arXiv subjects

Hui Zhai

Publications and source records attributed to Hui Zhai.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Three-dimensional Moiré Crystal

The work intends to extend the moiré physics to three dimensions. Three-dimensional moiré patterns can be realized in ultracold atomic gases by coupling two spin states in spin-dependent optical lattices with a relative twist, a structure currently unachievable in solid-state materials. We give the commensurate conditions under which the three-dimensional moiré pattern features a periodic structure, termed a three-dimensional moiré crystal. We emphasize a key distinction of three-dimensional moiré physics: in three dimensions, the twist operation generically does not commute with the rotational symmetry of the original lattice, unlike in two dimensions, where these two always commute. Consequently, the moiré crystal can exhibit a crystalline structure that differs from the original underlying lattice. We demonstrate that twisting a simple cubic lattice can generate various crystal structures. This capability of altering crystal structures by twisting offers a broad range of tunability for three-dimensional band structures.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2024

Non-Adiabatic Effect in Topological and Interacting Charge Pumping

Topological charge pumping occurs in the adiabatic limit, and the non-adiabatic effect due to finite ramping velocity reduces the pumping efficiency and leads to deviation from quantized charge pumping. In this work, we discuss the relation between this deviation from quantized charge pumping and the entanglement generation after a pumping circle. In the simplest setting, we show that purity $\mathcal{P}$ of the half system reduced density matrix equals to $\mathcal{R}$ defined as $(1-κ)^2+κ^2$, where $κ$ denotes the pumping efficiency. In generic situations, we argue $\mathcal{P}<\mathcal{R}$ and the pumping efficiency can provide an upper bound for purity and, therefore, a lower bound for generated entanglement. To support this conjecture, we propose a solvable pumping scheme in the Rice--Mele--Hubbard model, which can be represented as brick-wall type quantum circuit model. With this pumping scheme, numerical calculation of charge pumping only needs to include at most six sites, and therefore, the interaction and the finite temperature effects can be both included reliably in the exact diagonalization calculation. The numerical results using the solvable pumping circle identify two regimes where the pumping efficiency is sensitive to ramping velocity and support the conjecture $\mathcal{P}<\mathcal{R}$ when both interaction and finite temperature effects are present.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Emergent Gauge Theory in Rydberg Atom Arrays

Rydberg atom arrays have emerged as a novel platform exhibiting rich quantum many-body physics and offering promise for universal quantum computation. The Rydberg blockade effect plays an essential role in establishing many-body correlations in this system. In this review, we will highlight that the lattice gauge theory is an efficient description of the Rydberg blockade effect and overview recent exciting developments in this system from equilibrium phases to quantum dynamics. These developments include realizing exotic ground states such as spin liquids, discovering quantum many-body scar states violating quantum thermalization, and observing confinement-deconfinement transition through quantum dynamics. We emphasize that the gauge theory description offers a universal theoretical framework to capture all these phenomena. This perspective of Rydberg atom arrays will inspire further the future development of quantum simulation and quantum computation in this platform.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2023

Reviving the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis Theorem in Open Quantum Systems

In closed systems, the celebrated Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorem states that a one-dimensional locally interacting half-integer spin chain with translation and spin rotation symmetry cannot have a non-degenerate gapped ground state. However, the applicability of this theorem is diminished when the system interacts with a bath and loses its energy conservation. In this letter, we propose that the LSM theorem can be revived in the entanglement Hamiltonian when the coupling to bath renders the system short-range correlated. Specifically, we argue that the entanglement spectrum cannot have a non-degenerate minimum, isolated by a gap from other states. We further support the results with numerical examples where a spin-$1/2$ system is coupled to another spin-$3/2$ chain serving as the bath. Compared with the original LSM theorem which primarily addresses UV--IR correspondence, our findings unveil that the UV data and topological constraints also have a pivotal role in shaping the entanglement in open quantum many-body systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Universal Hypothesis of Autocorrelation Function from Krylov Complexity

In a quantum many-body system, autocorrelation functions can determine linear responses nearby equilibrium and quantum dynamics far from equilibrium. In this letter, we bring out the connection between the operator complexity and the autocorrelation function. In particular, we focus on a particular kind of operator complexity called the Krylov complexity. We find that a set of Lanczos coefficients $\{b_n\}$ computed for determining the Krylov complexity can reveal the universal behaviors of autocorrelations, which are otherwise impossible. When the time axis is scaled by $b_1$, different autocorrelation functions obey a universal function form at short time. We further propose a characteristic parameter deduced from $\{b_n\}$ that can largely determine the behavior of autocorrelations at the intermediate time. This parameter can also largely determine whether the autocorrelation function oscillates or monotonically decays in time. We present numerical evidences and physical intuitions to support these universal hypotheses of autocorrelations. We emphasize that these universal behaviors are held across different operators and different physical systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Frustration induced Itinerant Ferromagnetism of Fermions in Optical Lattice

When the Fermi Hubbard model was first introduced sixty years ago, one of the original motivations was to understand correlation effects in itinerant ferromagnetism. In the past two decades, ultracold Fermi gas in an optical lattice has been used to study the Fermi Hubbard model. However, the metallic ferromagnetic correlation was observed only in a recent experiment using frustrated lattices, and its underlying mechanism is not clear yet. In this letter, we point out that, under the particle--hole transformation, the single-particle ground state can exhibit double degeneracy in such a frustrated lattice. Therefore, the low-energy state exhibits valley degeneracy, reminiscent of multi-orbit physics in ferromagnetic transition metals. The local repulsive interaction leads to the valley Hund's rule, responsible for the observed ferromagnetism. We generalize this mechanism to distorted honeycomb lattices and square lattices with flux. This mechanism was first discussed by Müller-Hartmann in a simpler one-dimension model. However, this mechanism has not been widely discussed and has not been related to experimental observations before. Hence, our study not only explains the experimental findings but also enriches our understanding of itinerant ferromagnetism.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2023

Variational Approach to Quantum Spin Liquid in a Rydberg Atom Simulator

Recently the Rydberg blockade effect has been utilized to realize quantum spin liquid on the kagome lattice. Evidence of quantum spin liquid has been obtained experimentally by directly measuring non-local string order. In this letter, we report a BCS-type variational wave function study of the spin liquid state in this model. This wave function is motivated by mapping the Rydberg blockade model to a lattice gauge theory, where the local gauge conservations replace the role of constraints from the Rydberg blockade. We determine the variational parameter from the experimental measurement of the Rydberg atom population. Then we compare the predictions of this deterministic wave function with the experimental measurements of non-local string order. Combining the measurements on both open and closed strings, we extract the fluctuations only associated with the closed-loop as an indicator of the topological order. The prediction from our wave function agrees reasonably well with the experimental data without any fitting parameter. Our variational wave function provides a simple and intuitive picture of the quantum spin liquid in this system that can be generalized to various generalizations of the current model.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2023

Probing quantum many-body correlations by universal ramping dynamics

Ramping a physical parameter is one of the most common experimental protocols in studying a quantum system, and ramping dynamics has been widely used in preparing a quantum state and probing physical properties. Here, we present a novel method of probing quantum many-body correlation by ramping dynamics. We ramp a Hamiltonian parameter to the same target value from different initial values and with different velocities, and we show that the first-order correction on the finite ramping velocity is universal and path-independent, revealing a novel quantum many-body correlation function of the equilibrium phases at the target values. We term this method as the non-adiabatic linear response since this is the leading order correction beyond the adiabatic limit. We demonstrate this method experimentally by studying the Bose-Hubbard model with ultracold atoms in three-dimensional optical lattices. Unlike the conventional linear response that reveals whether the quasi-particle dispersion of a quantum phase is gapped or gapless, this probe is more sensitive to whether the quasi-particle lifetime is long enough such that the quantum phase possesses a well-defined quasi-particle description. In the Bose-Hubbard model, this non-adiabatic linear response is significant in the quantum critical regime where well-defined quasi-particles are absent. And in contrast, this response is vanishingly small in both superfluid and Mott insulators which possess well-defined quasi-particles. Because our proposal uses the most common experimental protocol, we envision that our method can find broad applications in probing various quantum systems.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Quantized Nonlinear Transport with Ultracold Atoms

In this letter, we propose how to measure the quantized nonlinear transport using two-dimensional ultracold atomic Fermi gases in a harmonic trap. This scheme requires successively applying two optical pulses in the left and lower half-planes and then measuring the number of extra atoms in the first quadrant. In ideal situations, this nonlinear density response to two successive pulses is quantized, and the quantization value probes the Euler characteristic of the local Fermi sea at the trap center. We investigate the practical effects in experiments, including finite pulse duration, finite edge width of pulses, and finite temperature, which can lead to deviation from quantization. We propose a method to reduce the deviation by averaging measurements performed at the first and third quadrants, inspired by symmetry considerations. With this method, the quantized nonlinear response can be observed reasonably well with experimental conditions readily achieved with ultracold atoms.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Interrelated Thermalization and Quantum Criticality in a Lattice Gauge Simulator

Gauge theory and thermalization are both foundations of physics and nowadays are both topics of essential importance for modern quantum science and technology. Simulating lattice gauge theories (LGTs) realized recently with ultracold atoms provides a unique opportunity for carrying out a correlated study of gauge theory and thermalization in the same setting. Theoretical studies have shown that an Ising quantum phase transition exists in this implemented LGT, and quantum thermalization can also signal this phase transition. Nevertheless, it remains an experimental challenge to accurately determine the critical point and controllably explore the thermalization dynamics in the quantum critical regime due to the lack of techniques for locally manipulating and detecting matter and gauge fields. Here, we report an experimental investigation of the quantum criticality in the LGT from both equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermalization perspectives by equipping the single-site addressing and atom-number-resolved detection into our LGT simulator. We accurately determine the quantum critical point agreed with the predicted value. We prepare a $|Z_{2}\rangle$ state deterministically and study its thermalization dynamics across the critical point, leading to the observation that this $|Z_{2}\rangle$ state thermalizes only in the critical regime. This result manifests the interplay between quantum many-body scars, quantum criticality, and symmetry breaking.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Krylov Complexity in Open Quantum Systems

Krylov complexity is a novel measure of operator complexity that exhibits universal behavior and bounds a large class of other measures. In this letter, we generalize Krylov complexity from a closed system to an open system coupled to a Markovian bath, where Lindbladian evolution replaces Hamiltonian evolution. We show that Krylov complexity in open systems can be mapped to a non-hermitian tight-binding model in a half-infinite chain. We discuss the properties of the non-hermitian terms and show that the strengths of the non-hermitian terms increase linearly with the increase of the Krylov basis index $n$. Such a non-hermitian tight-binding model can exhibit localized edge modes that determine the long-time behavior of Krylov complexity. Hence, the growth of Krylov complexity is suppressed by dissipation, and at long-time, Krylov complexity saturates at a finite value much smaller than that of a closed system with the same Hamitonian. Our conclusions are supported by numerical results on several models, such as the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and the interacting fermion model. Our work provides insights for discussing complexity, chaos, and holography for open quantum systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Tunable Confinement-Deconfinement Transition in an Ultracold Atom Quantum Simulator

The one-dimensional lattice Schwinger model has recently been realized by using bosons in optical lattices. This model contains both confinement and deconfinement phases, whose phase diagram is controlled by the mass of the matter field and the topological angle. Since varying the mass of matter field is straightforward experimentally, we propose how to tune the topological angle, allowing accessing the entire phase diagram. We propose that direct experimental evidence of confinement and deconfinement can be obtained by measuring whether a physical charge is localized around a fixed gauge charge to screen it. We also discuss the PXP model realized in the Rydberg atoms array, which is equivalent to the lattice Schwinger model when all local gauge charges are fixed as zero. Although the gauge charges are fixed, we can alternatively probe the confinement and the deconfinement in the PXP model by studying the relative motion of a pair of a physical charge and an anti-charge. Our scheme can be directly implemented in these two relevant experimental platforms of ultracold atom quantum simulators.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Topological Micromotion of Floquet Quantum Systems

The Floquet Hamiltonian has often been used to describe a time-periodic system. Nevertheless, because the Floquet Hamiltonian depends on a micro-motion parameter, the Floquet Hamiltonian with a fixed micro-motion parameter cannot faithfully represent a driven system, which manifests as the anomalous edge states. Here we show that an accurate description of a Floquet system requires a set of Hamiltonian exhausting all values of the micro-motion parameter, and this micro-motion parameter can be viewed as an extra synthetic dimension of the system. Therefore, we show that a $d$-dimensional Floquet system can be described by a $d+1$-dimensional static Hamiltonian, and the advantage of this representation is that the periodic boundary condition is automatically imposed along the extra-dimension, which enables a straightforward definition of topological invariants. The topological invariant in the $d+1$-dimensional system can ensure a $d-1$-dimensional edge state of the $d$-dimensional Floquet system. Here we show two examples where the topological invariant is a three-dimensional Hopf invariant. We highlight that our scheme of classifying Floquet topology on the micro-motion space is different from the previous classification of Floquet topology on the time space.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Composite Spin Approach to the Blockade Effect in Rydberg Atom Arrays

The Rydberg blockade induces strongly correlated many-body effects in Rydberg atom arrays, including rich ground-state phases and many-body scar states in the excitation spectrum. In this letter, we propose a composite spin representation that can provide a unified description for major features in this system. The composite spin combines Rydberg excitation and the auxiliary fermions, which are introduced to implement the Rydberg blockade constraint automatically. First, we focus on the PXP model describing one-dimensional arrays with the Rydberg blocking radius being a lattice spacing. Using composite spins, the ground state is simply a ferromagnetic product state of composite spins, and the magnon excitations of these composite spins can accurately describe the many-body scar states and signal the quantum phase transition driven by detuning. Then, we show that Rydberg atom arrays with different blocking radii can share a universal description of the composite spin representation, and the difference between different blockade radii can be absorbed in the formation of composite spins.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Ideal-Gas Approach to Hydrodynamics

Transport is one of the most important physical processes in all energy and length scales. Ideal gases and hydrodynamics are, respectively, two opposite limits of transport. Here, we present an unexpected mathematical connection between these two limits; that is, there exist situations that the solution to a class of interacting hydrodynamic equations with certain initial conditions can be exactly constructed from the dynamics of noninteracting ideal gases. We analytically provide three such examples. The first two examples focus on scale-invariant systems, which generalize fermionization to the hydrodynamics of strongly interacting systems, and determine specific initial conditions for perfect density oscillations in a harmonic trap. The third example recovers the dark soliton solution in a one-dimensional Bose condensate. The results can explain a recent puzzling experimental observation in ultracold atomic gases by the Paris group and make further predictions for future experiments. We envision that extensive examples of such an ideal-gas approach to hydrodynamics can be found by systematical numerical search, which can find broad applications in different problems in various subfields of physics.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Noise Enhanced Neural Networks for Analytic Continuation

Analytic continuation maps imaginary-time Green's functions obtained by various theoretical/numerical methods to real-time response functions that can be directly compared with experiments. Analytic continuation is an important bridge between many-body theories and experiments but is also a challenging problem because such mappings are ill-conditioned. In this work, we develop a neural network-based method for this problem. The training data is generated either using synthetic Gaussian-type spectral functions or from exactly solvable models where the analytic continuation can be obtained analytically. Then, we applied the trained neural network to the testing data, either with synthetic noise or intrinsic noise in Monte Carlo simulations. We conclude that the best performance is always achieved when a proper amount of noise is added to the training data. Moreover, our method can successfully capture multi-peak structure in the resulting response function for the cases with the best performance. The method can be combined with Monte Carlo simulations to compare with experiments on real-time dynamics.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2021

Quantum Many-Body Scars and Quantum Criticality

In this letter, we study the PXP Hamiltonian with an external magnetic field that exhibits both quantum scar states and quantum criticality. It is known that this model hosts a series of quantum many-body scar states violating quantum thermalization at zero magnetic field, and it also exhibits an Ising quantum phase transition driven by finite magnetic field. Although the former involves the properties of generic excited states and the latter concerns the low-energy physics, we discover two surprising connections between them, inspired by the observation that both states possess log-volume law entanglement entropies. First, we show that the quantum many-body scar states can be tracked to a set of quantum critical states, whose nature can be understood as pair-wisely occupied Fermi sea states. Second, we show that the partial violation of quantum thermalization diminishes in the quantum critical regime. We envision that these connections can be extended to general situations and readily verified in existing cold atom experimental platforms.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Space-Time Duality between Quantum Chaos and Non-Hermitian Boundary Effect

Quantum chaos in hermitian systems concerns the sensitivity of long-time dynamical evolution to initial conditions. The skin effect discovered recently in non-hermitian systems reveals the sensitivity to the spatial boundary condition even deeply in bulk. In this letter, we show that these two seemingly different phenomena can be unified through space-time duality. The intuition is that the space-time duality maps unitary dynamics to non-unitary dynamics and exchanges the temporal direction and spatial direction. Therefore, the space-time duality can establish the connection between the sensitivity to the initial condition in the temporal direction and the sensitivity to the boundary condition in the spatial direction. Here we demonstrate this connection by studying the space-time duality of the out-of-time-ordered commutator in a concrete chaotic hermitian model. We show that the out-of-time-ordered commutator is mapped to a special two-point correlator in a non-hermitian system in the dual picture. For comparison, we show that this sensitivity disappears when the non-hermiticity is removed in the dual picture.

cond-mat.str-el↗