arXiv subjects

Eric R. Bittner

Publications and source records attributed to Eric R. Bittner.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Collective Excitonic Structure Governs Anomalously Weak Thermal Optical Dephasing in Conjugated Polymers

Conjugated polymer aggregates exhibit optical decoherence in the presence of strong vibronic coupling and substantial diversity in chemical structure, solid-state organization, and excitonic character. Here, we use coherence-detected and population-detected two-dimensional electronic spectroscopies to examine the temperature dependence of the homogeneous optical linewidth across a series of semiconducting polymers. Despite substantial differences in molecular architecture and solid-state organization, all polymers studied exhibit remarkably weak thermal linewidth scaling over the measured temperature range. Comparison between complementary detection modalities further shows that, while this weak temperature dependence is obust, the absolute homogeneous linewidth depends on the measured observable. This behavior reflects the different ways in which coherence- and population-detected measurements project population relaxation and pure dephasing onto the spectroscopic response. These results establish the weak thermal scaling of optical decoherence across a diverse series of conjugated polymers and show that its experimental manifestation must be interpreted in the context of the detection observable.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

SAKE: Spectral Autodiff Kernel Expansion for Geometric Liouvillian Transport. A Differential-Geometric Framework for Response Transport in Quantum Dynamical Systems

We introduce the Spectral Autodiff Kernel Expansion (SAKE), a differentiable computational framework for transporting nonlinear spectroscopic response between neighboring quantum dynamical models. Rather than recomputing multidimensional spectra independently for each Hamiltonian or Liouvillian, SAKE constructs local transport expansions about a reference model by combining forward-mode automatic differentiation with Duhamel transport theory. Automatic differentiation generates first-, second-, and third-order derivatives of the parameter-dependent Liouvillian, which are assembled into a pathway transport operator that maps the nonlinear response of a reference model onto neighboring systems. The framework is validated for a four-level excitonic dimer possessing an $su(2)\times su(2)$ symmetry by comparing second- and third-order transported pathway operators with exact projected transport matrices obtained from direct calculations. The third-order expansion accurately reproduces the projected transport operator and its associated pathway mixing. Beyond providing an efficient computational strategy, the transport operator reveals how coherent and dissipative perturbations redistribute amplitude among double-sided Feynman pathways, exposing mechanistic information that is not directly apparent from the nonlinear spectrum. SAKE thereby establishes a differentiable computational framework for nonlinear spectroscopy that supports efficient local parameter exploration, sensitivity analysis, and future inverse-design applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

State--Generator Geometry of Open Quantum Systems: Compatibility and Covariant Transport

We develop a geometry for transporting stationary-state response across the control space of an open quantum system. A physical model is represented by the ordered pair of its stationary state and dynamical generator. Embedding these pairs in a common ambient space induces a metric, a response one-form, and a closed two-form on the control manifold. The ambient space admits a canonical complex structure that exchanges state and generator directions, but the Liouvillian null-state condition restricts physical models to a submanifold that need not preserve this structure. For an amplitude-damped optical Bloch model, the metric and response two-form are compatible at the single point $\omega=0$ and $g/\Gamma=1/\sqrt{2}$; the physical manifold is non-K\"ahler elsewhere. The induced metric defines the Levi--Civita connection, geodesics, and parallel transport without requiring K\"ahler compatibility. We compute the connection by automatic differentiation through the stationary Liouvillian solve and recover the symbolic result to machine precision. A two-point calculation then shows that the resulting geodesic differs from linear interpolation in control space and follows a shorter path through the family of state--generator models. This geometry supplies the intrinsic derivative and transport structure needed to carry observable response, including multidimensional spectra, between admissible stationary models.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Geometric Response in Open Quantum Systems: Coherence, Curvature, and Susceptibility

We develop a response-geometric framework for open quantum systems by decomposing the stationary-state response tensor into symmetric and antisymmetric sectors. The symmetric sector defines a metric-like response tensor governing local susceptibility, while the antisymmetric sector defines a curvature two-form associated with nonreciprocal response and geometric work. We show that the work curvature is precisely the antisymmetric component of the response tensor, establishing a fluctuation--response relation that extends the geometric structure of equilibrium thermodynamics to nonequilibrium steady states, and reveals a response geometry with both metric and symplectic sectors. In equilibrium, the antisymmetric sector vanishes by reciprocity, recovering the familiar metric geometry of thermodynamic response. Open quantum systems admit a broader structure in which reciprocal and nonreciprocal responses coexist on the same control manifold. We illustrate this with a driven dissipative qubit under pure dephasing, where finite curvature emerges from the misalignment between the Hamiltonian eigenbasis and the pointer basis selected by the environment, without requiring strong driving or engineered reservoirs. Comparison with the Bures metric shows that response geometry and information geometry characterize distinct properties of the stationary-state manifold: the former governs susceptibility and geometric work, the latter quantifies state distinguishability. Geometric work thus emerges as a measurable signature of nonreciprocal response in open quantum systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Liouvillian Geometry of Multidimensional Spectra: Pathway Transport and Observational Holonomy in Open Quantum Systems

Liouville pathways provide the conceptual foundation for interpreting multidimensional spectroscopies and are commonly represented as independent contributions to the nonlinear response. In open quantum systems, however, the effective reduced Liouvillian need not preserve this observational pathway decomposition. Environmental interactions can transport amplitude between pathway sectors during the free-evolution intervals, generating measurable signatures in the nonlinear spectroscopic response.} We develop a geometric framework in which pathway transport is governed by a Liouvillian connection, its associated curvature, and the resulting observational holonomy. The framework applies to open quantum systems in which the environment selects a pointer basis distinct from the observational basis used to construct the spectroscopic response. This basis incompatibility induces transport among Liouville pathways, generating characteristic spectral distortions and a nontrivial Liouvillian curvature. Using a Duhamel expansion of the Liouvillian propagator, we derive a reconstruction procedure that identifies the transport operators responsible for the observed redistribution of pathway weight, accurate throughout the full range of basis misalignment. This perspective reframes spectral features as determined not only by which pathways exist but by how amplitude is transported among them. Spectral distortions, peak shifts, and otherwise-forbidden pathway contributions become geometric signatures of a curved Liouville-space manifold rather than phenomenological broadening corrections, identifying pathway geometry as a complementary layer of organization in nonlinear spectroscopy.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

The Helical SYK Model and Emergent Infrared Integrability

We construct a helical generalization of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model in $1+1$ dimensions, built from left- and right-moving Majorana fermions with local quartic interactions and random couplings in flavor-chirality space. These interactions organize into a symmetry-controlled hierarchy of quartic chirality sectors. At the most restrictive end of this hierarchy, symmetry forces the quartic structure into a density-density form, which admits an exact solution using bosonization, rendering the theory integrable. Once the full quartic helical interaction space is allowed, including purely chiral, chirality-balanced, and chirality-imbalanced sectors, this symmetry-protected integrable structure is lost. Nevertheless, the large-$N$ infrared limit remains analytically tractable through short-distance selection rules and disorder averaging. Using conformal perturbation theory about the free fixed point, we show that the entire interaction space is marginally irrelevant, and the theory thus becomes free and integrable in the IR.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Detection Defines Dephasing in Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy of Materials: Coherent Field Emission versus Incoherent Population Observables

The homogeneous spectral linewidth associated with light-matter interactions is a fundamental descriptor of the optical properties of materials, governed by the quantum dynamics of the condensed-matter system. We discuss here that the homogeneous linewidth measured by means of two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy depends not only on the intrinsic microscopic dynamics of the material, but also on the observable through which those dynamics are projected onto the measurement. In this Perspective, we develop a unified framework showing that identical microscopic dynamics can yield different experimentally inferred dephasing times because different detection operators project different sectors of the nonequilibrium dynamics. For coherent emitted-field measurements, the observed linewidth largely retains its conventional connection to the optical coherence time $T_2$. By contrast, in population-detected modalities such as photoluminescence, photocurrent, and other action-detected two-dimensional spectroscopies, the apparent linewidth can additionally encode excited-state population redistribution dynamics, leading naturally to an effective coherence time $T_{2,\mathrm{eff}}$. Using a coupled-mode model propagated under a common Liouvillian, we show that identical microscopic dynamics yield distinct apparent dephasing times when projected onto coherent-emission and population-derived observables. The detection observable is therefore not merely part of the experimental implementation, but determines what dynamical information remains experimentally observable and how homogeneous linewidths should be interpreted as materials descriptors.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2026

Thermalization Regimes in a Chaotic Tavis-Cummings Model

This work investigates the emergent thermalization regimes in a chaotic Tavis-Cummings (TC) model and their implications in quantum spectroscopy. While the TC model is a cornerstone of cavity quantum electrodynamics, traditional treatments often overlook many-body effects that arise in the thermodynamic limit. We utilize the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis to demonstrate that a non-integrable excitonic Hamiltonian within the material manifold drives local thermalization. By tuning the polariton splitting $g$, we observe two dynamical regimes: a thermalizing regime at low interactions driven by quantum chaos and ergodicity, and a non-thermalizing regime at high interactions where strong coupling suppresses ergodicity. We further show that these regimes have direct implications on output photon statistics, specifically influencing the correlation times $\tau_c$ of the cavity population and the second-order correlation function $g^{(2)}(t+\tau)$. We propose that entangled-biphoton spectroscopy serves as an ideal experimental platform to probe these effects and to allow the characterization of the underlying many-body exciton-coupling disorder $\sigma$ through coincidence measurements of the output. Taken together, these results exploit a naturally occurring many-body phenomenon to bridge theoretical predictions with experimental observables.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Mixed response geometry and critical crossover in the Ising model

We develop a geometric formulation of thermodynamic response in interacting spin systems and apply it to the two-dimensional Ising model. Treating inverse temperature and magnetic field as coordinates on a thermodynamic control manifold, we show that the mixed response field $\Omega_{\beta h} = -N\,\mathrm{cov}(m,e)$ arises naturally as a curvature-like quantity that measures correlations between magnetic and energetic fluctuations. Monte Carlo simulations reveal a strongly localized mixed-response ridge that emerges from the critical point and extends into the finite-field crossover regime. Analysis of the susceptibility, specific heat, and mixed-response maxima demonstrates distinct scaling behavior in the magnetic, energetic, and mixed fluctuation sectors. When represented in normalized response coordinates, trajectories obtained at different magnetic fields collapse onto a common curve, indicating that the evolution of the mixed response is strongly constrained by the susceptibility. This collapse suggests the emergence of a low-dimensional response manifold and points toward a geometric description of critical crossover based on relations among response functions rather than equilibrium states alone. The framework establishes a direct connection between fluctuation correlations, critical scaling, and geometric thermodynamic response.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Geometric Curvature Governs Work in Open Quantum Steady States

Classical thermodynamics admits a geometric formulation in which work is associated with areas enclosed by cycles in state space. Whether an analogous structure persists in driven, dissipative quantum systems remains an open question. Here we show that quasistatic work in open quantum steady states is governed by an emergent geometric curvature in control-parameter space arising from steady-state coherence. For a driven dissipative two-level system, we construct a work one-form whose curvature determines the work produced in cyclic processes. The work vanishes under strong dephasing, identifying coherence as a necessary condition for nontrivial geometry. However, its magnitude is set not by the coherence itself but by the spatial structure of the curvature: cycles enclosing comparable areas produce different work depending on their location in parameter space. Reversing the cycle orientation reverses the sign of the work, confirming its geometric origin. These results establish a geometric framework for open quantum thermodynamics and identify curvature as the organizing principle of thermodynamic response, with direct implications for driven light--matter systems in cavity quantum electrodynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Geometric Thermodynamics of Cycles: Curvature and Local Thermodynamic Response

Classical thermodynamics contains familiar geometric relations associated with cyclic processes, most notably the identification of mechanical work with the area enclosed by a trajectory in the $(P,V)$ plane. We show that the area laws for work and reversible heat arise as projections of a single canonical two--form defined on the equilibrium thermodynamic manifold, providing a unified description of thermodynamic cycles in both the $(P,V)$ and $(T,S)$ representations. The same structure yields a direct link between cycle geometry and thermodynamic response: the work generated by infinitesimal cycles is set locally by the mixed curvature $U_{SV}$ of the equilibrium energy surface, which can be expressed in terms of measurable susceptibilities. This identifies thermodynamic work as a local geometric field over state space rather than solely a global property of cyclic processes. More broadly, the framework connects classical cycle geometry to stochastic thermodynamic trajectories, providing a geometric interpretation of nonequilibrium work relations such as the Jarzynski equality.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Geometric Thermodynamics in Open Quantum Systems: Coherence, Curvature, and Work

We formulate a geometric framework for quasistatic thermodynamics in open quantum systems by parameterizing the dynamics on a control manifold. In the quasistatic limit, the system follows a manifold of stationary states, and the work performed over a cycle is given by the flux of a curvature two-form, $W \sim \int \Omega$, defined by the parametric response of the stationary state, establishing an open-system analog of classical thermodynamic area laws. \erbedit{For thermal stationary states at fixed temperature, the curvature vanishes, reflecting the integrability of the work one-form.} Beyond this limit, nonequilibrium stationary states can retain coherence in the energy representation; using a fixed-basis Lindblad model, we show that this coherence reshapes the curvature, making it anisotropic and sign-changing, so that work depends sensitively on the placement and orientation of the cycle. Quantum coherence, therefore, partitions the control manifold into regions of opposite curvature, producing geometric cancellation of work and allowing the net work over a cycle to be reduced or reversed despite dissipative dynamics. Thermodynamic work thus emerges as a curvature flux whose structure is set by thermodynamic response in classical systems and by basis misalignment between the Hamiltonian eigenbasis and the environment-selected pointer basis in open quantum systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Graph Symmetry Organizes Exceptional Dynamics in Open Quantum Systems

Exceptional points (EPs), indicative of parity-time (PT) symmetry breaking, play a central role in non-Hermitian physics, yet most studies begin from deliberately engineered effective Hamiltonians whose parameters are tuned to exhibit exceptional behavior. In realistic open quantum systems, however, dynamics are governed by Lindblad superoperators whose spectral structure is high-dimensional, symmetry-constrained, and not obviously reducible to minimal non-Hermitian models. A general framework for discovering exceptional dynamics directly from microscopic dissipative models has been lacking. Here we introduce a symmetry-resolved approach for identifying and characterizing exceptional points directly from the full Liouvillian generator. Correlated dissipation induces graph symmetries that decompose Liouville space into low-dimensional invariant sectors, within which minimal non-Hermitian blocks govern the onset of EPs and PT-breaking behavior. We further introduce a numerical diagnostic - the exceptional-point strength $\mathcal{E}$ - based on eigenvector conditioning, which quantifies proximity to defective dynamics without requiring analytic reduction. Applied to tight-binding models with correlated dephasing and relaxation, the method reproduces analytically predicted exceptional seams and reveals universal scaling of $\mathcal{E}$ near EP manifolds. More broadly, the framework enables systematic discovery of hidden exceptional structure in complex or high-dimensional open systems and is naturally compatible with matrix-free and tensor-network implementations for scalable many-body applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Entropy Flow and Exceptional-Point Structure in Two-Mode Squeezed-Bath Dynamics

Squeezed reservoirs provide a powerful means of engineering nonclassical noise and controlling irreversible dynamics in open quantum systems. Here we develop a comprehensive analysis of two coupled harmonic oscillators driven by independent squeezed baths, focusing on the emergence of coherence-driven entropy flow and the structure of exceptional points (EPs) in the corresponding Lindblad dynamics. Working entirely within the Gaussian formalism, we derive closed-form evolution equations for the covariance matrix and show that squeezing induces entropy generation only at *second order* in the anomalous correlations, a nonlinear mechanism absent in thermal environments. This entropy flow is accompanied by a rich non-Hermitian structure: by scanning the squeezing parameters we uncover a characteristic "exceptional-point fan" in the (M1, M2) plane, which separates a narrow PT-unbroken region of oscillatory dynamics from broad PT-broken sectors in which one normal mode becomes purely overdamped. This geometric organization of EPs reveals that PT symmetry survives only when the two reservoirs squeeze opposite quadratures, and is generically broken for in-phase squeezing. Our analysis establishes squeezed reservoirs as a natural setting where information-bearing noise drives irreversible behavior through coherent pathways, and lays the groundwork for experimentally accessible probes of entropy flow and critical mode behavior in more complex open systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Scattering theory of frequency-entangled biphoton states facilitated by cavity polaritons

The use of quantum light to probe exciton properties in semiconductor and molecular nanostructures typically occurs in the low-intensity regime. A substantial enhancement of exciton-photon coupling can be achieved with photonic cavities, where excitons hybridize with cavity modes to form polariton states. To provide a theoretical framework for interpreting emerging experimental efforts in this direction, we develop a scattering theory describing the interaction of frequency-entangled photon pairs with cavity polariton and bipolariton states under various coupling regimes. Employing the Tavis-Cummings model in combination with our scattering approach, we present a quantitative analysis of how the interaction of the entangled photon pair with the polariton/bipolariton modifies its joint spectral amplitude (JSA). Specifically, we examine the effects of the cavity-mode steady-state population, exciton-cavity coupling strength, and different forms of the input photon JSA. Our results show that the entanglement entropy of the scattered photons is highly sensitive to the interplay between the input JSA and the spectral line shapes of the polariton resonances, emphasizing the cavity filtering effects. We suggest that biphoton scattering quantum light spectroscopy best serves as a sensitive probe of polariton and bipolariton states in the photon-vacuum cavity state. Our approach is not only robust to various regimes of cavity-exciton coupling, but also amenable to extensions beyond the Tavis-Cummings model, enabling the representation of a broad class of molecular systems and solid state quantum materials.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Noise-induced decoherence-free zones for anyons

We develop a stochastic framework for anyonic systems in which the exchange phase is promoted from a fixed parameter to a fluctuating quantity. Starting from the Stratonovich stochastic Liouville equation, we perform the Stratonovich--It\^o conversion to obtain a Lindblad master equation that ties the dissipator directly to the distorted anyon algebra. This construction produces a statistics--dependent dephasing channel, with rates determined by the eigenstructure of the real symmetric correlation matrix $D_{ab}$. The eigenvectors of $D$ select which collective exchange currents -- equivalently, which irreducible representations of the system -- are protected from stochastic dephasing, providing a natural mechanism for decoherence-free subspaces and noise-induced exceptional points. The key result of our analysis is the universality of the optimal statistical angle: in the minimal two-site model with balanced gain and loss, the protected mode always minimizes its dephasing at $\theta^\star = \pi/2$, independent of the specific form of $D$. This robustness highlights a simple design rule for optimizing coherence in noisy anyonic systems, with direct implications for ultracold atomic realizations and other emerging platforms for fractional statistics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Topology and Spectral Entanglement in Cavity-Mediated Photon Scattering

We develop a diagrammatic theory of cavity-mediated photon-photon interactions in a topological insulator using the SSH model. The fourth-order vertex $\Gamma^{(4)}(\omega_1,\omega_2)$ governs spectral entanglement and Kerr nonlinearity, leading to a nonlinear topological phase diagram. We also compute the electronic self-energy from vacuum photon exchange and identify symmetry-imposed limits on band renormalization. These results link band geometry to the emergence of light-matter correlations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

A Clockwork Quantum: Symmetry, Noise, and the Emergence of Quantum Order

We present a concise review and perspective on noise-induced synchronization and coherence protection in open quantum systems, with emphasis on recent work involving coupled spins, oscillators, and anyons. When local environments exhibit internal correlations, the structure of the noise determines which collective modes become decoherence-protected. This leads to steady-state entanglement, phase locking, and exceptional points (EPs) in the Liouvillian spectrum, signaling a collapse of the mode basis and the emergence of non-dissipative stabilized dynamics. Using a Lindblad framework, we show that symmetry in the noise correlations acts as a control parameter, protecting symmetric or antisymmetric modes depending on the sign of the correlation. In the pure-dephasing limit, coherence decay mirrors the Anderson-Kubo model, where the effective fluctuation strength scales as $\sigma^2(1 \pm \xi)$, and the dynamical regime (Gaussian vs. Lorentzian) is set by the ratio $ \sigma / \gamma $. Thus, the environment not only drives decoherence but can also selectively suppress it through symmetry filtering. We also revisit historical and conceptual origins of this idea, beginning with Huygens synchronized pendulum clocks and culminating in modern non-Hermitian dynamics. Correlated noise-though classically stochastic-can organize quantum dynamics and protect coherence without direct control over the system. These insights offer a unifying view of synchronization in classical and quantum regimes, with implications for quantum sensing, engineered decoherence, and long-lived coherence in complex environments such as biological light-harvesting complexes or avian magnetoreception.

quant-ph↗