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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Effective field theories for collective excitations of atomic nuclei

Collective modes emerge as the relevant degrees of freedom that govern low-energy excitations of atomic nuclei. These modes—rotations, pairing rotations, and vibrations—are separated in energy from non-collective excitations, making it possible to describe them in the framework of effective field theory. Rotations and pairing rotations are the remnants of Nambu–Goldstone modes from the emergent breaking of rotational symmetry and phase symmetries in finite deformed and finite superfluid nuclei, respectively. The symmetry breaking severely constrains the structure of low-energy Lagrangians and thereby clarifies what is essential and simplifies the description. The approach via effective field theories exposes the essence of nuclear collective excitations and is defined with a breakdown scale in mind. This permits one to make systematic improvements and to estimate and quantify uncertainties. Effective field theories of collective excitations have been used to compute spectra, transition rates, and other matrix elements of interest. In particular, predictions of the nuclear matrix element for neutrinoless double beta decay then come with quantified uncertainties. This review summarizes these results and also compares the approach via effective field theories to well-known models and ab initio computations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Inhomogeneous mean-field approach to collective excitations near the superfluid–Mott glass transition

Highlights: • Unconventional collective excitations across the superfluid–Mott glass transition. • Higgs mode localized in superfluid and insulating phases. • Broad uncritical amplitude response function at quantum phase transition. • Goldstone mode delocalizes in the superfluid phase. We develop an inhomogeneous quantum mean-field approach to the behavior of collective excitations across the superfluid–Mott glass quantum phase transition in two dimensions, complementing recent quantum Monte Carlo simulations (Puschmann et al. 2020). In quadratic (Gaussian) approximation, the Goldstone (phase) and Higgs (amplitude) modes completely decouple. Each is described by a disordered Bogoliubov Hamiltonian which can be solved by an inhomogeneous multi-mode Bogoliubov transformation. We find that the Higgs mode is spatially localized in both phases. The corresponding scalar spectral function shows a broad peak that is noncritical in the sense that its peak frequency does not soften but remains nonzero across the quantum phase transition. In contrast, the lowest-energy Goldstone mode delocalizes in the superfluid phase, leading to a zero-frequency spectral peak. We compare these findings to the results of the quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We also relate them to general results on the localization of bosonic excitations, and we discuss the limits and generality of our approach.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Time-domain study of coupled collective excitations in quantum materials

Quantum materials hold immense promises for future applications due to their intriguing electronic, magnetic, thermal, and mechanical properties that often arise from a complex interplay between microscopic degrees of freedom. Important insights of such interactions come from studying the collective excitations of electrons, spins, orbitals, and lattice, whose cooperative motions play a crucial role in determining the novel behavior of these systems and offer us a key tuning knob to modify material properties on-demand through external perturbations. In this regard, ultrafast light-matter interaction has shown great potential in controlling the couplings of collective excitations, and rapid progress in a plethora of time-resolved techniques down to the attosecond regime has significantly advanced our understanding of the coupling mechanisms and guided us in manipulating the dynamical properties of quantum materials. This review aims to highlight recent experiments on visualizing collective excitations in the time domain, focusing on the coupling mechanisms between different collective modes such as phonon-phonon, phonon-magnon, phonon-exciton, magnon-magnon, magnon-exciton, and various polaritons. We introduce how these collective modes are excited by an ultrashort laser pulse and probed by different ultrafast techniques, and we explain how the coupling between collective excitations governs the ensuing nonequilibrium dynamics. We also provide some perspectives on future studies that can lead to discoveries of the emergent properties of quantum materials both in and out of equilibrium.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Principles of two-dimensional terahertz spectroscopy of collective excitations: The case of Josephson plasmons in layered superconductors

Two-dimensional terahertz spectroscopy (2DTS), a terahertz analog of nuclear magnetic resonance, is a new technique poised to address many open questions in complex condensed matter systems. The conventional theoretical framework used ubiquitously for interpreting multidimensional spectra of discrete quantum level systems is, however, insufficient for the continua of collective excitations in strongly correlated materials. Here, in this work, we develop a theory for 2DTS of a model collective excitation, the Josephson plasma resonance in layered superconductors. Starting from a mean-field approach at temperatures well below the superconducting phase transition, we obtain expressions for the multidimensional nonlinear responses that are amenable to intuition derived from the conventional single-mode scenario. We then consider temperatures near the superconducting critical temperature T c , where dynamics beyond mean-field become important and conventional intuition fails. As fluctuations proliferate near T c , the dominant contribution to nonlinear response comes from an optical parametric drive of counterpropagating Josephson plasmons, which gives rise to 2D spectra that are qualitatively different from the mean-field predictions. As such, and in contrast to one-dimensional spectroscopy techniques, such as third harmonic generation, 2DTS can be used to directly probe thermally excited finite-momentum plasmons and their interactions. Our theory can readily be tested in cuprates, and we discuss implications beyond the present context of Josephson plasmons.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Single-particle and collective excitations in Zn 66

Single-particle and collective excitations in 66 Zn have been investigated via the multinucleon transfer reaction, 26 Mg( 48 Ca, α4nγ) using the Gammasphere multidetector array and the Fragment Mass Analyzer. In addition to confirming and complementing the previously known low-spin structure, a new quasi-rotational band comprising several stretched E2 transitions has been established to high spins. However, due to fragmentary nature of its decay, it was not possible to link this sequence to the low-lying states and, thus, determine the absolute excitation energies, spins, and parities unambiguously. Large-scale shell-model calculations employing the JUN45 and jj44b effective interactions are able to successfully describe the low-spin structure and herewith confirm that it is dominated by single-particle excitations. Furthermore, the newly established rotational cascade is compared with known superdeformed bands in the A ≈ 60–70 mass region, and with results of calculations performed within the frameworks of the cranked shell model and the adiabatic and configuration-fixed constrained covariant density functional theory and the quantum particle-rotor model.

59 ≤ A ≤ 89↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tunable Collective Excitations in Epitaxial Perovskite Nickelates

The formation of plasmons through the collective excitation of charge density has generated intense discussions, offering insights to fundamental sciences and potential applications. While the underlying physical principles have been well-established, the effects of multibody interactions and orbital hybridization on plasmonic dynamics remain understudied. Here, in this work, we present the observation of conventional metallic and correlated plasmons in epitaxial La 1-x Sr x NiO 3 (LSNO) films with varying Sr doping concentrations (x = 0, 0.125, 0.25), unveiling their intriguing evolution. Unlike samples at other doping concentrations, the x = 0.125 intermediate doping sample does not exhibit the correlated plasmons despite showing high optical conductivity. Through experimental investigation using spectroscopic ellipsometry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, that is further supported by theoretical calculations, the O2p-Ni3d orbital hybridization for x = 0.125 is found to be significantly enhanced, alongside a considerable weakening of its effective interaction comprising long-range Coulomb and variable interaction, U*. These factors account for the absence of correlated plasmons and the high optical conductivity observed in LSNO(0.125). Our findings highlight the significant impact of orbital hybridization on the electronic structures and the formation of quasiparticles in strongly correlated systems, opening new paths for plasmonic-based engineering research.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Characteristic terahertz emissions induced by optically excited collective orbital modes

Here, we study the generation of collective orbital modes, their evolution, and the characteristic nonlinear optical response induced by them in a photoinduced orbital-ordered correlated oxide using real-time simulations based on an interacting multiband tight-binding (TB) model. The d-d optical transitions under femtoseconds light-pulse in an orbital-ordered state excite collective orbital modes, also known as “orbitons”. Consistently incorporating electronic interactions and the interplay between charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom in the TB-model provides a clearer understanding of how these factors influence the generation and evolution of collective orbital modes. The dynamics of Jahn-Teller vibrational modes in the photoinduced state modify the intersite orbital interaction, which further amplifies these orbital modes. In the presence of weak ferroelectricity, the excitation of collective orbital modes induces a strong THz oscillatory photocurrent, which is long-lived. This suggests an alternative way to experimentally detect low-energy collective modes through THz-emission studies in the photoinduced state. Our study also elucidates that quasiparticle dynamics in improper ferroelectric oxides can be exploited to achieve highly interesting and nontrivial optoelectronic properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Manipulation of Emergent Collective Excitations via Composition Control in Mixed MPX 3 Correlated 2D Antiferromagnets

Transition metal (i.e., Mn, Fe, Cr) and chalcogen (Se) substituents are introduced into single-crystalline NiPS 3 , and the evolution of the two emergent quasi-particle excitations characteristic to the XXZ correlated antiferromagnetism of NiPS 3 (i.e., spin orbit entangled exciton (SOX) and two-magnon scattering (2M )) are investigated as functions of substituent concentration through comprehensive room- and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy studies. These findings are further correlated with the magnetic properties of the same set of compounds reported in prior studies. The work revealed that the SOX emission intensities and linewidths are mainly controlled by the magnetic anisotropy and spin orientations, and are strongly suppressed by the introduction of substituents. The suppression depends on the type of substituent, with Fe affecting the SOX emission more than Mn and Cr. The 2 M scattering is linked to short-range correlations and exhibits greater resiliency against metal atom substitution. While the 2M peak at low temperature gets suppressed and red-shifted in frequency with increasing concentrations of all the substituents, Fe induces the weakest suppression compared to all other substituents. Altogether, these findings revealed the introduction of substituents as a powerful route to control the emergent collective excitations in NiPS 3 and mixed-MPX 3 materials.

2D magnet↗
DOE OSTI2023

Collective Excitation in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions—In Memory of Professor Lianshou Liu

We celebrate the legacies of our friend and mentor Professor Lianshou Liu who was one of the pioneers for the phenomenology of multi-particle interactions and initiated the physics of relativistic heavy-ion collisions in China. In this article, we discuss some of the recent exciting experimental observations on the collective phenomena including collectivity, chirality, criticality, strangeness production, and thermal equilibrium in high-energy nuclear collisions. Future directions, especially the physics at high baryon density, will be discussed with a focus on the first-order phase boundary and hyperon–nucleon interactions.

Huang, Huan Zhong↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bulk Photovoltaic Effect Driven by Collective Excitations in a Correlated Insulator

We investigate the bulk photovoltaic effect, which rectifies light into electric current, in a collective quantum state with correlation driven electronic ferroelectricity. We show via explicit real-time dynamical calculations that the effect of the applied electric field on the electronic order parameter leads to a strong enhancement of the bulk photovoltaic effect relative to the values obtained in a conventional insulator. The enhancements include both resonant enhancements at sub-band-gap frequencies, arising from excitation of optically active collective modes, and broadband enhancements arising from nonresonant deformations of the electronic order. The deformable electronic order parameter produces an injection current contribution to the bulk photovoltaic effect that is entirely absent in a rigid-band approximation to a time-reversal symmetric material. Furthermore, our findings establish that correlation effects can lead to the bulk photovoltaic effect and demonstrate that the collective behavior of ordered states can yield large nonlinear optical responses.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Collective excitations of a bound-in-the-continuum condensate

Spectra of low-lying elementary excitations are critical to characterize properties of bosonic quantum fluids. Usually these spectra are difficult to observe, due to low occupation of non-condensate states compared to the ground state. Recently, low-threshold Bose-Einstein condensation was realised in a symmetry-protected bound state in the continuum, at a saddle point, thanks to coupling of this electromagnetic resonance to semiconductor excitons. While it has opened the door to long-living polariton condensates, their intrinsic collective properties are still unexplored. Here we unveil the peculiar features of the Bogoliubov spectrum of excitations in this system. Thanks to the dark nature of the bound-in-the-continuum state, collective excitations lying directly above the condensate become observable in enhanced detail. We reveal interesting aspects, such as energy-flat parts of the dispersion characterized by two parallel stripes in photoluminescence pattern, pronounced linearization at non-zero momenta in one of the directions, and a strongly anisotropic velocity of sound.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Spin waves in doped graphene: A time-dependent spin density functional approach to collective excitations in paramagnetic two-dimensional Dirac fermion gases

In spin-polarized itinerant electron systems, collective spin-wave modes arise from dynamical exchange and correlation (xc) effects. We consider here spin waves in doped paramagnetic graphene with adjustable Zeeman-type band splitting. The spin waves are described using time-dependent spin density functional response theory, treating dynamical xc effects within the Slater and Singwi-Tosi-Land-Sjölander approximations. We obtain spin-wave dispersions and spin stiffnesses as a function of doping and spin polarization, and we discuss the prospects for their experimental observation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Collective Excitations at Filling Factor 5/2: The View from Superspace

Herein, we present a microscopic theory of the neutral collective modes supported by the non-Abelian fractional quantum Hall states at filling factor 5/2. The theory is formulated in terms of the trial states describing the Girvin–MacDonald–Platzman mode and its fermionic counterpart. These modes are superpartners of each other in a concrete sense, which we elucidate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Collective excitations and quantum incompressibility in electron-hole bilayers

In this study, we apply quantum continuum mechanics to the calculation of the excitation spectrum of a coupled electron-hole bilayer. The theory expresses excitation energies in terms of ground-state intra- and interlayer pair correlation functions, which are available from quantum Monte Carlo calculations. The final formulas for the collective modes deduced from this approach coincide with the formulas obtained in the “quasilocalized particle approximation” by Kalman et al. [G. Kalman, V. Valtchinov, and K. I. Golden, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 , 3124 (1999) ], and likewise the theory predicts the existence of gapped excitations in the charged channel, with the gap arising from electron-hole correlation. An immediate consequence of the gap is that the static density-density response function of the charged channel vanishes as q 2 for wave vector q → 0 , rather than linearly in q , as commonly expected. In this sense, the system is incompressible . This feature, which has no analog in the classical electron-hole plasma, is consistent with the existence of an excitonic ground state and implies the existence of a discontinuity in the chemical potential of electrons and holes when the numbers of electrons and holes are equal. It should be experimentally observable by monitoring the densities of electrons and holes in response to potentials that attempt to change these densities in opposite directions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Collective excitations and low-energy ionization signatures of relativistic particles in silicon detectors

Abstract Solid-state detectors with a low energy threshold have several applications, including searches of non-relativistic halo dark-matter particles with sub-GeV masses. When searching for relativistic, beyond-the-Standard-Model particles with enhanced cross sections for small energy transfers, a small detector with a low energy threshold may have better sensitivity than a larger detector with a higher energy threshold. In this paper, we calculate the low-energy ionization spectrum from high-velocity particles scattering in a dielectric material. We consider the full material response including the excitation of bulk plasmons. We generalize the energy-loss function to relativistic kinematics, and benchmark existing tools used for halo dark-matter scattering against electron energy-loss spectroscopy data. Compared to calculations commonly used in the literature, such as the Photo-Absorption-Ionization model or the free-electron model, including collective effects shifts the recoil ionization spectrum towards higher energies, typically peaking around 4–6 electron-hole pairs. We apply our results to the three benchmark examples: millicharged particles produced in a beam, neutrinos with a magnetic dipole moment produced in a reactor, and upscattered dark-matter particles. Our results show that the proper inclusion of collective effects typically enhances a detector’s sensitivity to these particles, since detector backgrounds, such as dark counts, peak at lower energies.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Coexistence of single-particle and collective excitation in Ni 61

Here, the high-spin states in 61 Ni have been studied using the fusion evaporation reaction, 50 Ti( 14 C, 3n) 61 Ni at an incident beam energy of 40 MeV. A Compton suppressed multi-HPGe detector setup, consisting of six clover detectors and three single-crystal HPGe detectors, was used to detect the de-exciting $\gamma$ rays from the excited states. The level scheme has been extended up to an excitation energy of 12.8 MeV and a tentative J π =35/2 + . The low-lying negative parity levels are found to be generated by single-particle excitation within the fp shell and also excitations to the g 9/2 orbitals as explained well with shell model calculations using the GXPF1Br+V MU (modified) interaction. Two rotational structures of regular E2 sequences with small to moderate axial deformation have been established at higher excitation energy. Most interestingly, two sequences of M1 transitions are reported for the first time and described as magnetic rotational bands. The shears mechanism for both the bands can be described satisfactorily by the geometrical model. The shell model calculation involving the cross shell excitation beyond the fp shell well reproduce the M1 and E2 sequences. The shell model predicted B(M1) values for the magnetic rotational band B1 show the decreasing trend with spin as expected with closing of the shears.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Path integral Monte Carlo approach to the structural properties and collective excitations of liquid $$^3{\text {He}}$$ without fixed nodes

Abstract Due to its nature as a strongly correlated quantum liquid, ultracold helium is characterized by the nontrivial interplay of different physical effects. Bosonic $$^4{\text {He}}$$ 4 He exhibits superfluidity and Bose-Einstein condensation. Its physical properties have been accurately determined on the basis of ab initio path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulations. In contrast, the corresponding theoretical description of fermionic $$^3{\text {He}}$$ 3 He is severely hampered by the notorious fermion sign problem, and previous PIMC results have been derived by introducing the uncontrolled fixed-node approximation. In this work, we present extensive new PIMC simulations of normal liquid $$^3{\text {He}}$$ 3 He without any nodal constraints. This allows us to to unambiguously quantify the impact of Fermi statistics and to study the effects of temperature on different physical properties like the static structure factor $$S({\mathbf {q}})$$ S ( q ) , the momentum distribution $$n({\mathbf {q}})$$ n ( q ) , and the static density response function $$\chi ({\mathbf {q}})$$ χ ( q ) . In addition, the dynamic structure factor $$S({\mathbf {q}},\omega )$$ S ( q , ω ) is rigorously reconstructed from imaginary-time PIMC data. From simulations of $$^3{\text {He}}$$ 3 He , we derived the familiar phonon–maxon–roton dispersion function that is well-known for $$^4{\text {He}}$$ 4 He and has been reported previously for two-dimensional $$^3{\text {He}}$$ 3 He films (Nature 483:576–579 (2012)). The comparison of our new results for both $$S({\mathbf {q}})$$ S ( q ) and $$S({\mathbf {q}},\omega )$$ S ( q , ω ) with neutron scattering measurements reveals an excellent agreement between theory and experiment.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗