arXiv subjects

G. Takács

Publications and source records attributed to G. Takács.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum fields in a cold atomic simulator: relaxation and phase locking in tunnel-coupled 1D bosonic quasi-condensates

We consider a prime example of simulating interacting relativistic QFT with cold atoms: the realisation of the sine-Gordon model by tunnel-coupled quasi-1D Bose gases. While experiments have shown that it can realise the sine-Gordon model in equilibrium, studies of non-equilibrium dynamics have revealed phase-locking behaviour that contrasts with predictions from sine-Gordon field theory. Here, we examine a one-dimensional field-theoretic model of the system and find that the phase-locking behaviour can be understood in terms of the longitudinal harmonic trap, and that the additional degrees of freedom observed in the experiment do not appear to play a significant role. Therefore, the experimental setup provides a good simulator of the sine-Gordon quantum field theory, even out of equilibrium, if the inhomogeneous background induced by the trap is taken into account. Furthermore, our results support the idea that modifying the longitudinal trap to a box shape should result in agreement with standard sine-Gordon dynamics. The main remaining open issues are accounting for 3D corrections and modelling the effect of the boundaries.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2026

Finite temperature correlation functions of the sine--Gordon model

The sine-Gordon model serves as a foundational $1+1$-dimensional quantum field theory with numerous applications in condensed matter physics. Despite its integrability, characterizing its finite-temperature behavior remains a significant theoretical challenge. Here we use the previously developed Method of Random Surfaces (MRS) to evaluate two-point and higher-order correlation functions. We cross-check these results with known analytical limits, demonstrating that the MRS provides reliable, non-perturbative data in intermediate regimes where traditional form-factor expansions and semiclassical methods are inapplicable. Furthermore, we derive an exact result for arbitrary $N$-point functions satisfying an appropriate selection rule, providing a direct computational method for complex multi-point observables at finite temperature. We also characterize the non-Gaussianity of correlations and demonstrate that the results align with intuitive theoretical expectations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Relaxation dynamics in the (double) sine-Gordon model: An open-system viewpoint

We study the effects of integrability breaking on the relaxation dynamics of the (double) sine-Gordon model. Compared to previous studies, we apply an alternative viewpoint motivated by open-system physics by separating the phase field into homogeneous and inhomogeneous parts, describing a quantum pendulum (subsystem) and an interacting phononic bath (environment). To study the relaxation dynamics in the model, we perform quantum quenches using the mini-superspace-based truncated Hamiltonian approach developed recently and simulate the real-time evolution of various entanglement measures and the energy transfer between the subsystem and its environment. Our findings demonstrate that in the presence of integrability-breaking perturbations, the relaxation dynamics is substantially faster, signalled by the increase of entanglement and energy transfer between the quantum pendulum and the phonon bath.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Sine-Gordon model at finite temperature: the method of random surfaces

We study the sine-Gordon quantum field theory at finite temperature by generalizing the method of random surfaces to compute the free energy and one-point functions of exponential operators non-perturbatively. Focusing on the gapped phase of the sine-Gordon model, we demonstrate the method's accuracy by comparing our results to the predictions of other methods and to exact results in the thermodynamic limit. We find excellent agreement between the method of random surfaces and other approaches when the temperature is not too small with respect to the mass gap. Extending the method to more general problems in strongly interacting one-dimensional quantum systems is discussed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz and Generalised Hydrodynamics in the sine-Gordon model

We set up a hydrodynamic description of the non-equilibrium dynamics of sine-Gordon quantum field theory for generic coupling. It is built upon an explicit form of the Bethe Ansatz description of general thermodynamic states, with the structure of the resulting coupled integral equations encoded in terms of graphical diagrams. The resulting framework is applied to derive results for the Drude weights of charge and energy. Quantities associated with the charge universally have fractal dependence on the coupling, which is notably absent from those associated with energy, a feature explained by the different roles played by reflective scattering in transporting these quantities. We then present far-from-equilibrium results, including explicit time evolution starting from bipartite initial states and dynamical correlation functions. Our framework can be applied to explore numerous other aspects of non-equilibrium dynamics, which opens the way to a wide array of theoretical studies and potential novel experimental predictions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Escaping fronts in local quenches of a confining spin chain

We consider local quenches from initial states generated by a single spin-flip in either the true or the false vacuum state of the confining quantum Ising spin chain in the ferromagnetic regime. Contrary to global quenches, where the light-cone behaviour is strongly suppressed, we find a significant light-cone signal propagating with a nonzero velocity besides the expected localised oscillating component. Combining an analytic representation of the initial state with a numerical description of the relevant excitations using the two-fermion approximation, we can construct the spectrum of post-quench excitations and their overlaps with the initial state, identifying the underlying mechanism. For confining quenches built upon the true vacuum, the propagating signal consists of superpositions of left and right-moving mesons escaping confinement. In contrast, for anti-confining quenches built upon the false vacuum it is composed of superpositions of left and right-moving bubbles which escape Wannier-Stark localisation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Weak integrability breaking and level spacing distribution

Recently it was suggested that certain perturbations of integrable spin chains lead to a weak breaking of integrability in the sense that integrability is preserved at the first order in the coupling. Here we examine this claim using level spacing distribution. We find that the volume dependent crossover between integrable and chaotic level spacing statistics which marks the onset of quantum chaotic behaviour, is markedly different for weak vs. strong breaking of integrability. In particular, for the gapless case we find that the crossover coupling as a function of the volume $L$ scales with a $1/L^2$ law for weak breaking as opposed to the $1/L^3$ law previously found for the strong case.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Quantum Integrability vs Experiments: Correlation Functions and Dynamical Structure Factors

Integrable Quantum Field Theories can be solved exactly using bootstrap techniques based on their elastic and factorisable S-matrix. While knowledge of the scattering amplitudes reveals the exact spectrum of particles and their on-shell dynamics, the expression of the matrix elements of the various operators allows the reconstruction of off-shell quantities such as two-point correlation functions with a high level of precision. In this review, we summarise results relevant to the contact point between theory and experiment providing a number of quantities that can be computed theoretically with great accuracy. We concentrate on universal amplitude ratios which can be determined from the measurement of generalised susceptibilities, and dynamical structure factors, which can be accessed experimentally e.g. via inelastic neutron scattering or nuclear magnetic resonance. Besides an overview of the subject and a summary of recent advances, we also present new results regarding generalised susceptibilities in the tricritical Ising universality class.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Variations on vacuum decay: the scaling Ising and tricritical Ising field theories

We study the decay of the false vacuum in the scaling Ising and tricritical Ising field theories using the Truncated Conformal Space Approach and compare the numerical results to theoretical predictions in the thin wall limit. In the Ising case, the results are consistent with previous studies on the quantum spin chain and the $φ^4$ quantum field theory; in particular we confirm that while the theoretical predictions get the dependence of the bubble nucleation rate on the latent heat right, they are off by a model dependent overall coefficient. The tricritical Ising model allows us on the other hand to examine more exotic vacuum degeneracy structures, such as three vacua or two asymmetric vacua, which leads us to study several novel scenarios of false vacuum decay by lifting the vacuum degeneracy using different perturbations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Duality and Form Factors in the Thermally Deformed Two-Dimensional Tricritical Ising Model

The thermal deformation of the critical point action of the 2D tricritical Ising model gives rise to an exact scattering theory with seven massive excitations based on the exceptional $E_7$ Lie algebra. The high and low temperature phases of this model are related by duality. This duality guarantees that the leading and sub-leading magnetisation operators, $σ(x)$ and $σ'(x)$, in either phase are accompanied by associated disorder operators, $μ(x)$ and $μ'(x)$. Working specifically in the high temperature phase, we write down the sets of bootstrap equations for these four operators. For $σ(x)$ and $σ'(x)$, the equations are identical in form and are parameterised by the values of the one-particle form factors of the two lightest $\mathbb{Z}_2$ odd particles. Similarly, the equations for $μ(x)$ and $μ'(x)$ have identical form and are parameterised by two elementary form factors. Using the clustering property, we show that these four sets of solutions are eventually not independent; instead, the parameters of the solutions for $σ(x)/σ'(x)$ are fixed in terms of those for $μ(x)/μ'(x)$. We use the truncated conformal space approach to confirm numerically the derived expressions of the matrix elements as well as the validity of the $Δ$-sum rule as applied to the off-critical correlators. We employ the derived form factors of the order and disorder operators to compute the exact dynamical structure factors of the theory, a set of quantities with a rich spectroscopy which may be directly tested in future inelastic neutron or Raman scattering experiments.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Inhomogeneous quantum quenches in the sine-Gordon theory

We study inhomogeneous quantum quenches in the attractive regime of the sine-Gordon model. In our protocol, the system is prepared in an inhomogeneous initial state in finite volume by coupling the topological charge density operator to a Gaussian external field. After switching off the external field, the subsequent time evolution is governed by the homogeneous sine-Gordon Hamiltonian. Varying either the interaction strength of the sine-Gordon model or the amplitude of the external source field, an interesting transition is observed in the expectation value of the soliton density. This affects both the initial profile of the density and its time evolution and can be summarised as a steep transition between behaviours reminiscent of the Klein-Gordon, and the free massive Dirac fermion theory with initial external fields of high enough magnitude. The transition in the initial state is also displayed by the classical sine-Gordon theory and hence can be understood by semi-classical considerations in terms of the presence of small amplitude field configurations and the appearance of soliton excitations, which are naturally associated with bosonic and fermionic excitations on the quantum level, respectively. Features of the quantum dynamics are also consistent with this correspondence and comparing them to the classical evolution of the density profile reveals that quantum effects become markedly pronounced during the time evolution. These results suggest a crossover between the dominance of bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom whose precise identification in terms of the fundamental particle excitations can be rather non-trivial. Nevertheless, their interplay is expected to influence the sine-Gordon dynamics in arbitrary inhomogeneous settings.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Confinement in the tricritical Ising model

We study the leading and sub-leading magnetic perturbations of the thermal $E_7$ integrable deformation of the tricritical Ising model. In the low-temperature phase, these magnetic perturbations lead to the confinement of the kinks of the model. The resulting meson spectrum can be obtained using the semi-classical quantisation, here extended to include also mesonic excitations composed of two different kinks. An interesting feature of the integrable sub-leading magnetic perturbation of the thermal $E_7$ deformation of the model is the possibility to swap the role of the two operators, i.e. the possibility to consider the model as a thermal perturbation of the integrable $\mathcal{A}_3$ model associated to the sub-leading magnetic deformation. Due to the occurrence of vacuum degeneracy unrelated to spontaneous symmetry breaking in $\mathcal{A}_3$, the confinement pattern shows novel features compared to previously studied models. Interestingly enough, the validity of the semi-classical description in terms of the $\mathcal{A}_3$ endpoint extends well beyond small fields, and therefore the full parameter space of the joint thermal and sub-leading magnetic deformation is well described by a combination of semi-classical approaches. All predictions are verified by comparison to finite volume spectrum resulting from truncated conformal space.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Quantum quenches in an interacting field theory: full quantum evolution vs. semi-classical approximations

We develop a truncated Hamiltonian method to investigate the dynamics of the $(1+1)d~ϕ^4$ theory following quantum quenches. The results are compared to two different semi-classical approaches, the self-consistent Gaussian approximation and the truncated Wigner approximation, and used to determine the range of validity of these widely used approaches. We show that the self-consistent approximation is strongly limited in comparison to the truncated Hamiltonian method which for larger cutoffs is practically exact for the parameter range studied. We find that the self-consistent approximation is only valid when the effective mass is in the vicinity of the renormalised mass. Similarly to the self-consistent approximation, the truncated Wigner approximation is not able to capture the correct mass renormalisation, and breaks down for strong enough interactions where the bare mass becomes negative. We attribute the failure of TWA to the presence of a classical symmetry broken fixed point. Besides establishing the truncated Hamiltonian approach as a powerful tool for studying the dynamics of the $ϕ^4$ model, our results on the limitation of semi-classical approximations are expected to be relevant for modelling the dynamics of other quantum field theories.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2018

Overlap singularity and time evolution in integrable quantum field theory

We study homogeneous quenches in integrable quantum field theory where the initial state contains zero-momentum particles. We demonstrate that the two-particle pair amplitude necessarily has a singularity at the two-particle threshold. Albeit the explicit discussion is carried out for special (integrable) initial states, we argue that the singularity is inevitably present and is a generic feature of homogeneous quenches involving the creation of zero momentum particles. We also identify the singularity in quenches in the Ising model across the quantum critical point, and compute it perturbatively in phase quenches in the quantum sine-Gordon model which are potentially relevant to experiments. We then construct the explicit time dependence of one-point functions using a linked cluster expansion regulated by a finite volume parameter. We find that the secular contribution normally linear in time is modified by a $t\ln t$ term. We additionally encounter a novel type of secular contribution which is shown to be related to parametric resonance. It is an interesting open question to resum the new contributions and to establish their consequences directly observable in experiments or numerical simulations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2016

Real time confinement following a quantum quench to a non-integrable model

Light cone spreading of correlations and entanglement is a key feature of the non-equilibrium quench dynamics of many-body quantum systems. First proposed theoretically, it has been experimentally revealed in cold-atomic gases and it is expected to be a generic characteristic of any quench in systems with short-range interactions and no disorder. Conversely, here we propose a mechanism that, through confinement of the elementary excitations, strongly suppresses the light-cone spreading. Confinement is a celebrated concept in particle physics, but it also exists in condensed matter systems, most notably in one spatial dimension where it has been experimentally observed. Our results are obtained for the Ising spin chain with transverse and longitudinal magnetic field, but the proposed mechanism is of general validity since it is based on the sole concept of confinement and it should be easily observed in cold atom experiments.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

Correlations after quantum quenches in the XXZ spin chain: Failure of the Generalized Gibbs Ensemble

We study the nonequilibrium time evolution of the spin-1/2 anisotropic Heisenberg (XXZ) spin chain, with a choice of dimer product and Neel states as initial states. We investigate numerically various short-ranged spin correlators in the long-time limit and find that they deviate significantly from predictions based on the generalized Gibbs ensemble (GGE) hypotheses. By computing the asymptotic spin correlators within the recently proposed quench-action formalism [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 257203 (2013)], however, we find excellent agreement with the numerical data. We, therefore, conclude that the GGE cannot give a complete description even of local observables, while the quench-action formalism correctly captures the steady state in this case.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2013

One-point functions in finite volume/temperature: a case study

We consider finite volume (or equivalently, finite temperature) expectation values of local operators in integrable quantum field theories using a combination of numerical and analytical approaches. It is shown that the truncated conformal space approach, when supplemented with a recently proposed renormalization group, can be sufficiently extended to the low-energy regime that it can be matched with high precision by the low-temperature expansion proposed by Leclair and Mussardo. Besides verifying the consistency of the two descriptions, their combination leads to an evaluation of expectation values which is valid to a very high precision for all volume/temperature scales. As a side result of the investigation, we also discuss some unexpected singularities in the framework recently proposed by Pozsgay and Takács for the description of matrix elements of local operators in finite volume, and show that while some of these singularities are resolved by the inclusion of the class of exponential finite size corrections known as μ-terms, these latter corrections themselves lead to the appearance of new singularities. We point out that a fully consistent description of finite volume matrix elements is expected to be free of singularities, and therefore a more complete and systematic understanding of exponential finite size corrections is necessary.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Diagonal multi-soliton matrix elements in finite volume

We consider diagonal matrix elements of local operators between multi-soliton states in finite volume in the sine-Gordon model, and formulate a conjecture regarding their finite size dependence which is valid up to corrections exponential in the volume. This conjecture extends the results of Pozsgay and Takács which were only valid for diagonal scattering. In order to test the conjecture we implement a numerical renormalization group improved truncated conformal space approach. The numerical comparisons confirm the conjecture, which is expected to be valid for general integrable field theories. The conjectured formula can be used to evaluate finite temperature one-point and two-point functions using recently developed methods.

hep-th↗