arXiv subjects

Fausto Borgonovi

Publications and source records attributed to Fausto Borgonovi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Disorder enhanced transport as a general feature of long-range hopping models

We analyze the interplay of disorder and long-range hopping in a paradigmatic one dimensional model of quantum transport. While typically the current is expected to decrease as the disorder strength increases due to localization effects, in systems with infinite range hopping it was shown in Chavez et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 153201 (2021), that the current can increase with disorder in the Disorder-Enhanced-Transport (DET) regime. Here, by analyzing models with variable hopping range decaying as $1/r^α$ with the distance $r$ among the sites, we show that the DET regime is a general feature of long-range hopping systems and it occurs, not only in the strong long-range limit $α<1$ but even for weak long-range $1 \le α\le 3$. Specifically, we show that, after an initial decrease, the current grows with the disorder strength until it reaches a local maximum. Both disorder thresholds at which the DET regime starts and ends are determined. Our results open the path to understand the effect of disorder on transport in many realistic systems where long range hopping is present.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Thermalization in the mixed-field Ising model: An occupation number perspective

The occupation number is a key observable for diagnosing thermalization, as it connects directly to standard statistical laws such as Fermi--Dirac, Bose--Einstein, and Boltzmann distributions. In the context of spin systems, it represents the population of the sublevels of the magnetization in the $z$-direction. We use this quantity to probe the onset of thermalization in the isolated quantum and classical one-dimensional spin-1 Ising model with transverse and longitudinal fields. Thermalization is achieved when the long-time average of the occupation number converges to the microcanonical prediction as the chain length $L$ increases, consistent with the emergence of ergodicity. However, the finite-size scaling analysis in the quantum model is challenged by the exponential growth of the Hilbert space with $L$. To overcome this limitation, we turn to the corresponding classical model, which enables access to much larger system sizes. By tracking the dynamics of individual spins on their three-dimensional Bloch spheres and employing tools from random matrix theory, we establish a quantitative criterion for classical ergodicity in interacting spin systems. We find that deviations from classical ergodicity decay algebraically with system size. This power-law scaling then provides a quantitative bound on the approach to thermal equilibrium in the quantum model.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Memory preservation and cooperative shielding in complex quantum networks

Complex quantum networks are powerful tools in the modeling of transport phenomena, particularly for biological systems, and enable the study of emergent phenomena in many-body quantum systems. High connectivity and long-range interactions induce strong constraints on the system dynamics. Here, we study the transport properties of a quantum network described by the paradigmatic XXZ Hamiltonian, with non-trivial graph connectivity and topology, and long-range interactions. We show how long-range interactions induce memory preserving effects and strongly affect the spreading of the excitations due to cooperative shielding. We describe the memory-preserving effect in all-to-all connected regular networks with distance-independent couplings. Indeed, the memory of the number of initially injected excitations is preserved over long times, encoded in the number of frequencies present in the dynamics. Interestingly, we find that memory-preserving effects occur also in less regular graphs, such as quantum networks with either power-law node connectivity or complex, small-world type, architectures. We discuss the implications of these properties in biology-related problems, such as an application to Weber's law in neuroscience, and their implementation in specific quantum technologies via biomimicry. We also show how the presence of long-range interaction strongly affects the dynamics of the excitations in small-world networks and power law all-to-all coupled networks. Indeed, because of cooperative shielding blue, as the connectivity or the range of interaction increases, the initial excitation spreads more slowly among the network and becomes strongly dependent on the initial conditions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Shaping causality: programmable nonlocal signal generation in long-range spin systems

Understanding how information spreads in non-relativistic many-body systems is a central issue for quantum information processing. While short-range interactions confine information within a local light cone, long-range interactions typically lead to uncontrolled nonlocal spread across the entire system. Here, we demonstrate that this apparent dichotomy is not fundamental and that nonlocality in systems with long-range interactions can be deterministically controlled. By mapping spin dynamics to a hard-core boson chain, we identify a regime in which the causal space-time landscape can be precisely shaped. We show that placing spin excitations in a polarized background allows a local perturbation to trigger nonlocal signals exactly at the positions of these excitations. These pre-selected sites act as seeds for new, effective light cones, allowing information to bypass the bulk and re-emerge at distant, programmable locations. This mechanism avoids uncontrollable global nonlocality while circumventing the speed limits associated with local transport. By engineering these nonlocal communication channels, our findings offer a versatile framework for information distribution relevant to quantum memories, error correction, and programmable platforms such as trapped ions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Many-body tunneling in a double-well potential

We present an approach for evaluating Wannier functions, offering an alternative perspective on their role in many-body systems. Unlike traditional methods, such as the maximally localized Wannier functions approach, which focuses on minimizing the function tails, our approach emphasizes these tails. Using perturbative analytical approximations and extensive numerical simulations on an exactly solvable model, we address nonstandard Hubbard terms and demonstrate their critical influence on many-body dynamics. Specifically, we study tunneling dynamics in arbitrary double-well potentials, moving beyond the standard Hubbard model to include nonstandard terms such as density-induced tunneling and pair tunneling. Our results reveal that these terms significantly modify the dynamics predicted by the standard Hubbard model: density-induced tunneling modifies the single-particle tunneling parameter $Ω_0$, while pair tunneling enables coherent propagation not captured by the standard model. We show that the discrepancies between the standard and nonstandard Hubbard models grow with increasing interaction strength, potentially leading to novel transport behaviors. However, at lower interaction strengths, both models converge, as nonstandard terms become negligible. These findings have important implications for phenomena such as superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene and metal-insulator transitions. Our model aligns well with numerical simulations of lowest-band parameters and is strongly supported by experimental observations of second-order atom tunneling in optical double-well potentials. This strong agreement with experimental data highlights the accuracy and potential of our approach in providing a more comprehensive framework for describing complex many-body systems than the standard Hubbard model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Timescales of quantum and classical chaotic spin models evolving toward equilibrium

We investigate quench dynamics in a one-dimensional spin model, comparing both quantum and classical descriptions. Our primary focus is on the different timescales involved in the evolution of the observables as they approach statistical relaxation. Numerical simulations, supported by semi-analytical analysis, reveal that the relaxation of single-particle energies (global quantity) and on-site magnetization (local observable) occurs on a timescale independent of the system size $L$. This relaxation process is equally well-described by classical equations of motion and quantum solutions, demonstrating excellent quantum-classical correspondence, provided the system be strongly chaotic. The correspondence persists even for small quantum spin values ($S=1$), where a semi-classical approximation is not applicable. Conversely, for the participation ratio, which characterizes the initial state spread in the many-body Hilbert space and which lacks a classical analogue, the relaxation timescale is system-size dependent.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Large scale simulations of photosynthetic antenna systems: interplay of cooperativity and disorder

Large scale simulations of light-matter interaction in natural photosynthetic antenna complexes containing more than one hundred thousands chlorophyll molecules, comparable with natural size, have been performed. Photosynthetic antenna complexes present in Green sulfur bacteria and Purple bacteria have been analyzed using a radiative non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, well known in the field of quantum optics, instead of the widely used dipole-dipole Frenkel Hamiltonian. This approach allows to study ensembles of emitters beyond the small volume limit (system size much smaller than the absorbed wavelength), where the Frenkel Hamiltonian fails. When analyzed on a large scale, such structures display superradiant states much brighter then their single components. An analysis of the robustness to static disorder and dynamical (thermal) noise, shows that exciton coherence in the whole photosynthetic complex is larger than the coherence found in its parts. This provides evidence that the photosynthetic complex as a whole has a predominant role in sustaining coherences in the system even at room temperature. Our results allow a better understanding of natural photosynthetic antennae and could drive experiments to verify how the response to the electromagnetic radiation depends on the size of the photosynthetic antenna.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Quantum-classical correspondence of strongly chaotic many-body spin models

We study the quantum-classical correspondence for systems with interacting spin-particles that are strongly chaotic in the classical limit. This is done in the presence of constants of motion associated with the fixed angular momenta of individual spins. Our analysis of the Lyapunov spectra reveals that the largest Lyapunov exponent agrees with the Lyapunov exponent that determines the local instability of each individual spin moving under the influence of all other spins. Within this picture, we introduce a rigorous and simple test of ergodicity for the spin motion, and use it to identify when classical chaos is both strong and global in phase space. In the quantum domain, our analysis of the Hamiltonian matrix in a proper representation allows us to obtain the conditions for the onset of quantum chaos as a function of the model parameters. From the comparison between the quantum and classical domains, we demonstrate that quantum quantities, such as the local density of states (LDOS) and the shape of the chaotic eigenfunctions written in the non-interacting many-body basis, have well-defined classical counterparts. Another central finding is the relationship between the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy and the width of the LDOS, which is useful for studies of many-body dynamics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Efficient light harvesting and photon sensing via engineered cooperative effects

Efficient devices for light harvesting and photon sensing are fundamental building blocks of basic energy science and many essential technologies. Recent efforts have turned to biomimicry to design the next generation of light-capturing devices, partially fueled by an appreciation of the fantastic efficiency of the initial stages of natural photosynthetic systems at capturing photons. In such systems extended excitonic states are thought to play a fundamental functional role, inducing cooperative coherent effects, such as superabsorption of light and supertransfer of photoexcitations. Inspired by this observation, we design an artificial light-harvesting and photodetection device that maximally harnesses cooperative effects to enhance efficiency. The design relies on separating absorption and transfer processes (energetically and spatially) in order to overcome the fundamental obstacle to exploiting cooperative effects to enhance light capture: the enhanced emission processes that accompany superabsorption. This engineered separation of processes greatly improves the efficiency and the scalability of the system.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Spectrum statistics in the integrable Lieb-Liniger model

We address the old and widely debated question of the statistical properties of integrable quantum systems, through the analysis of the paradigmatic Lieb-Liniger model. This quantum many-body model of 1-d interacting bosons allows for the rigorous determination of energy spectra via the Bethe ansatz approach and our interest is understanding whether Poisson statistics is a characteristic feature of this model. Using both analytical and numerical studies we show that the properties of spectra strongly depend on whether the analysis is done for a full energy spectrum or for a single subset with fixed total momentum. We show that the Poisson distribution of spacing between nearest-neighbor energies can occur only for a set of energy levels with fixed total momentum, for neither too large nor too weak interaction strength, and for sufficiently high energy. On the other hand, when studying long-range correlations between energy levels, we found strong deviations from the predictions given by a Poisson process.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Disorder-Enhanced and Disorder-Independent Transport with Long-Range Hopping: Application to Molecular Chains in Optical Cavities

Overcoming the detrimental effect of disorder at the nanoscale is very hard since disorder induces localization and an exponential suppression of transport efficiency. Here we unveil novel and robust quantum transport regimes achievable in nanosystems by exploiting long-range hopping. We demonstrate that in a 1D disordered nanostructure in the presence of long-range hopping, transport efficiency, after decreasing exponentially with disorder at first, is then enhanced by disorder [disorder-enhanced transport (DET) regime] until, counterintuitively, it reaches a disorder-independent transport (DIT) regime, persisting over several orders of disorder magnitude in realistic systems. To enlighten the relevance of our results, we demonstrate that an ensemble of emitters in a cavity can be described by an effective long-range Hamiltonian. The specific case of a disordered molecular wire placed in an optical cavity is discussed, showing that the DIT and DET regimes can be reached with state-of-the-art experimental setups.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Process of equilibration in many-body isolated systems: Diagonal versus thermodynamic entropy

As recently manifested , the quench dynamics of isolated quantum systems consisting of a finite number of particles, is characterized by an exponential spreading of wave packets in the many-body Hilbert space. This happens when the inter-particle interaction is strong enough, thus resulting in a chaotic structure of the many-body eigenstates considered in an unperturbed basis. The semi-analytical approach used here, allows one to estimate the rate of the exponential growth as well as the relaxation time, after which the equilibration (thermalization) emerges. The key ingredient parameter in the description of this process is the width $Γ$ of the Local Density of States (LDoS) defined by the initially excited state, the number of particles and the interaction strength. In this paper we show that apart from the meaning of $Γ$ as the decay rate of survival probability, the width of the LDoS is directly related to the diagonal entropy and the latter can be linked to the thermodynamic entropy of a system equilibrium state emerging after the complete relaxation. The analytical expression relating the two entropies is derived phenomenologically and numerically confirmed in a model of bosons with random two-body interaction, as well as in a deterministic model which becomes completely integrable in the continuous limit.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2019

Electric-field assisted optimal quantum transport of photo-excitations in polar heterostructures

Transition-metal-oxide (TMO) heterostructures are promising candidates for building photon-harvesting devices which can exploit optimal quantum transport of charge excitations generated by light absorption. Here we address the explicit role of an electric field on the quantum transport properties of photo-excitations subject to dephasing in one-dimensional chains coupled to a continuum of states acting as a sink. We show that the average transfer time to the sink is optimized for suitable values of both the coupling strength to the sink and the electric field, thus fully exploiting the coherence-enhanced efficiency in the quantum transport regime achievable in few monolayers TMO heterostructures. The optimal coupling to the continuum remains approximately the same as that in absence of electric field and is characterizing the Superradiant Transition. On the other hand, the optimal electric field for which we provide estimates using an analytical expression is dependent on the initial state.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Towards high-temperature coherence-enhanced transport in few-atomic layers heterostructures

The possibility to exploit quantum coherence to strongly enhance the efficiency of charge transport in solid state devices working at ambient conditions would pave the way to disruptive technological applications. In this work, we tackle the problem of the quantum transport of photogenerated electronic excitations subject to dephasing and on-site Coulomb interactions. We show that the transport to a continuum of states representing metallic collectors can be optimized by exploiting the "superradiance" phenomena. We demonstrate that this is a coherent effect which is robust against dephasing and electron-electron interactions in a parameters range that is compatible with actual implementation in few monolayers transition-metal-oxide (TMO) heterostructures.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Exponentially fast dynamics of chaotic many-body systems

We demonstrate analytically and numerically that in isolated quantum systems of many interacting particles, the number of many-body states participating in the evolution after a quench increases exponentially in time, provided the eigenstates are delocalized in the energy shell. The rate of the exponential growth is defined by the width $Γ$ of the local density of states (LDOS) and is associated with the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy for systems with a well defined classical limit. In a finite system, the exponential growth eventually saturates due to the finite volume of the energy shell. We estimate the time scale for the saturation and show that it is much larger than $\hbar/Γ$. Numerical data obtained for a two-body random interaction model of bosons and for a dynamical model of interacting spin-1/2 particles show excellent agreement with the analytical predictions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Timescales in the quench dynamics of many-body quantum systems: Participation ratio vs out-of-time ordered correlator

We study quench dynamics in the many-body Hilbert space using two isolated systems with a finite number of interacting particles: a paradigmatic model of randomly interacting bosons and a dynamical (clean) model of interacting spins-$1/2$. For both systems in the region of strong quantum chaos, the number of components of the evolving wave function, defined through the number of principal components $N_{pc}$ (or participation ratio), was recently found to increase exponentially fast in time [Phys. Rev. E 99, 010101R (2019)]. Here, we ask whether the out-of-time ordered correlator (OTOC), which is nowadays widely used to quantify instability in quantum systems, can manifest analogous time-dependence. We show that $N_{pc}$ can be formally expressed as the inverse of the sum of all OTOC's for projection operators. While none of the individual projection-OTOC's shows an exponential behavior, their sum decreases exponentially fast in time. The comparison between the behavior of the OTOC with that of the $N_{pc}$ helps us better understand wave packet dynamics in the many-body Hilbert space, in close connection with the problems of thermalization and information scrambling.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Real and imaginary energy gaps: a comparison between single excitation Superradiance and Superconductivity and robustness to disorder

A comparison between the single particle spectrum of the discrete Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) model, used for small superconducting grains, and the spectrum of a paradigmatic model of Single Excitation Superradiance (SES) is presented. They are both characterized by an equally spaced energy spectrum (Picket Fence) where all the levels are coupled between each other by a constant coupling which is real for the BCS model and purely imaginary for the SES model. While the former corresponds to the discrete BCS-model describing the coupling of Cooper pairs in momentum space and it induces a Superconductive regime, the latter describes the coupling of single particle energy levels to a common decay channel and it induces a Superradiant transition. We show that the transition to a Superradiant regime can be connected to the emergence of an imaginary energy gap, similarly to the transition to a Superconductive regime where a real energy gap emerges. Despite their different physical origin, it is possible to show that both the Superradiant and the Superconducting gaps have the same magnitude in the large gap limit. Nevertheless, some differences appear: while the critical coupling at which the Superradiant gap appears is independent of the system size $N$, for the Superconductivity gap it scales as $(\ln N)^{-1}$. The presence of a gap in the imaginary energy axis between the Superradiant and the Subradiant states shares many similarities with the "standard" gap on the real energy axis: the superradiant state is protected against disorder from the imaginary gap as well as the superconducting ground state is protected by the real energy gap. Moreover we connect the origin of the gapped phase to the long-range nature of the coupling between the energy levels.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Macroscopic coherence as an emergent property in molecular nanotubes

Nanotubular molecular self-aggregates are characterized by a high degree of symmetry and they are fundamental systems for light-harvesting and energy transport. While coherent effects are thought to be at the basis of their high efficiency, the relationship between structure, coherence and functionality is still an open problem. We analyze natural nanotubes present in Green Sulfur Bacteria. We show that they have the ability to support macroscopic coherent states, i.e. delocalized excitonic states coherently spread over many molecules, even at room temperature. Specifically, assuming a canonical thermal state, in natural structures we find a large thermal coherence length, of the order of 1000 molecules. By comparing natural structure with other mathematical models, we show that this macroscopic coherence cannot be explained either by the magnitude of the nearest-neighbour coupling between the molecules, which would induce a thermal coherence length of the order of 10 molecules, or by the presence of long-range interactions between the molecules. Indeed we prove that the existence of macroscopic coherent states is an emergent property of such structures due to the interplay between geometry and cooperativity (superradiance and super-transfer). In order to prove this, we give evidence that the lowest part of the spectrum of natural systems is determined by a cooperatively enhanced coupling (super-transfer) between the eigenstates of modular sub-units of the whole structure. Due to this enhanced coupling strength, the density of states is lowered close to the ground state, thus boosting the thermal coherence length.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗