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Flavia B. Ramos

Publications and source records attributed to Flavia B. Ramos.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Energy partitioning of wave packets in one-dimensional systems

We investigate the non-equilibrium dynamics of wave packets in a one-dimensional critical fermionic system and analyze the resulting partitioning of energy between emergent excitations. Starting from a Gaussian wave packet injected on top of the many-body ground state, we follow its real-time evolution using the time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group. We observe that interactions lead to fractionalization of the initial excitation into counter-propagating left- and right-moving modes, whose energies can be resolved in real space. To interpret these results, we employ Luttinger liquid theory, which allows us to derive analytical predictions for the energy carried by the emergent modes. We find good agreement between field-theoretical predictions and numerical simulations in the low-energy regime. In contrast to charge fractionalization, which is completely determined by the Luttinger liquid parameter, we show that energy partitioning is non-universal and depends on details of the injected wave packet, such as its width. Our results provide a real-space characterization of energy partitioning in one-dimensional systems and establish a quantitative comparison between non-equilibrium numerical simulations and the effective field-theory description.

cond-mat.str-el

Continuous phase transition from a chiral spin state to collinear magnetic order in a zigzag chain with Kitaev interactions

Quantum spin systems can break time reversal symmetry by developing spontaneous magnetization or spin chirality. However, collinear magnets and chiral spin states are invariant under different symmetries, implying that the order parameter of one phase vanishes in the other. We show how to construct one-dimensional anisotropic spin models that exhibit a "Landau-forbidden" continuous phase transition between such states. As a concrete example, we focus on a zigzag chain with bond-dependent exchange and six-spin interactions. Using a combination of exact solutions, effective field theories, and numerical simulations, we show that the transition between the chiral and magnetic phases has an emergent U(1) symmetry. The excitations governing the transition from the chiral phase can be pictured as mobile defects in a $\mathbb Z_2$ flux configuration which bind fermionic modes. We briefly discuss extensions to two dimensions and analogies with deconfined quantum criticality. Our results suggest new prospects for unconventional phase transitions involving chiral spin states.

cond-mat.str-el

Confinement and bound states of bound states in a transverse-field two-leg Ising ladder

Weakly coupled Ising chains provide a condensed-matter realization of confinement. In these systems, kinks and antikinks bind into mesons due to an attractive interaction potential that increases linearly with the distance between the particles. While single mesons have been directly observed in experiments, the role of the multiparticle continuum and bound states of mesons in the excitation spectrum is far less clear. Using time-dependent density matrix renormalization group methods, we study the dynamical structure factors of one- and two-spin operators in a transverse-field two-leg Ising ladder in the ferromagnetic phase. The propagation of time-dependent correlations and the two-spin excitation spectrum reveal the existence of interchain bound states, which are absent in the one-spin dynamical structure factor. We also identify two-meson bound states that appear at higher energies, above the thresholds of several two-meson continua.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Spin chain network construction of chiral spin liquids

We show that a honeycomb lattice of Heisenberg spin-$1/2$ chains with three-spin junction interactions allows for controlled analytical studies of chiral spin liquids (CSLs). Tuning these interactions to a chiral fixed point, we find a Kalmeyer-Laughlin CSL phase which here is connected to the critical point of a boundary conformal field theory. Our construction directly yields a quantized spin Hall conductance and localized spinons with semionic statistics as elementary excitations. We also outline the phase diagram away from the chiral point where spinons may condense. Generalizations of our approach can provide microscopic realizations for many other CSLs.

cond-mat.str-el