arXiv subjects

Allan H. MacDonald

Publications and source records attributed to Allan H. MacDonald.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Signatures of a ferro-Josephson effect in twisted graphene

When a spin-polarized current is driven across a magnetic domain wall, the resulting spin-transfer torque may, beyond a critical threshold, set the wall's moments into precession. This precession modulates the Berry curvature experienced by electrons traversing the wall, producing an electromotive force that is topological in nature and proportional to the precession frequency, mapping precisely onto the DC Josephson effect and leading to the name ferro-Josephson effect. We report signatures consistent with this effect in a twisted graphene van der Waals heterostructure, where spin and valley textures are linked by exchange, Hund's coupling, and spin-orbit interactions. Tuned to fillings where the isospin degeneracy is spontaneously broken, the samples develop a sharp peak in the longitudinal resistance within a fraction of a millitesla of $B_\parallel=0$---a peak that disappears as the current is reduced toward zero. In differential resistance the feature resolves into sharp resonances that disperse with $B_\parallel$ on microtesla and picoampere scales. We argue that these arise from the current-driven precession of spin-domain-wall moments, in competition with the in-plane anisotropy set by a minuscule applied field, and that they establish nonlinear transport as a sensitive probe of isospin domain-wall dynamics at energy scales far below $k_BT$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Interlayer Exciton Condensate Stiffness Is Non-Monotonic in Quantum Metric

Identifying the origin of the superfluid stiffness of electron-electron and electron-hole pair condensates is an important issue in flat-band physics. Here, we study the stiffness of bilayer exciton condensates using exact diagonalization and realistic Coulomb interactions across a wide variety of flat Chern band systems, including Landau levels, mixed Landau levels, and moiré bands. We find that stiffness is non-monotonic in the trace of the quantum metric and that it develops peaks when the band wavefunctions are engineered to be similar to those of Landau levels. The stiffness predicted by mean-field theory agrees quantitatively with exact diagonalization in these optimal cases, but systematically overestimates it otherwise. Flat bands with identical quantum geometry tensors can exhibit substantial differences in stiffness. The stiffness of condensates formed between moiré flat bands, which typically have strong variations in Berry curvature and quantum metric across their Brillouin zones, tends to be larger when the bands have non-zero Chern numbers and can be larger than that of Landau levels. Our results reveal a behavior that is richer than that suggested by simple geometric bounds and provide new guiding principles for the design of robust flat-band condensates with large superfluid stiffness.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Stripe antiferromagnetism and chiral superconductivity in tWSe$_2$

The layer-dependent Hamiltonians of parallel-stacked MoTe$_2$ and WSe$_2$ homobilayer moiré materials are topologically non-trivial, both in real space and in momentum space, and have been shown to support integer and fractional quantum anomalous Hall states, as well as antiferromagnetic and superconducting states. Here, we address the interplay between the antiferromagnetic and superconducting states observed in tWSe$_2$ when the Fermi level is close to its $M$-point van Hove singularity and the displacement field is small. We combine DFT with path-integrals to construct a minimal moiré band model that accounts for lattice relaxation along the $c$-axis and perform Hartree-Fock calculations to identify competing charge and spin ordered states. For tWSe$_2$ at $θ=2.7^\circ$ and $θ=3.65^\circ$, we find that a layer antiferromagnet (AFM), a stripe spin-density-wave (SDW), and the ferromagnetic Chern insulator (FM) are the primary candidates for the ground state at zero displacement field, and argue that antiferromagnetic spin interactions on the next neighbor bond $J_2$ can induce a time-reversal symmetry breaking chiral superconducting state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Emergent Trion Resonance Driven by Lattice Reconstruction in a Moiré Superlattice

We investigate how many-electron excited states emerge in twisted MoSe2 homobilayers when the lattice reconstructions evolve. Notably, we identify a new trion resonance that arises in the transition regime of lattice reconstruction, where gradual changes in atomic alignment between the layers occur. Magnetic field-dependent measurements, supported by first-principles calculations, indicate that the exciton forms at the K valley while the doped hole resides in the Gamma valley. First-principles calculations further indicate that two nearly degenerate exciton resonances can arise, localized at different sites within the moiré supercell. We propose that the new trion resonance is a "charge-transfer" trion, in which the electron-hole pair is spatially separated from the doped hole. The emergence of these complex excited states stems from the distinct moiré potentials acting on holes and excitons, resulting in their different spatial distribution within the superlattice.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Excitons in Periodic Electrostatic Potentials: Center-of-Mass Models

Two-dimensional (2D) van-der-Waals materials are a promising platform for exciton state engineering. In this paper, we study the properties of excitons in 2D group VI transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors that are modified by a periodic electrostatic potential through the quadratic Stark effect. Using a model that retains only center-of-mass and valley degrees-of-freedom, we find that electrostatic potentials can drive optical valley splitting up to 10meVs and induce valley selective exciton dispersion. We explain why both properties are sensitive to the rotational symmetry of the electrostatic trapping potential using a combination of numerical results and analytical approximations. An important consequence of valley-splitting is that the lowest exciton band is non-degenerate and has a linear dispersion around $γ$ that is expected to suppress thermal excitations, allowing true Bose condensation and superfluidity of excitons in two space dimensions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Theory of magnetoroton bands in moiré materials

The recent realization of Hofstadter spectra and fractional Chern insulators in moiré materials has introduced a new ingredient, a periodic lattice potential, to the study of quantum Hall phases. While the fractionalized states in moiré systems are expected to be in the same universality class as their counterparts in Landau levels, the periodic potential can have qualitative and quantitative effects on physical observables. Here, we examine how the magnetoroton collective modes of fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states are altered by external periodic potentials. Employing a single-mode-approximation, we derive an effective Hamiltonian for the low-energy neutral excitations expressed in terms of three-point density correlation functions, which are computed using Monte Carlo. Our analysis is applicable to FQH states in graphene with a hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) substrate and also to fractional Chern insulator (FCI) states in twisted MoTe$_2$ bilayers. We predict experimentally testable trends in the THz absorption characteristics of FCI and FQH states and estimate the external potential strength at which a soft-mode phase transition occurs between FQH and charge density wave states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Observation of two-component exciton condensates in an excitonic insulator

Macroscopic quantum coherence emerges when bosons condense into a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). First observed as a single-component superfluid in helium, BECs later emerged in ultracold atomic gases at nanokelvin temperatures as weakly interacting quantum fluids, which can also host multicomponent spinor condensates with rich internal degrees of freedom. Excitons provide a promising solid-state platform for BECs that can combine strong interactions, electrical tunability, high transition temperatures, and multicomponent order. Yet, conclusive evidence for condensation has remained elusive. Here, we report evidence of two-component exciton BECs in MoSe2/hBN/WSe2 electron-hole bilayers by directly probing the spin susceptibility of constituent electrons and holes. This heterostructure hosts equilibrium exciton fluids with four spin-valley flavors. Using magneto-optical spectroscopy in a dilution refrigerator, we reveal three exciton condensate phases with distinct flavor polarizations. At zero magnetic field, the many-body ground state is a coherent superposition of two simultaneously condensed intravalley exciton flavors. Under a magnetic field, the intravalley exciton condensate first switches to a two-component intervalley exciton condensate via a first-order quantum phase transition at a weak critical field, and then turns into a fully-polarized single-component condensate at high fields. The two-component condensates persist up to ~1.8 K. Our results establish van der Waals electron-hole bilayers as a versatile platform for exploring strongly interacting, multicomponent exciton BECs.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Charge-ordered states in twisted MoTe$_2$

We analyze interaction-driven charge-density-wave (CDW) states in the spin-valley polarized first valence miniband of twisted MoTe$_2$ (tMoTe$_2$) using an adiabatic mapping from the continuum model to an effective Landau-level (LL) problem. When projected to the lowest LL, the leading spatial harmonic of the moiré-periodic potential changes sign at a magic twist angle $θ_c$ where the band reaches its minimum bandwidth. By solving self-consistent Hartree-Fock equations in a multi-LL Hilbert space, we find that triangular-lattice CDW states with density maxima on MX (or XM) sites or on MM sites are favored on opposite sides of the magic angle at most filling factors and that stripe order appears near $ν_h=1/2$. We show that CDW states at $ν_h >1/2$ can carry a nonzero total Chern number, providing a natural route to reentrant integer quantum Hall effects and discuss the energy competition between fractional Chern insulator and CDW states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Microwave Imaging of Edge Conductivity in Graphene at Charge Neutrality and Quantum Hall States

We report local conductivity imaging of edge states in monolayer graphene by millikelvin microwave impedance microscopy (MIM). At the charge-neutrality point, as the magnetic field increases, the local conductivity at the edge drops to zero more slowly than in the bulk. This behavior is consistent with the calculated spatial profile of the charge gap in the canted antiferromagnetic phase. For comparison, we also perform microwave imaging of integer quantum Hall states away from neutrality, which host dissipationless chiral edge channels. The evolution of the edge signal as a function of the bulk gap is fundamentally different between the Landau level filling factor $ν= 0$ and $|ν| \ge 1$ integer quantum Hall states, which can be qualitatively explained by numerical simulations and theoretical analysis. Our results provide a comprehensive microscopic picture of the edge and bulk states as the Fermi level moves across the unique Landau-level spectrum of graphene.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Moiré band theory for M-valley twisted transition metal dichalcogenides

We propose twisted bilayers of certain group IV and IVB trigonal transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) MX$_{2}$ (M$=$Zr, Hf, Sn and X$=$S, Se) as moiré materials. In monolayer form these TMDs have conduction band minima near the three inequivalent Brillouin zone $M$ points and negligible spin-orbit coupling, implying six flavors of low-energy conduction band states. The flavor sectors decouple at the single-particle level and in twisted bilayers are accurately described by emergent moiré-periodic Hamiltonians that we derive from small-unit-cell density functional theory calculations. Because the valley-projected Hamiltonians have large valley-dependent mass anisotropies and are time-reversal invariant, spontaneous valley polarization is signaled in transport by anisotropy instead of by the anomalous Hall and magnetic circular dichroism signals commonly observed in graphene and $K$-valley TMD-based moiré multilayers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Polariton-induced superconductivity in two-dimensional metals

The electronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) metals are altered by changes in their three-dimensional dielectric environment. In this Letter we propose that superconductivity can be induced in a 2D metal by resonant coupling between its plasmonic collective modes and optical phonons in a nearby polar dielectric. Specifically, we predict that relatively high-temperature superconductivity can be induced in bilayer graphene twisted to an angle somewhat larger than the magic value by surrounding it with a THz polar dielectric. Our conclusions are based on numerical solutions of Eliashberg equations for massless Dirac fermions with tunable Fermi velocities and Fermi energies, and can be understood qualitatively in terms of a generalized McMillan formula.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Exciton-based sensing of remote electron correlations in 2D heterostructures

Many monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, including MoS$_2$, MoSe$_2$, WS$_2$, and WSe$_2$, are direct bandgap two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors with sharp optical resonances at excitonic bound state frequencies. Recent experiments have demonstrated that excitonic resonance frequencies in multilayer van der Waals stacks are altered by long-range Coulomb interactions with electrons in nearby but electrically isolated 2D materials. These modulations have been successfully used to detect transitions between distinct states of remote strongly correlated 2D electron fluids. In this Letter we provide a theory of these frequency shifts, enabling a more quantitative interpretation of excitonic-sensing experiments, and apply it as an example to WSe$_2$ that is proximate to graphene bilayers and multilayers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Topological excitonic insulators in electron bilayers modulated by twisted hBN

Equilibrium interlayer exciton condensation is common in bilayer quantum Hall systems and is characterized by spontaneous phase coherence between isolated layers. It has been predicted that similar physics can occur in the absence of a magnetic field in some two-dimensional semiconductor bilayers. In this work we consider the case of two transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers separated by a twisted hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) bilayer or multilayer. The hBN layers suppress tunneling between the TMD layers so that phase coherence is spontaneous when it is present. When twisted, the hBN layers also form a ferroelectric moiré pattern that applies opposite triangular-lattice modulation potentials to the two TMD layers. We show via mean-field theory that at total hole filling per moiré unit cell $ν=1$, this geometry can favor a chiral p-wave exciton condensate state in which the quantum anomalous Hall effect coexists with counter-flow superfluidity. We present a mean-field phase diagram for TMD hole bilayers modulated by twisted hBN, discuss the conditions needed for the realization of the p-wave condensate state, and propose experiments that could confirm its presence.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Spontaneous Twirls and Structural Frustration in Moiré Materials

Structural twirls form spontaneously in the domain wall networks of some moiré materials. We show that in heterobilayers, neighboring twirl chiralities tend to anti-align, forming staggered patterns that are well described by antiferromagnetic lattice $ϕ^4$ theories. In moiré systems with triangular domains, this leads to frustration in the chirality configuration of the structural twirls and to hysteresis with respect to variation of the average twist angle and possibly other control parameters.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Valley Order in Moiré Topological Insulators

Moiré materials with opposite non-zero miniband Chern numbers in time-reversal-partner valleys are two-dimensional topological insulators at band filling $ν=2$. We explore the possibility that in this class of moir'e materials intervalley coherence can sometimes be present in interaction induced insulators at band filling $ν=1$ , using Landau levels with opposite signs of the magnetic field as a convenient generic model. In the absence of intravalley interactions the mean-field ground state at filling factor $ν=1$ is a gapless intervalley coherent state that maps under a particle-hole transformation of one valley to a strong-field superconducting vortex-lattice state that has been studied previously. When the ratio $λ$ of intravalley to intervalley interactions is increased, gapped states appear, one with broken time-reversal symmetry and a quantized Hall effect but no valley polarization and one with broken parity symmetry and zero Hall conductivity. We discuss the possibility that the latter state could be related to the fractional quantum spin Hall effect recently observed at an odd filling factor in a moir'e topological insulator and comment on related systems in which correlations between electrons in bands with opposite Chern numbers might play a key role.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Tuning Fermi Liquids with polaritonic Cavities

The question of whether or not passive sub-wavelength cavities can alter the properties of quantum materials is currently attracting a great deal of attention. In this Article we show that the Fermi liquid parameters of a two-dimensional metal are modified by cavity polariton modes, and that these changes can be monitored by measuring a paradigmatic magneto-transport phenomenon, Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in a weak perpendicular magnetic field. This effect is intrinsic, and totally unrelated to disorder. As an illustrative example, we carry out explicit calculations of the quasiparticle velocity of graphene in a planar van der Waals cavity formed by natural hyperbolic crystals and metal gates. The largest effects of the cavity occur when the phonon polariton modes of the former match energetically the graphene plasmon. For typical graphene carrier densities this occurs in the Terahertz spectral range.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Vortex lattice states of bilayer electron-hole fluids in quantizing magnetic fields

We show that the ground state of a weakly charged two-dimensional electron-hole fluid in a strong magnetic field is a broken translation symmetry state with interpenetrating lattices of localized vortices and antivortices in the electron-hole-pair field. The vortices and antivortices carry fractional charges of equal sign but unequal magnitude and have a honeycomb lattice structure that contrasts with the triangular lattices of superconducting electron-electron-pair vortex lattices. We predict that increasing charge density or weakening magnetic field drives a vortex delocalization transition that would be signaled experimentally by an abrupt increase in counterflow transport resistance.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

The Many-Body Ground State Manifold of Flat Band Interacting Hamiltonian for Magic Angle Twisted Bilayer Graphene

At a magic relative twist angle, magic angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) has an octet of flat bands that can host strong correlation physics when partially filled. A key theoretical discovery in MATBG is the existence of ferromagnetic Slater determinants as exact ground states of the corresponding flat band interacting (FBI) Hamiltonian. The FBI Hamiltonian describes the behavior of electrons that interact with each other in a high-dimensional space, and is constructed from the band structure of the non-interacting Bistritzer--MacDonald model at the chiral limit. A key property of the FBI Hamiltonian for MATBG is that it is frustration free and can be written as a sum of non-commuting terms. In this work, we provide a complete characterization of the ground state manifold of the FBI Hamiltonian, proving that it is precisely the linear span of such ferromagnetic Slater determinants.

math-ph↗