arXiv subjects

Chris R. Laumann

Publications and source records attributed to Chris R. Laumann.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Momentum space entanglement of interacting fermions

Momentum space entanglement entropy probes quantum correlations in interacting fermionic phases. It is very sensitive to interactions, obeying volume-law scaling in general, while vanishing in the Fermi gas. We show that the Rényi entropy in momentum space has a systematic expansion in terms of the phase space volume of the partition, which holds at all orders in perturbation theory. This permits, for example, the controlled computation of the entropy of thin shells near the Fermi wavevector in isotropic Fermi liquids and BCS superconductors. In the Fermi liquid, the thin shell entropy is a universal function of the quasiparticle residue. In the superconductor, it reflects the formation of Cooper pairs. Momentum space Rényi entropies are accessible in cold atomic and molecular gas experiments through a time-of-flight generalization of previously implemented measurement protocols.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Incoherent Excitation of Coherent Higgs Oscillations in Superconductors

We investigate theoretically the excitation of Higgs oscillations of the order parameter in superconductors by incoherent short pulses of light with frequency much larger than the superconducting gap. The excitation amplitude of the Higgs mode is controlled by a single parameter which is determined by the total number of quasiparticles excited by the pulse. This fact can be traced back to the universality of the shape of the light-induced quasiparticle cascade at energy below the Debye frequency and above the gap.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

The Emergent Fine Structure Constant of Quantum Spin Ice Is Large

Condensed matter systems provide alternative `vacua' exhibiting emergent low-energy properties drastically different from those of the standard model. A case in point is the emergent quantum electrodynamics (QED) in the fractionalized topological magnet known as quantum spin ice, whose magnetic monopoles set it apart from the familiar QED of the world we live in. Here, we show that the two greatly differ in their fine-structure constant $α$, which parametrizes how strongly matter couples to light: $α_{\mathrm{QSI}}$ is more than an order of magnitude greater than $α_{\mathrm{QED}} \approx 1/137$. Furthermore, $α_{\mathrm{QSI}}$, the emergent speed of light, and all other parameters of the emergent QED, are tunable by engineering the microscopic Hamiltonian. We find that $α_{\mathrm{QSI}}$ can be tuned all the way from zero up to what is believed to be the \textit{strongest possible} coupling beyond which QED confines. In view of the small size of its constrained Hilbert space, this marks out quantum spin ice as an ideal platform for studying exotic quantum field theories and a target for quantum simulation. The large $α_{\mathrm{QSI}}$ implies that experiments probing candidate condensed-matter realizations of quantum spin ice should expect to observe phenomena arising due to strong interactions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Emergent hydrodynamics in a strongly interacting dipolar spin ensemble

Conventional wisdom holds that macroscopic classical phenomena naturally emerge from microscopic quantum laws. However, despite this mantra, building direct connections between these two descriptions has remained an enduring scientific challenge. In particular, it is difficult to quantitatively predict the emergent "classical" properties of a system (e.g. diffusivity, viscosity, compressibility) from a generic microscopic quantum Hamiltonian. Here, we introduce a hybrid solid-state spin platform, where the underlying disordered, dipolar quantum Hamiltonian gives rise to the emergence of unconventional spin diffusion at nanometer length scales. In particular, the combination of positional disorder and on-site random fields leads to diffusive dynamics that are Fickian yet non-Gaussian. Finally, by tuning the underlying parameters within the spin Hamiltonian via a combination of static and driven fields, we demonstrate direct control over the emergent spin diffusion coefficient. Our work opens the door to investigating hydrodynamics in many-body quantum spin systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Emergent ergodicity at the transition between many-body localized phases

Strongly disordered systems in the many-body localized (MBL) phase can exhibit ground state order in highly excited eigenstates. The interplay between localization, symmetry, and topology has led to the characterization of a broad landscape of MBL phases ranging from spin glasses and time crystals to symmetry protected topological phases. Understanding the nature of phase transitions between these different forms of eigenstate order remains an essential open question. Here, we conjecture that no direct transition between distinct MBL orders can occur; rather, a thermal phase always intervenes. Motivated by recent advances in Rydberg-atom-based quantum simulation, we propose an experimental protocol where the intervening thermal phase can be diagnosed via the dynamics of local observables.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2019

Symmetry enhanced boundary qubits at infinite temperature

The $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry protected topological (SPT) phase hosts a robust boundary qubit at zero temperature. At finite energy density, the SPT phase is destroyed and bulk observables equilibrate in finite time. Nevertheless, we predict parametric regimes in which the boundary qubit survives to arbitrarily high temperature, with an exponentially longer coherence time than that of the thermal bulk degrees of freedom. In a dual picture, the persistence of the qubit stems from the inability of the bulk to absorb the virtual $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$ domain walls emitted by the edge during the relaxation process. We confirm the long coherence time by exact diagonalization and connect it to the presence of a pair of conjugate almost strong zero modes. Our results provide a route to experimentally construct long-lived coherent boundary qubits at infinite temperature in disorder-free systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Hamiltonian Dynamics of a Sum of Interacting Random Matrices

In ergodic quantum systems, physical observables have a non-relaxing component if they "overlap" with a conserved quantity. In interacting microscopic models, how to isolate the non-relaxing component is unclear. We compute exact dynamical correlators governed by a Hamiltonian composed of two large interacting random matrices, $H=A+B$. We analytically obtain the late-time value of $\langle A(t) A(0) \rangle$; this quantifies the non-relaxing part of the observable $A$. The relaxation to this value is governed by a power-law determined by the spectrum of the Hamiltonian $H$, independent of the observable $A$. For Gaussian matrices, we further compute out-of-time-ordered-correlators (OTOCs) and find that the existence of a non-relaxing part of $A$ leads to modifications of the late time values and exponents. Our results follow from exact resummation of a diagrammatic expansion and hyperoperator techniques.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Spectroscopy of spinons in Coulomb quantum spin liquids

We calculate the effect of the emergent photon on threshold production of spinons in $U(1)$ Coulomb spin liquids such as quantum spin ice. The emergent Coulomb interaction modifies the threshold production cross-section dramatically, changing the weak turn-on expected from the density of states to an abrupt onset reflecting the basic coupling parameters. The slow photon typical in existing lattice models and materials suppresses the intensity at finite momentum and allows profuse Cerenkov radiation beyond a critical momentum. These features are broadly consistent with recent numerical and experimental results.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Signatures of integrability in the dynamics of Rydberg-blockaded chains

A recent experiment on a 51-atom Rydberg blockaded chain observed anomalously long-lived temporal oscillations of local observables after quenching from an antiferromagnetic initial state. This coherence is surprising as the initial state should have thermalized rapidly to infinite temperature. In this article, we show that the experimental Hamiltonian exhibits non-thermal behavior across its entire many-body spectrum, with similar finite-size scaling properties as models proximate to integrable points. Moreover, we construct an explicit small local deformation of the Hamiltonian which enhances both the signatures of integrability and the coherent oscillations observed after the quench. Our results suggest that a parent proximate integrable point controls the early-to-intermediate time dynamics of the experimental system. The unconventional quench dynamics in the parent model could signal a novel class of integrable system.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Universal entanglement of typical states in constrained systems

Local constraints play an important role in the effective description of many quantum systems. Their impact on dynamics and entanglement thermalization are just beginning to be unravelled. We develop a large $N$ diagrammatic formalism to exactly evaluate the bipartite entanglement of random pure states in large constrained Hilbert spaces. The resulting entanglement spectra may be classified into `phases' depending on their singularities. Our closed solution for the spectra in the simplest class of constraints reveals a non-trivial phase diagram with a Marchenko-Pastur (MP) phase which terminates in a critical point with new singularities. The much studied Rydberg-blockaded/Fibonacci chain lies in the MP phase with a modified Page correction to the entanglement entropy, $ΔS_1 = 0.513595\cdots$. Our results predict the entanglement of infinite temperature eigenstates in thermalizing constrained systems and provide a baseline for numerical studies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Many-body systems with random spatially local interactions

We extend random matrix theory to consider randomly interacting spin systems with spatial locality. We develop several methods by which arbitrary correlators may be systematically evaluated in a limit where the local Hilbert space dimension $N$ is large. First, the correlators are given by sums over 'stacked' planar diagrams which are completely determined by the spectra of the individual interactions and a dependency graph encoding the locality in the system. We then introduce 'heap freeness' as a generalization of free independence, leading to a second practical method to evaluate the correlators. Finally, we generalize the cumulant expansion to a sum over 'dependency partitions', providing the third and most succinct of our methods. Our results provide tools to study dynamics and correlations within extended quantum many-body systems which conserve energy. We further apply the formalism to show that quantum satisfiability at large-$N$ is determined by the evaluation of the independence polynomial on a wide class of graphs.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2015

Many-body localization protected quantum state transfer

In thermal phases, the quantum coherence of individual degrees of freedom is rapidly lost to the environment. Many-body localized (MBL) phases limit the spread of this coherence and appear promising for quantum information applications. However, such applications require not just long coherence times but also a means to transport and manipulate information. We demonstrate that this can be done in a one dimensional model of interacting spins at infinite temperature. Our protocol utilizes protected qubits which emerge at the boundary between topological and trivial phases. State transfer occurs via dynamic shifts of this boundary and is shown to preserve quantum information. As an example, we discuss the implementation of a universal, two-qubit gate based upon MBL-protected quantum state transfer.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Bilayer fractional quantum Hall states with ultracold dysprosium

We show how dipolar interactions between dysprosium atoms in an optical lattice can be used to obtain fractional quantum Hall states. In our approach, dysprosium atoms are trapped one atom per site in a deep optical lattice with negligible tunneling. Microwave and spatially dependent optical dressing fields are used to define an effective spin-1/2 or spin-1 degree of freedom in each atom. Thinking of spin-1/2 particles as hardcore bosons, dipole-dipole interactions give rise to boson hopping, topological flat bands with Chern number 1, and the ν= 1/2 Laughlin state. Thinking of spin-1 particles as two-component hardcore bosons, dipole-dipole interactions again give rise to boson hopping, topological flat bands with Chern number 2, and the bilayer Halperin (2,2,1) state. By adjusting the optical fields, we find a phase diagram, in which the (2,2,1) state competes with superfluidity. Generalizations to solid-state magnetic dipoles are discussed.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2015

Many-body mobility edge due to symmetry-constrained dynamics and strong interactions

We provide numerical evidence combined with an analytical understanding of the many-body mobility edge for the strongly anisotropic spin-1/2 XXZ model in a random magnetic field. The system dynamics can be understood in terms of symmetry-constrained excitations about parent states with ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic short range order. These two regimes yield vastly different dynamics producing an observable, tunable many-body mobility edge. We compute a set of diagnostic quantities that verify the presence of the mobility edge and discuss how weakly correlated disorder can tune the mobility edge further.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2014

Many-body Localization with Dipoles

Systems of strongly interacting dipoles offer an attractive platform to study many-body localized phases, owing to their long coherence times and strong interactions. We explore conditions under which such localized phases persist in the presence of power-law interactions and supplement our analytic treatment with numerical evidence of localized states in one dimension. We propose and analyze several experimental systems that can be used to observe and probe such states, including ultracold polar molecules and solid-state magnetic spin impurities.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2013

Topological Flat Bands from Dipolar Spin Systems

We propose and analyze a physical system that naturally admits two-dimensional topological nearly flat bands. Our approach utilizes an array of three-level dipoles (effective S = 1 spins) driven by inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields. The dipolar interactions produce arbitrary uniform background gauge fields for an effective collection of conserved hardcore bosons, namely, the dressed spin-flips. These gauge fields result in topological band structures, whose bandgap can be larger than the corresponding bandwidth. Exact diagonalization of the full interacting Hamiltonian at half-filling reveals the existence of superfluid, crystalline, and supersolid phases. An experimental realization using either ultra-cold polar molecules or spins in the solid state is considered.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Realizing Fractional Chern Insulators with Dipolar Spins

Strongly correlated quantum systems can exhibit exotic behavior controlled by topology. We predict that the ν=1/2 fractional Chern insulator arises naturally in a two-dimensional array of driven, dipolar-interacting spins. As a specific implementation, we analyze how to prepare and detect synthetic gauge potentials for the rotational excitations of ultra-cold polar molecules trapped in a deep optical lattice. While the orbital motion of the molecules is pinned, at finite densities, the rotational excitations form a fractional Chern insulator. We present a detailed experimental blueprint for KRb, and demonstrate that the energetics are consistent with near-term capabilities. Prospects for the realization of such phases in solid-state dipolar systems are discussed as are their possible applications.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Detecting Non-Abelian Anyons by Charging Spectroscopy

Observation of non-Abelian statistics for the e/4 quasiparticles in the ν=5/2 fractional quantum Hall state remains an outstanding experimental problem. The non-Abelian statistics are linked to the presence of additional low energy states in a system with localised quasiparticles, and hence an additional low-temperature entropy. Recent experiments, which detect changes in the number of quasiparticles trapped in a local potential well as a function of an applied gate voltage, V_G, provide a possibility for measuring this entropy, if carried out over a suitable range of temperatures, T. We present a microscopic model for quasiparticles in a potential well and study the effects of non-Abelian statistics on the charge stability diagram in the V_G-T plane, including broadening at finite temperature. We predict a measurable slope for the first quasiparticle charging line, and an even-odd effect in the diagram, which is a signature of non-Abelian statistics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗