arXiv subjects

Babak Seradjeh

Publications and source records attributed to Babak Seradjeh.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum simulation of the Haldane phase using open shell molecules

Dipolar molecules in optical traps are a versatile platform for studying many-body phases of quantum matter in the presence of strong and long-range interactions. The dipolar interactions in such setups can be enabled by microwave driving opposite parity rotational levels of the molecules. We find that the regime where the $N=0,J=1/2,F=1$ state is coupled to the $N=1,J=3/2,F=2$ manifold with circularly polarized microwaves, in the presence of a small magnetic field, can lead to spin-1 quantum magnetic Hamiltonians, due to the decoupling between electron spin and orbit, that is unique to the $^2Σ$ ground state molecules. We demonstrate that in one dimension, the phase diagram associated with this Hamiltonian, computed via tensor network methods, hosts the celebrated Haldane phase. We find that the Haldane phase persists even in the presence of SU(3) correction terms that break the SU(2) algebra of the Hamiltonian. We discuss the feasibility of the proposed scheme for $^2Σ$ molecules with large rotational constants such as the directly laser cooled molecule MgF for future experiments.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2025

Lorentz violation and momentum-space geometric phases

Geometric phases can manifest when a relativistic quantum particle moves cyclically along a loop in parameter space. The phase can be affected by the presence of a background field and can be accompanied by nontrivial topological features. The appearance of adiabatic geometric phases in momentum space is demonstrated for a Lorentz-violating Weyl fermion, where the role of the background is played by the coefficients for Lorentz violation. As explicit examples, the Berry curvature and the first Chern number are derived for two cases with large Lorentz violation, one incorporating CPT violation and one preserving CPT symmetry. Some alternative topological invariants are also obtained. In certain scenarios with large Lorentz violation, the physical vacuum is associated with a topological phase.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Wilson loop invariants and bulk-boundary correspondence in higher-order topological insulators with two anticommuting mirror symmetries

We investigate the higher-order bulk-boundary correspondence in a family of chiral-symmetric Bloch Hamiltonians with anticommuting mirror symmetries. These models generalize the $\pi$-flux square lattice, the prototypical topological quadrupole insulator, and include both separable and nonseparable models with extended and diagonal hopping. For separable systems, the product of subsystem chiral winding numbers correctly predicts the number of zero-energy corner states. However, this invariant fails in nonseparable models, motivating the development of new momentum-space diagnostics. We introduce gauge-independent mirror-filtered winding numbers for Wannier Hamiltonians, constructed by projecting mirror eigenstates onto the occupied subspace. Furthermore, by adapting periodicized Wilson lines from chiral Floquet theory to the case with momentum-dependent chiral operator, we define new invariants associated directly with Wannier gaps. These invariants provide a detailed characterization of Wannier band topology. Our results clarify the interplay between chiral symmetry, mirror symmetries, and Wilson loops in higher-order topological phases and point to open challenges in formulating momentum-space invariants for general nonseparable models.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Selective bulk-boundary correspondence in higher-order topological insulators with anticommuting mirror and chiral symmetries

We investigate higher-order topological insulators protected by chiral and anticommuting mirror symmetries. Using models in the BDI class, which include the prototypical topological quadrupole insulator, we show that breaking mirror symmetries that anticommute with the chiral operator leads to edge-selective bulk-boundary correspondence, with gap closings and bound states appearing only along a subset of boundaries of the same orientation and codimension. We define a new edge-sensitive topological invariant that distinguishes this mechanism from previous reports of non-topological edge-selection effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Nonperturbative Lorentz Violation and Field Quantization

Regimes of Lorentz-violating effective field theories are studied in which departures from Lorentz symmetry are nonperturbative. Within a free toy theory exhibiting Lorentz breakdown involving an operator of mass dimension three, it is shown that conventional methods suffice to achieve field quantization and Fock-space construction. However, the absence of an observer-invariant energy-positivity condition requires physical input beyond the free theory for the unambiguous identification of a ground state. An investigation of the role of thermodynamics in this context is instigated.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Physical interpretation of large Lorentz violation via Weyl semimetals

The physical intepretation of effective field theories of fundamental interactions incorporating large Lorentz violation is a long-standing challenge, known as the concordance problem. In condensed-matter physics, certain Weyl semimetals with emergent Lorentz invariance exhibit large Lorentz violation, thereby offering prospective laboratory analogues for exploration of this issue. We take advantage of the mathematical equivalence between the descriptions of large Lorentz violation in fundamental and condensed-matter physics to investigate the primary aspects of the concordance problem, which arise when the coefficients for Lorentz violation are large or the observer frame is highly boosted. Using thermodynamic arguments, we present a physical solution to the concordance problem and explore some implications.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Multiple tunable real-space degeneracies in graphene irradiated by twisted light

We report the theoretical discovery of multiple real-space degenerate Floquet-Bloch states in monolayer graphene coherently driven by twisted circularly-polarized light. Using Floquet theory, we characterize the real-space structure of quasienergies and Floquet modes in terms of the orbital angular momentum and radial vortex profile of light. We obtain the effective real-space Floquet Hamiltonian and show it supports crossings of Floquet modes, especially at high-symmetry $K$ and $Γ$ points of graphene, localized at rings around the vortex center. At specific frequencies, the vortex bound states form a multiply degenerate structure in real-space. This structure is purely dynamically generated and controlled by the frequency and tuned by the intensity of twisted light. We discuss the experimental feasibility of observing and employing multiple real-space degeneracies for coherent optoelectronic quantum state engineering.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Josephson-Current Signatures of Unpaired Floquet Majorana Bound States

We theoretically study the transport signatures of unpaired Floquet Majorana bound states in the Josephson current of weakly linked, periodically driven topological superconductors. We obtain the occupation of the Floquet Majorana modes in the presence of weak coupling to thermal leads analytically, and show that, similar to static superconductors, the Josephson current involving Floquet Majorana bound states is also $4π$-periodic in the phase difference across the junction, and also depends linearly on the coupling between superconductors. Moreover, unlike the static case, the amplitude of the Josephson current can be tuned by setting the unbiased chemical potential of the driven superconductors at multiple harmonics of the drive frequency. As a result, we uncover a Josephson Floquet sum rule for driven superconductors. We confirm our analytical expressions for Josephson current, the occupation of Floquet bands, and a perturbative analysis of the quasienergies with numerically exact results.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Enhancement of High Harmonic Generation in Bulk Floquet Systems

We formulate a theory of bulk optical current for a periodically driven system, which accounts for the mixing of external drive and laser field frequencies and, therefore, the broadening of the harmonic spectrum compared to the undriven system. We express the current in terms of Floquet-Bloch bands and their non-adiabatic Berry connection and curvature. Using this expression, we relate spatio-temporal symmetries of the driven model to selection rules for current harmonics. We illustrate the application of this theory by studying high harmonic generation in the periodically driven Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. In the high frequency and low field amplitude limit, we find analytical expressions for current harmonics. We also calculate the current numerically beyond the high frequency limit and verify that when the drive breaks a temporal symmetry, harmonics forbidden in the undriven model become available. Moreover, we find significant enhancement in higher harmonics when the system is driven, even for low field amplitudes. Our work offers a unified Floquet approach to nonlinear optical properties of solids, which is useful for realistic calculations of high harmonic spectra of electronic systems subject to multiple periodic drives.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Renormalized Magic Angles in Asymmetric Twisted Graphene Multilayers

Stacked graphene multilayers with a small relative twist angle between each of the layers have been found to host flat bands at a series of magic angles. We consider the effect that Dirac point asymmetry between the layers, and in particular different Fermi velocities in each layer, may have on this phenomenon. Such asymmetry may be introduced by unequal Fermi velocity renormalizations through Coulomb interactions with a dielectric substrate. It also arises in an approximate way in tetralayer systems, in which the outer twist angles are large enough that there is a dominant moire periodicity from the stacking of the inner two layers. We find in such models that the flat band phenomenon persists in spite of this asymmetry, and that the magic angles acquire a degree of tunability through either controlling the screening in the bilayer system or the twist angles of the outer layers in the tetralayer system. Notably, we find in our models that the quantitative values of the magic angles are increased.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Lorentz violation in Dirac and Weyl semimetals

We propose a correspondence between the description of emergent Lorentz symmetry in condensed-matter systems and the established general effective field theory for Lorentz violation in fundamental theories of spacetime and matter. This correspondence has potential implications in both directions. We illustrate the proposal by investigating its consequences for the spectral and transport properties of Dirac and Weyl semimetals. Particular realizations of this framework give rise to Dirac nodal spectra with nodal lines and rings. We demonstrate a bulk-boundary correspondence between bulk topological invariants and drumhead surface states of these Dirac nodal semimetals. We calculate their transport coefficients in leading-order perturbation theory, thereby characterizing the unconventional electromagnetic response due to small deviations from emergent Lorentz invariance. Some prospective future applications of the correspondence are outlined.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Dirac Magic and Lifshitz Transitions in AA-Stacked Twisted Multilayer Graphene

We uncover a new type of magic-angle phenomena when an AA-stacked graphene bilayer is twisted relative to another graphene system with band touching. In the simplest case this constitutes a trilayer system formed by an AA-stacked bilayer twisted relative to a single layer of graphene. We find multiple anisotropic Dirac cones coexisting in such twisted multilayer structures at certain angles, which we call "Dirac magic." We trace the origin of Dirac magic angles to the geometric structure of the twisted AA-bilayer Dirac cones relative to the other band-touching spectrum in the moiré reciprocal lattice. The anisotropy of the Dirac cones and a concomitant cascade of saddle points induce a series of topological Lifshitz transitions that can be tuned by the twist angle and perpendicular electric field. We discuss the possibility of direct observation of Dirac magic as well as its consequences for the correlated states of electrons in this moiré system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Floquet Gauge Pumps as Sensors for Spectral Degeneracies Protected by Symmetry or Topology

We introduce the concept of a Floquet gauge pump whereby a dynamically engineered Floquet Hamiltonian is employed to reveal the inherent degeneracy of the ground state in interacting systems. We demonstrate this concept in a one-dimensional XY model with periodically driven couplings and transverse field. In the high-frequency limit, we obtain the Floquet Hamiltonian consisting of the static XY and dynamically generated Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction (DMI) terms. The dynamically generated magnetization current depends on the phases of complex coupling terms, with the XY interaction as the real and DMI as the imaginary part. As these phases are cycled, the current reveals the ground-state degeneracies that distinguish the ordered and disordered phases. We discuss experimental requirements needed to realize the Floquet gauge pump in a synthetic quantum spin system of interacting trapped ions.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2020

Floquet-Engineered Topological Flat Bands in Irradiated Twisted Bilayer Graphene

We propose a tunable optical setup to engineer topologically nontrivial flat bands in twisted bilayer graphene under circularly polarized light. Using both analytical and numerical calculations, we demonstrate that nearly flat bands can be engineered at small twist angles near the magic angles of the static system. The flatness and the gaps between these bands can be tuned optically by varying laser frequency and amplitude. We study the effects of interlayer hopping variations on Floquet flat bands and find that lattice relaxation favors their formation. Furthermore, we find that, once formed, the flat bands carry nonzero Chern numbers. We show that at currently known values of parameters, such topological flat bands can be realized using circularly polarized UV laser light. Thus, our work opens the way to creating optically tunable, strongly correlated topological phases of electrons in moiré superlattices.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Dynamically Induced Topology and Quantum Monodromies in a Proximity Quenched Gapless Wire

We study the quench dynamics of a topologically trivial one-dimensional gapless wire following its sudden coupling to topological bound states. We find that as the bound states leak into and propagate through the wire, signatures of their topological nature survive and remain measurable over a long lifetime. Thus, the quench dynamically induces topological properties in the gapless wire. Specifically, we study a gapless wire coupled to fractionally charged solitons or Majorana fermions and characterize the dynamically induced topology in the wire, in the presence of disorder and short-range interactions, by analytical and numerical calculations of the dynamics of fractional charge, fermion parity, entanglement entropy, and fractional exchange statistics. In a dual effective description, this phenomenon is described by correlators of boundary changing operators, which, remarkably, generate topologically non-trivial monodromies in the gapless wire, both for abelian and non-abelian quantum statistics of the bound states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Higher-order Floquet topological phases with corner and bulk bound states

We report the theoretical discovery and characterization of higher-order Floquet topological phases dynamically generated in a periodically driven system with mirror symmetries. We demonstrate numerically and analytically that these phases support lower-dimensional Floquet bound states, such as corner Floquet bound states at the intersection of edges of a two-dimensional system, protected by the nonequilibrium higher-order topology induced by the periodic drive. We characterize higher-order Floquet topologies of the bulk Floquet Hamiltonian using mirror-graded Floquet topological invariants. This allows for the characterization of a new class of higher-order "anomalous" Floquet topological phase, where the corners of the open system host Floquet bound states with the same as well as with double the period of the drive. Moreover, we show that bulk vortex structures can be dynamically generated by a drive that is spatially inhomogeneous. We show these bulk vortices can host multiple Floquet bound states. This "stirring drive protocol" leverages a connection between higher-order topologies and previously studied fractionally charged, bulk topological defects. Our work establishes Floquet engineering of higher-order topological phases and bulk defects beyond equilibrium classification and offers a versatile tool for dynamical generation and control of topologically protected Floquet corner and bulk bound states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

How to Directly Measure Floquet Topological Invariants in Optical Lattices

The classification of topological Floquet systems with time-periodic Hamiltonians transcends that of static systems. For example, spinless fermions in periodically driven two-dimensional lattices are not completely characterized by the Chern numbers of the quasienergy bands, but rather by a set of winding numbers associated with the quasienergy gaps. We propose a scheme for measuring these winding numbers in a system of fermionic cold atoms in a periodically driven optical lattice efficiently and directly. It is based on the construction of a one-parameter family of experimentally feasible drives, continuously connecting the Floquet system of interest to a trivial reference system. The winding numbers are then determined by the identification and the tomography of the band-touching singularities occurring on the way. As a byproduct, we also propose a method for probing spectral properties of time evolution operators via a time analog of crystallography.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2018

Surface spectra of Weyl semimetals through self-adjoint extensions

We apply the method of self-adjoint extensions of Hermitian operators to the low-energy, continuum Hamiltonians of Weyl semimetals in bounded geometries and derive the spectrum of the surface states on the boundary. This allows for the full characterization of boundary conditions and the surface spectra on surfaces both normal to the Weyl node separation as well as parallel to it. We show that the boundary conditions for quadratic bulk dispersions are, in general, specified by a $\mathbb{U}(2)$ matrix relating the wavefunction and its derivatives normal to the surface. We give a general procedure to obtain the surface spectra from these boundary conditions and derive them in specific cases of bulk dispersion. We consider the role of global symmetries in the boundary conditions and their effect on the surface spectrum. We point out several interesting features of the surface spectra for different choices of boundary conditions, such as a Mexican-hat shaped dispersion on the surface normal to Weyl node separation. We find that the existence of bound states, Fermi arcs, and the shape of their dispersion, depend on the choice of boundary conditions. This illustrates the importance of the physics at and near the boundaries in the general statement of bulk-boundary correspondence.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗