing number of sites indicate a polynomial system-size scaling for quantum resources. Lastly, we compare the numerical 2DCS with experimental results on a rare-earth orthoferrite system. The observed strength of the magnonic high-harmonic generation signals in the 2DCS of the quantum high-spin model aligns well with the experimental data, showing significant improvement over the corresponding mean-field results.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Theory for Cd 3 As 2 thin films in the presence of magnetic fields

Here we present a theory for thin films of the Dirac semimetal Cd 3 ⁢As 2 in the presence of magnetic fields. We show that, above a critical thickness, specific subbands n of thin film Cd 3 ⁢As 2 are in a quantum spin Hall insulator regime and study their response to in- and out-of-plane magnetic fields. We find that sufficiently large in-plane Zeeman fields drive the system toward a 2D Dirac semimetal regime, provided the field is directed perpendicular to a high-symmetry mirror plane. For other directions, we find the Dirac points to be weakly gapped. We further investigate how the system responds to finite out-of-plane field components, both starting from the quantum spin Hall regime at small in-plane fields and from the 2D Dirac semimetal regimes at larger in-plane fields, addressing recent experimental observations in A. C. Lygo et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 046201 (2023)] and B. Guo et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 046601 (2023)].

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Adaptive variational ground state preparation for spin-1 models on qubit-based architectures

Here, we apply the adaptive variational quantum imaginary time evolution (AVQITE) method to prepare ground states of one-dimensional spin S = 1 models. We compare different spin-to-qubit encodings (standard binary, Gray, unary, and multiplet) with regard to the performance and quantum resource cost of the algorithm. Using state-vector simulations, we study two well-known spin-1 models: the Blume-Capel model of transverse-field Ising spins with single-ion anisotropy, and the XXZ model with single-ion anisotropy. We consider system sizes of up to 20 qubits, which corresponds to spin-1 chains up to length 10. We determine the dependence of the number of CNOT gates in the AVQITE state preparation circuit on the encoding, the initial state, and the choice of operator pool in the adaptive method. Independent of the choice of encoding, we find that the CNOT gate count scales cubically with the number of spins for the Blume-Capel model and quartically for the anisotropic XXZ model. However, the multiplet and Gray encodings present smaller prefactors in the scaling relations. These results provide useful insights for the implementation of AVQITE on quantum hardware.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Quantum order by disorder in frustrated spin nanotubes

Here we investigate quantum order by disorder in a frustrated spin nanotube formed by wrapping a J1–J2 Heisenberg model at 45° around a cylinder. Using Schwinger boson theory and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG), we have computed the ground-state phase diagram to reveal a Z2 phase in which collinear spin stripes form a right- or left-handed helix around the nanotube. We have derived an analytic estimate for the critical η c = J 1 /2J 2 of the Z 2 -helical phase transition, which is in agreement with the DMRG results. By evaluating the entanglement spectrum and nonlocal string order parameters we discuss the topology of the Z 2 -helical phase.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Electron irradiation reveals robust fully gapped superconductivity in LaNiGa 2

The effects of 2.5-MeV electron irradiation were studied in the superconducting phase of single crystals of LaNiGa 2 , using measurements of electrical transport and radio-frequency magnetic susceptibility. The London penetration depth is found to vary exponentially with temperature, suggesting a fully gapped Fermi surface. The inferred superfluid density is close to that of a single-gap weak-coupling isotropic s – wave superconductor. Superconductivity is extremely robust against nonmagnetic point-like disorder induced by electron irradiation. Our results place strong constraints on the previously proposed triplet pairing state by requiring fine-tuned impurity scattering amplitudes and are most naturally explained by a sign-preserving, weak-coupling, and approximately momentum-independent singlet superconducting state in LaNiGa 2 , which does not break time-reversal symmetry. Finally, we discuss how our findings could be reconciled with previous measurements that indicated magnetic signatures in the superconducting phase.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Competing magnetic fluctuations and orders in a multiorbital model of doped SrCo 2 ⁢As 2

We revisit the intriguing magnetic behavior of the paradigmatic itinerant frustrated magnet Sr⁢Co 2 ⁢As 2 , which shows strong and competing magnetic fluctuations yet does not develop long-range magnetic order. By calculating the static spin susceptibility Χ⁡(q) within a realistic 16-orbital Hubbard-Hund model, we determine the leading instability to be ferromagnetic (FM). We then explore the effect of doping and calculate the critical Hubbard interaction strength U c that is required for the development of magnetic order. We find that U c decreases under electron doping and with increasing Hund's coupling J, but increases rapidly under hole doping. This suggests that magnetic order could possibly emerge under electron doping but not under hole doping, which agrees with experimental findings. We map out the leading magnetic instability as a function of doping and Hund's coupling and find several antiferromagnetic phases in addition to FM. We also quantify the degree of itinerant frustration in the model and resolve the contributions of different orbitals to the magnetic susceptibility. Lastly, we discuss the dynamic spin susceptibility Χ⁡(q,ω) at finite frequencies, where we recover the anisotropy of the peaks at Q π = (π,0) and (0,π) observed by inelastic neutron scattering that is associated with the phenomenon of itinerant magnetic frustration. By comparing results between theory and experiment, we conclude that the essential experimental features of doped SrCo 2 ⁢As 2 are well captured by an itinerant Hubbard-Hund multiorbital model if one considers a small shift of the chemical potential towards hole doping.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Preparing quantum many-body scar states on quantum computers

Quantum many-body scar states are highly excited eigenstates of many-body systems that exhibit atypical entanglement and correlation properties relative to typical eigenstates at the same energy density. Scar states also give rise to infinitely long-lived coherent dynamics when the system is prepared in a special initial state having finite overlap with them. Many models with exact scar states have been constructed, but the fate of scarred eigenstates and dynamics when these models are perturbed is difficult to study with classical computational techniques. In this work, we propose state preparation protocols that enable the use of quantum computers to study this question. We present protocols both for individual scar states in a particular model, as well as superpositions of them that give rise to coherent dynamics. For superpositions of scar states, we present both a system-size-linear depth unitary and a finite-depth nonunitary state preparation protocol, the latter of which uses measurement and postselection to reduce the circuit depth. For individual scarred eigenstates, we formulate an exact state preparation approach based on matrix product states that yields quasipolynomial-depth circuits, as well as a variational approach with a polynomial-depth ansatz circuit. We also provide proof of principle state-preparation demonstrations on superconducting quantum hardware.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Quantum logic gate synthesis as a Markov decision process

Reinforcement learning has witnessed recent applications to a variety of tasks in quantum programming. The underlying assumption is that those tasks could be modeled as Markov decision processes (MDPs). Here, we investigate the feasibility of this assumption by exploring its consequences for single-qubit quantum state preparation and gate compilation. By forming discrete MDPs, we solve for the optimal policy exactly through policy iteration. We find optimal paths that correspond to the shortest possible sequence of gates to prepare a state or compile a gate, up to some target accuracy. Our method works in both the absence and presence of noise and compares favorably to other quantum compilation methods, such as the Ross–Selinger algorithm. This work provides theoretical insight into why reinforcement learning may be successfully used to find optimally short gate sequences in quantum programming.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Short-range magnetic correlations in quasicrystalline i -Tb-Cd

Here, we report on elastic and inelastic neutron scattering from single-grain isotopically enriched samples to elucidate the local magnetic correlations between Tb 3+ moments in quasicrystalline i -Tb-Cd. The inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the crystalline electric field excitations demonstrated that the Tb 3+ moments are directed primarily along the local fivefold axes of the Tsai-type cluster as was found for the TbCd 6 approximant phase. Based on the inelastic measurements, we consider a simple Ising-type model for the moment configurations on a single Tb 3+ icosahedron and enumerate the lowest energy moment configurations. We then calculate the diffuse scattering from these configurations and compare with the experimental magnetic diffuse scattering measurements to identify the most likely single cluster moment configurations and find reasonable agreement between the broad features observed in our scattering simulations. We further use a heuristic glass model as well as large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations of a multicluster model to consider the role of higher-order (longer-range) intercluster correlations for magnetic frustration and the magnetic scattering.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Reconstructing thermal quantum quench dynamics from pure states

Simulating the nonequilibrium dynamics of thermal states is a fundamental problem across scales from high-energy to condensed-matter physics. Quantum computers may provide a way to solve this problem efficiently. Preparing a thermal state on a quantum computer is challenging, but there exist methods to circumvent this by computing a weighted sum of time-dependent matrix elements in a convenient basis. Further, while the number of basis states can be large, in this paper we show that it can be reduced by simulating only the largest density matrix elements by weight, capturing the density matrix to a specified precision. Leveraging Hamiltonian symmetries enables further reductions. This approach paves the way to more accurate thermal-state dynamics simulations on near-term quantum hardware.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Adaptive variational quantum minimally entangled typical thermal states for finite temperature simulations

Scalable quantum algorithms for the simulation of quantum many-body systems in thermal equilibrium are important for predicting properties of quantum matter at finite temperatures. Here we describe and benchmark a quantum computing version of the minimally entangled typical thermal states (METTS) algorithm for which we adopt an adaptive variational approach to perform the required quantum imaginary time evolution. The algorithm, which we name AVQMETTS, dynamically generates compact and problem-specific quantum circuits, which are suitable for noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware. We benchmark AVQMETTS on statevector simulators and perform thermal energy calculations of integrable and nonintegrable quantum spin models in one and two dimensions and demonstrate an approximately linear system-size scaling of the circuit complexity. We further map out the finite-temperature phase transition line of the two-dimensional transverse field Ising model. Finally, we study the impact of noise on AVQMETTS calculations using a phenomenological noise model.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗