arXiv subjects

Aaron Dunbrack

Publications and source records attributed to Aaron Dunbrack.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Magnetic Field Walls in Flat-band Superconductors

Superconductors of different types have distinct magnetic properties; for example, they can form Abrikosov vortices or alternating normal-superconducting domains. We predict that, in flat bands, a superconducting phase exhibiting walls of magnetic flux is stable in an applied magnetic field. This phase relies on the lack of a single particle energy penalty for forming condensates of any momentum in flat bands and, consequently, their superconducting free energy being a negative and periodic function of the vector potential at low temperatures. Using a minimal lattice-periodic model of free energy, we study two types of soliton modes of the wall phase: the kink and breather solitons. They determine the lower critical field and the high-field behavior of the wall phase, respectively. The competition between the walls and vortices in flat bands is also discussed. Our results suggest that flat bands help sustain superconductivity in the presence of large magnetic fields.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Glass Patterns in Twisted Disordered Crystals

Twisting and stacking two copies of a 2D crystal can produce a long-wavelength periodic interference pattern known as a moir\'e pattern. Performing the same procedure with an aperiodic structure instead generates a single moir\'e spot at the rotation center, known as a Glass pattern. We explore the implications of these patterns across a variety of models: they allow measurement of microscopic parameters from mesoscopic resistivity measurements; they generate an impurity that modifies the properties of a moir\'e lattice at the rotation center; and they allow for domain formation in amorphous magnets. These results establish Glass patterns as a generic feature of twisted disordered systems and provide a framework for future theoretical and experimental exploration.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2025

Optimizing superlattice bilayer graphene for a fractional Chern insulator

Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene modulated by a superlattice potential is a highly tunable system predicted to realize isolated topological flat bands. In this work we calculate the band structure and quantum geometry of bilayer graphene subject to both triangular and square superlattices, across a wide range of gate voltages. We identify the parameter regime that optimizes the "single-particle indicators" for the stability of a fractional Chern insulator (FCI) when a topological flat band is partially filled. Our results guide the experimental realization of an FCI in this platform.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Quantum Geometric Helical Superconductivity

Several physical phenomena in superconductors, such as helical superconductivity and the diode effect, rely on breaking time-reversal symmetry. This symmetry-breaking is usually accounted for via the Lifshitz invariant, a contribution to the free energy which is linear in the phase gradient of the order parameter. In dispersive single-band superconductors with conventional pairing, the Lifshitz invariant can be computed from the asymmetries of the spectrum near the Fermi surface. We show that in multi-band superconductors, the quantum geometry also contributes to the Lifshitz invariant, and this is the dominant contribution when the low-energy bands are flat. We also analogously demonstrate quantum-geometry-driven commensurate-incommensurate transitions in charge and pair density waves.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Chiral model of twisted bilayer graphene realized in a monolayer

We demonstrate that a single layer of graphene subject to a superlattice potential nearly commensurate to a $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ supercell exactly maps to the chiral model of twisted bilayer graphene, albeit with half as many degrees of freedom. We comprehensively review the properties of this ``half-chiral model,'' including the interacting phases stabilized at integer fillings and the effects of substrate-induced symmetry breaking. We list candidate substrates that could produce a superlattice potential on graphene with the correct periodicity to access the flat band limit. Experimental measurements on a half-chiral moire heterostructure, in which valley-skyrmions cannot form, could yield insights on the physics they mediate in twisted bilayer graphene.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Intrinsically-multilayer moir\'e heterostructures

We introduce trilayer and multilayer moir\'e heterostructures that cannot be viewed from the ``moir\'e-of-moir\'e" perspective of helically-twisted trilayer graphene. These ``intrinsically trilayer" moir\'e systems feature periodic modulation of a local quasicrystalline structure. They open the door to realizing moir\'e heterostructures with vastly more material constituents because they do not constrain the lattice constants of the layers. In this manuscript, we define intrinsically multilayer patterns, provide a recipe for their construction, derive their local configuration space, and connect the visual patterns to physical observables in material systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Topological and stacked flat bands in bilayer graphene with a superlattice potential

We show that bilayer graphene in the presence of a 2D superlattice potential provides a highly tunable setup that can realize a variety of flat band phenomena. We focus on two regimes: (i) topological flat bands with non-zero Chern numbers, C, including bands with higher Chern numbers |C| > 1; and (ii) an unprecedented phase consisting of a stack of nearly perfect flat bands with C = 0. For realistic values of the potential and superlattice periodicity, this stack can span nearly 100 meV, encompassing nearly all of the low-energy spectrum. We further show that in the topological regime, the topological flat band has a favorable band geometry for realizing a fractional Chern insulator (FCI) and use exact diagonalization to show that the FCI is in fact the ground state at 1/3 filling. Our results provide a realistic guide for future experiments to realize a new platform for flat band phenomena.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Magic angle conditions for twisted 3D topological insulators

We derive a general low-energy theory for twisted moir\'e heterostructures comprised of Dirac materials. We apply our theory to heterostructures on the surface of a three dimensional topological insulator (3D TI). First, we consider the interface between two 3D TIs arranged with a relative twist angle. We prove that if the two TIs are identical, then a necessary condition for a magic angle where the Dirac cone velocity vanishes is to have an interlayer spin-flipping hopping term. Without this term, the Dirac cone velocities can still be significantly renormalized, decreasing to less than half of their original values, but they will not vanish. Second, we consider graphene on the surface of a TI arranged with a small twist angle. Again, a magic angle is only achievable with a spin-flipping hopping term. Without this term, the Dirac cone is renormalized, but not significantly. In both cases, our perturbative results are verified by computing the band structure of the continuum model. The enhanced density of states that results from decreasing the surface Dirac cone velocity provides a tunable route to realizing interacting topological phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Type-II Seesaw Scalar Triplet Model at a 100 TeV $pp$ Collider: Discovery and Higgs Portal Coupling Determination

We investigate the collider phenomenology of the scalar triplet particles in the Type-II seesaw model at a 100 TeV $pp$ collider. Depending on triplet vacuum expectation value $v_Δ$, the dominant discovery channels could be $H^{++} H^{--}$ and $H^{\pm\pm}H^\mp$. We find the $H^{\pm\pm}H^\mp\to W^\pm W^\pm h W^\mp/\ell^\pm \ell^\pm h W^\mp$ channels are promising for both model discovery at relatively large $v_Δ$ and determination of the Higgs portal couplings $λ_4$ and $λ_5$. We also find that these two channels are complementary to indirect determination of $λ_4$ from future precise measurements on $h\toγγ$ decay rate. Together with pair production of the doubly-charged Higgs subsequently decaying into same-sign di-leptons, the $H^{\pm\pm}H^\mp$ channels have the potential to cover a significant portion of the parameter space of the Type-II seesaw complex scalar triplet model.

hep-ph↗