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At least 163 records · Page 9

Spectroscopic evidence for bulk-band inversion and three-dimensional massive Dirac fermions in ZrTe 5

Three-dimensional topological insulators (3D TIs) represent states of quantum matters in which surface states are protected by time-reversal symmetry and an inversion occurs between bulk conduction and valence bands. However, the bulk-band inversion, which is intimately tied to the topologically nontrivial nature of 3D Tis, has rarely been investigated by experiments. Besides, 3D massive Dirac fermions with nearly linear band dispersions were seldom observed in TIs. Recently, a van der Waals crystal, ZrTe 5 , was theoretically predicted to be a TI. Here, we report an infrared transmission study of a high-mobility [~33,000 cm 2 /(V • s)] multilayer ZrTe 5 flake at magnetic fields (B) up to 35 T. Our observation of a linear relationship between the zero-magnetic-field optical absorption and the photon energy, a bandgap of ~10 meV and a √B dependence of the Landau level (LL) transition energies at low magnetic fields demonstrates 3D massive Dirac fermions with nearly linear band dispersions in this system. More importantly, the reemergence of the intra-LL transitions at magnetic fields higher than 17 T reveals the energy cross between the two zeroth LLs, which reflects the inversion between the bulk conduction and valence bands. Finally, our results not only provide spectroscopic evidence for the TI state in ZrTe 5 but also open up a new avenue for fundamental studies of Dirac fermions in van der Waals materials.

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Magic-Angle Twisted Bilayer Graphene as a Topological Heavy Fermion Problem

Magic-angle (θ=1.05°) twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) has shown two seemingly contradictory characters: the localization and quantum-dot-like behavior in STM experiments, and delocalization in transport experiments. We construct a model, which naturally captures the two aspects, from the Bistritzer-MacDonald (BM) model in a first principle spirit. A set of local flat-band orbitals (f) centered at the AA-stacking regions are responsible to the localization. A set of extended topological semimetallic conduction bands (c), which are at small energetic separation from the local orbitals, are responsible to the delocalization and transport. The topological flat bands of the BM model appear as a result of the hybridization of f and c electrons. This model then provides a new perspective for the strong correlation physics, which is now described as strongly correlated f electrons coupled to nearly free c electrons—we hence name our model as the topological heavy fermion model. Using this model, we obtain the U(4) and U(4)×U(4) symmetries of Refs. [1–5] as well as the correlated insulator phases and their energies. Simple rules for the ground states and their Chern numbers are derived. Moreover, features such as the large dispersion of the charge ±1 excitations [2,6,7], and the minima of the charge gap at the Γ M point can now, for the first time, be understood both qualitatively and quantitatively in a simple physical picture. Our mapping opens the prospect of using heavy-fermion physics machinery to the superconducting physics of MATBG.

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Bose gases near resonance: Renormalized interactions in a condensate

Bose gases at large scattering lengths or beyond the usual dilute limit for a long time have been one of the most challenging problems in many-body physics. In this article, we investigate the fundamental properties of a near-resonance Bose gas and illustrate that three-dimensional Bose gases become nearly fermionized near resonance when the chemical potential as a function of scattering lengths reaches a maximum and the atomic condensates lose metastability. The instability and accompanying maximum are shown to be a precursor of the sign change of g{sub 2}, the renormalized two-body interaction between condensed atoms. g{sub 2} changes from effectively repulsive to attractive when approaching resonance from the molecular side, even though the scattering length is still positive. This occurs when dimers, under the influence of condensates, emerge at zero energy in the atomic gases at a finite positive scattering length. We carry out our studies of Bose gases via applying a self-consistent renormalization group equation which is further subject to a boundary condition. We also comment on the relation between the approach here and the diagrammatic calculation in an early article [D. Borzov, M.S. Mashayekhi, S. Zhang, J.-L. Song, F. Zhou, Phys. Rev. A 85 (2012) 023620]. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A Bose gas becomes nearly fermionized when its chemical potential approaches a maximum near resonance. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer At the maximum, an onset instability sets in at a positive scattering length. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Condensates strongly influence the renormalization flow of few-body running coupling constants. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The effective two-body interaction constant changes its sign at a positive scattering length.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Bosonization in three spatial dimensions and a 2-form gauge theory

We describe a 3d analog of the Jordan-Wigner transformation which maps an arbitrary fermionic system on a 3d spatial lattice to a 2-form Z 2 gauge theory with an unusual Gauss law. An important property of this map is that it preserves the locality of the Hamiltonian. Here, the map depends explicitly on the choice of a spin structure of the spatial manifold. We give examples of 3d bosonic systems dual to free fermions. We also describe the corresponding Euclidean lattice models, which is analogous to the Steenrod square term in (3+1)D [compared to the Chern-Simon term in (2+1)D].

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Search for exact local Hamiltonians for general fractional quantum Hall states

We report on our systematic attempts at finding local interactions for which the lowest-Landau- level projected composite-fermion wave functions are the unique zero energy ground states. For this purpose, we study in detail the simplest non-trivial system beyond the Laughlin states, namely bosons at filling factor ν = 2/3 and identify local constraints among clusters of particles in the ground state. By explicit calculation, we show that no Hamiltonian up to (and including) four particle in- teractions produces this state as the exact ground state, and speculate that this remains true even when interaction terms involving greater number of particles are included. Surprisingly, we can iden- tify an interaction, which imposes an energetic penalty for a specific entangled configuration of four particles with relative angular momentum of 6h, that produces a unique zero energy solution (as we have confirmed for up to 12 particles). This state, referred to as the λ-state, is not identical to the projected composite-fermion state, but the following facts suggest that the two might be topologi- cally equivalent: the two sates have a high overlap; they have the same root partition; the quantum numbers for their neutral excitations are identical; and the quantum numbers for the quasiparticle excitations also match. On the quasihole side, we find that even though the quantum numbers of the lowest energy states agree with the prediction from the composite-fermion theory, these states are not separated from the others by a clearly identifiable gap. This prevents us from making a conclusive claim regarding the topological equivalence of the λ state and the composite-fermion state. Lastly, our study illustrates how new candidate states can be identified from constraining selected many particle configurations and it would be interesting to pursue their topological classification.

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Prediction of a Non-Abelian Fractional Quantum Hall State with f -Wave Pairing of Composite Fermions in Wide Quantum Wells

We theoretically investigate the nature of the state at quarter filled lowest Landau level and predict that, as the quantum well width is increased, a transition occurs from the composite fermion Fermi sea into a novel non-Abelian fractional quantum Hall state that is topologically equivalent to f -wave pairing of composite fermions. This state is topologically distinct from the familiar p -wave paired Pfaffian state. We compare our calculated phase diagram with experiments and make predictions for many observable quantities.

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The structure of mixed {sup 3}He-{sup 4}He droplets doped with OCS: A density functional approach

We have investigated the structure and energetics of mixed {sup 3}He-{sup 4}He droplets doped with a carbonyl sulfide molecule within a density functional approach considering a small but finite temperature of 0.1 K. The molecule is treated as an external field to which the helium droplet is attached. The energetics and appearance of these droplets are discussed for selected numbers of helium atoms, identifying the first magic numbers of the fermionic component.

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Superfluid condensate fraction and pairing wave function of the unitary Fermi gas

The unitary Fermi gas is a many-body system of two-component fermions with zero-range interactions tuned to infinite scattering length. Despite much activity and interest in unitary Fermi gas and its universal properties, there have been great difficulties in performing accurate calculations of the superfluid condensate fraction and pairing wave function. In this paper, we present auxiliary-field lattice Monte Carlo simulations using a lattice interaction which accelerates the approach to the continuum limit, thereby allowing for robust calculations of these difficult observables. As a benchmark test, we compute the ground-state energy of 33 spin-up and 33 spin-down particles. As a fraction of the free Fermi gas energy $E_{\text{FG}}$, we find $E_0/E_{\text{FG}}$ = 0.369(2), 0.372(2), using two different definitions of the finite-system energy ratio, in agreement with the latest theoretical and experimental results. We then determine the condensate fraction by measuring off-diagonal long-range order in the two-body density matrix. We find that the fraction of condensed pairs is α = 0.43(2). Further, we also extract the pairing wave function and find the pair correlation length to be $ζ_pk_F$ = 1.8(3)ℏ, where $k_F$ is the Fermi momentum. Provided that the simulations can be performed without severe sign oscillations, the methods we present here can be applied to superfluid neutron matter as well as more exotic $\textit{P}$-wave and $\textit{D}$-wave superfluids.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A model for metastable magnetism in the hidden-order phase of URu{sub 2}Si{sub 2}

We propose an explanation for the experiment by Schemm et al. (2015) where the polar Kerr effect (PKE), indicating time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking, was observed in the hidden-order (HO) phase of URu{sub 2}Si{sub 2}. The PKE signal on warmup was seen only if a training magnetic field was present on cool-down. Using a Ginzburg–Landau model for a complex order parameter, we show that the system can have a metastable ferromagnetic state producing the PKE, even if the HO ground state respects TRS. We predict that a strong reversed magnetic field should reset the PKE to zero.

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Transport and optical conductivity in the Hubbard model: A high-temperature expansion perspective

We derive analytical expressions for the spectral moments of the dynamical response functions of the Hubbard model using the high-temperature series expansion. We consider generic dimension d as well as the infinite- d limit, arbitrary electron density n, and both finite and infinite repulsion U. We use moment-reconstruction methods to obtain the one-electron spectral function, the self-energy, and the optical conductivity. They are all smooth functions at high temperature and, at large U, they are featureless with characteristic widths of the order of the lattice hopping parameter t. In the infinite-d limit, we compare the series expansion results with accurate numerical renormalization group and interaction expansion quantum Monte Carlo results. We find excellent agreement down to surprisingly low temperatures, throughout most of the bad-metal regime, which applies for T≳ (1 - n)D, the Brinkman-Rice scale. The resistivity increases linearly in T at high temperature without saturation. This results from the 1/T behavior of the compressibility or kinetic energy, which play the role of the effective carrier number. In contrast, the scattering time (or diffusion constant) saturates at high T. We find that σ( n,T) ≈ (1 - n)σ(n = 0,T) to a very good approximation for all n, with σ(n = 0,T) ∝ t/T at high temperatures. The saturation at small n occurs due to a compensation between the density dependence of the effective number of carriers and that of the scattering time. The T dependence of the resistivity displays a kneelike feature which signals a crossover to the intermediate-temperature regime where the diffusion constant (or scattering time) starts increasing with decreasing T. At high temperatures, the thermopower obeys the Heikes formula, while the Wiedemann-Franz law is violated with the Lorenz number vanishing as 1/T 2 . The relevance of our calculations to experiments probing high-temperature transport in materials with strong electronic correlations or ultracold atomic gases in an optical lattice is briefly discussed.

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Particle-hole symmetry and electromagnetic response of a half-filled Landau level

We derive exact physical consequences of particle-hole symmetry of the ν = 1/2 state of electrons in a strong magnetic field. We show that if the symmetry is not spontaneously broken, the Hall conductivity and the susceptibility satisfy an exact relationship, valid at any wave numbers and any frequencies much below the cyclotron frequency. The relationship holds for clean systems and also for systems with statistically particle-hole symmetric disorder. We work out the constraints this relationship imposes on the theory of the Dirac composite fermion. Here, we also argue that that the exact relationship is violated in the Halperin-Lee-Read (HLR) field theory and present an explicit calculation within a Galilean invariant mean-field approximation to the HLR theory to illustrate the breakdown.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Quantum Dynamics of Attractive and Repulsive Polarons in a Doped MoSe 2 Monolayer

When mobile impurities are introduced and coupled to a Fermi sea, new quasiparticles known as Fermi polarons are formed. There are two interesting, yet drastically different regimes of the Fermi polaron problem: (i) the attractive polaron (AP) branch connected to pairing phenomena spanning the crossover from BCS superfluidity to the Bose-Einstein condensation of molecules and (ii) the repulsive branch (RP), which underlies the physics responsible for Stoner’s itinerant ferromagnetism. Here, we study Fermi polarons in two-dimensional systems, where many questions and debates regarding their nature persist. The model system we investigate is a doped MoSe2 monolayer. We find the observed AP-RP energy splitting and the quantum dynamics of attractive polarons agree with the predictions of polaron theory. As the doping density increases, the quantum dephasing of the attractive polarons remains constant, indicative of stable quasiparticles, while the repulsive polaron dephasing rate increases nearly quadratically. The dynamics of Fermi polarons are of critical importance for understanding the pairing and magnetic instabilities that lead to the formation of rich quantum phases found in a wide range of physical systems including nuclei, cold atomic gases, and solids.

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Thermoelectric and Galvanomagnetic Properties of Layered n-Bi 2-x Sb x Te 3-y Se y Films

The thermoelectric properties in the temperature range 4.2–300 K and magnetoresistance oscillations in strong magnetic fields at low temperatures are studied in nanostructured layered films of topological thermoelectric materials n-Bi 2-x Sb x Te 3-y Se y . It is shown that the thermoelectric figure of merit in layered n-Bi 2-x Sb x Te 3-y Se y films is larger than that in the bulk material due both to an increase in the Seebeck coefficient below room temperature and to a decrease in the thermal conductivity and its weaker temperature dependence. Analysis of the magnetoresistance oscillations is used to determine the parameters of the topological surface states of Dirac fermions and estimate their influence on the thermoelectric properties.

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Superradiant Neutrino Lasers from Radioactive Condensates

Superradiance emerges from collective spontaneous emission in optically pumped gases, and is characterized by photon emission enhancements of up to $\frac{1}{4}$⁢𝑁 2 in an 𝑁 atom system. The gain mechanism derives from correlations developed within the decay medium rather than from stimulated emission as in lasing, so an analog of this process should be possible for fermionic final states. We introduce here the concept of superradiant neutrino emission from a radioactive Bose Einstein condensate, which can form the basis for a superradiant neutrino laser. A plausible experimental realization based on a condensate of electron-capture isotope 83 Rb could exhibit effective radioactive decay rates accelerated from 86.2 days to minutes in viably sized rubidium condensates of 10 6 atoms.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Quantum simulations of SO(5) many-fermion systems using qudits

The structure and dynamics of many-body systems are the result of a delicate interplay between underlying interactions. Fermionic pairing, for example, plays a central role in various physical systems, ranging from condensed matter to nuclear systems, where it can lead to collective phenomena such as superconductivity and superfluidity. In atomic nuclei, the interplay between pairing and particle-hole interactions leads to a high degree of complexity and intricate entanglement structures. Despite this apparent complexity, symmetries emerge and manifest themselves in observable regular patterns. These symmetries and their breakings have long been used to determine relevant degrees of freedom and simplify classical descriptions of many-body systems. Here, this work explores the potential utility of quantum computers with arrays of qudits in simulating interacting fermionic systems, when the qudits can naturally map the relevant degrees of freedom determined by an underlying symmetry group. The Agassi model of fermions interacting via particle-hole and pairing interactions is based on an underlying so(5) algebra. Such systems can intuitively be partitioned into pairs of modes with five basis states, which thus naturally map to arrays of d = 5 qudits (qu5its). Classical noiseless simulations of the time evolution of systems with up to twelve qu5its are performed, by implementing quantum circuits that are developed herein, using PYTHON codes invoking Google's CIRQ software. The resource requirements of the qu5it circuits are analyzed and compared with two different mappings to qubit systems: a physics-aware Jordan-Wigner mapping requiring four qubits per mode pair and a state-to-state mapping requiring three qubits per mode pair. While the dimensionality of Hilbert spaces in mappings to qu5it systems are less than those for the corresponding qubit systems, the number of entangling operations, depending on the available hardware, can either be greater or smaller than for the physics-aware Jordan-Wigner mapping. The state-to-state mapping, while having a smaller Hilbert space than Jordan-Wigner mappings, appears to be the least efficient in gate counts. Further, a previously unknown sign problem has been identified from Trotterization errors in time evolving high-energy excitations. There appear to be advantages in employing quantum computers with arrays of qudits to perform simulations of many-body dynamics that exploit the role of underlying symmetries, specifically in lowering the required quantum resources and in reducing anticipated errors that take the simulation out of the physical space. If the necessary entangling gates are not directly supported by the hardware, physics-aware mappings to qubits may, however, be advantageous for other aspects.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Density-Functional Theory of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

Here, a conceptual difficulty in formulating the density functional theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect is that while in the standard approach the Kohn-Sham orbitals are either fully occupied or unoccupied, the physics of the fractional quantum Hall effect calls for fractionally occupied Kohn- Sham orbitals. This has necessitated averaging over an ensemble of Slater determinants to obtain meaningful results. We develop an alternative approach in which we express and minimize the grand canonical potential in terms of the composite fermion variables. This provides a natural resolution of the fractional-occupation problem because the fully occupied orbitals of composite fermions automatically correspond to fractionally occupied orbitals of electrons. We demonstrate the quantitative validity of our approach by evaluating the density profile of fractional Hall edge as a function of temperature and the distance from the delta dopant layer and showing that it reproduces edge reconstruction in the expected parameter region.

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Exotic Kondo Phases: the non-Kramers Doniach phase diagram

This is the final report for the early career award “Exotic Kondo Phases: the non-Kramers Doniach phase diagram”. This project searched for exotic novel phases in heavy fermion materials and explored the possible phases of the two-channel Kondo model. Significant results include an enhanced understanding of the channel-symmetry breaking heavy Fermi liquid and its spinorial nature; a novel platform for realizing Majorana defects in topological defects in two-channel Kondo insulators; and a new non-equilibrium way to realize multi-channel Kondo models.

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