arXiv subjects

J. Höller

Publications and source records attributed to J. Höller.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Geometric Amplification via Non-Hermitian Berry Phase

Despite their apparent simplicity, coupled oscillators exhibit surprisingly complex phenomena. Two notable examples are Berry phase (a geometric or topological aspect of the oscillators' memory) and non-Hermiticity (the often counterintuitive impact of dissipation), both of which possess rich mathematical structures. Here, we demonstrate that combining Berry phase and non-Hermiticity leads to a fundamentally new form of amplification. Specifically, we show that this combination allows a lossy oscillator system to be converted into one with gain via slow modulation of its parameters. This is distinct from other amplification mechanisms, as it results specifically from the complex-valued Berry phase that is unique to non-Hermitian systems. We show that this mechanism produces continuous, useful gain in an optomechanical system, and that similar results can be realized in a very wide range of settings.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2020

One-step replica-symmetry-breaking phase below the de Almeida-Thouless line in low-dimensional spin glasses

The de Almeida-Thouless (AT) line is the phase boundary in the temperature--magnetic field plane of an Ising spin glass at which a continuous (i.e. second-order) transition from a paramagnet to a replica-symmetry-breaking (RSB) phase occurs, according to mean-field theory. Here, using field-theoretic perturbative renormalization group methods on the Bray-Roberts reduced Landau-Ginzburg-type theory for a short-range Ising spin glass in space of dimension $d$, we show that at nonzero magnetic field the nature of the corresponding transition is modified as follows: a) for $d-6$ small and positive, with increasing field on the AT line first, the ordered phase just below the transition becomes the so-called one-step RSB, instead of the full RSB that occurs in mean-field theory; the transition on the AT line remains continuous with a diverging correlation length. Then at a higher field, a tricritical point separates the latter transition from a quasi-first-order one, that is one at which the correlation length does not diverge, and there is a jump in part of the order parameter, but no latent heat. The location of the tricritical point tends to zero as $d\to6^+$; b) for $d\leq 6$, we argue that the quasi-first-order transition could persist down to arbitrarily small nonzero fields, with a transition to full RSB still expected at lower temperature. Whenever the quasi-first-order transition occurs, it is at a higher temperature than the AT transition would be for the same field, preempting it as the temperature is lowered. We also draw attention to the similarity of the "dynamically-frozen" state, which occurs at temperatures just above the quasi-first-order transition, and the "metastate-average state" of the one-step RSB phase, and discuss the issue of the number of pure states in either.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Non-Hermitian adiabatic transport in spaces of exceptional points

We consider the space of $n \times n$ non-Hermitian Hamiltonians ($n=2$, $3$, . . .) that are equivalent to a single $n\times n$ Jordan block. We focus on adiabatic transport around a closed path (i.e. a loop) within this space, in the limit as the time-scale $T=1/\varepsilon$ taken to traverse the loop tends to infinity. We show that, for a certain class of loops and a choice of initial state, the state returns to itself and acquires a complex phase that is $\varepsilon^{-1}$ times an expansion in powers of $\varepsilon^{1/n}$. The exponential of the term of $n$th order (which is equivalent to the "geometric" or Berry phase modulo $2π$), is thus independent of $\varepsilon$ as $\varepsilon\to0$; it depends only on the homotopy class of the loop and is an integer power of $e^{2πi/n}$. One of the conditions under which these results hold is that the state being transported is, for all points on the loop, that of slowest decay.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2019

Crystallographic splitting theorem for band representations and fragile topological photonic crystals

The fundamental building blocks in band theory are band representations (BRs): bands whose infinitely-numbered Wannier functions are generated (by action of a space group) from a finite number of symmetric Wannier functions centered on a point in space. This work aims to simplify questions on a multi-rank BR by splitting it into unit-rank bands, via the following crystallographic splitting theorem: being a rank-$N$ BR is equivalent to being splittable into a finite sum of bands indexed by $\{1,2,\ldots,N\}$, such that each band is spanned by a single, analytic Bloch function of $k$, and any symmetry in the space group acts by permuting $\{1,2,\ldots,N\}$. Applying this theorem, we develop computationally efficient methods to determine whether a given energy band (of a tight-binding or Schrödinger Hamiltonian) is a BR, and, if so, how to numerically construct the corresponding symmetric Wannier functions. Thus we prove that rotation-symmetric topological insulators in class AI are fragile, meaning that the obstruction to symmetric Wannier functions is removable by addition of BRs. An implication of fragility is that its boundary states, while robustly covering the bulk energy gap in finite-rank tight-binding models, are unstable if the Hilbert space is expanded to include all symmetry-allowed representations. These fragile insulators have photonic analogs that we identify; in particular, we prove that an existing photonic crystal built by Yang et al. [Nature 565, 622 (2019)] is fragile topological with removable surface states, which disproves a widespread perception of 'topologically-protected' surface states in time-reversal-invariant, gapped photonic/phononic crystals. Our theorem is finally applied to derive various symmetry obstructions on the Wannier functions of topological insulators, and to prove their equivalence with the nontrivial holonomy of Bloch functions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Topological Bloch oscillations

Bloch oscillations originate from the translational symmetry of crystals. These oscillations occur with a fundamental period that a semiclassical wavepacket takes to traverse a Brillouin-zone loop. We introduce a new type of Bloch oscillations whose periodicity is an integer ($μ{>}1$) multiple of the fundamental period. The period multiplier $μ$ is a topological invariant protected by the space groups of crystals, which include more than just translational symmetries. For example, $μ$ divides $n$ for crystals with an $n$-fold rotational or screw symmetry; with a reflection, inversion or glide symmetry, $μ$ equals two. We identify the commonality underlying all period-multiplied oscillations: the multi-band Berry-Zak phases, which encode the holonomy of adiabatic transport of Bloch functions in quasimomentum space, differ pairwise by integer multiples of $2π/μ$. For a class of multi-band subspaces whose projected-position operators commute, period multiplication has a complementary explanation through the real space distribution of Wannier functions. This complementarity follows from a one-to-one correspondence between Berry-Zak phases and the centers of Wannier functions. A Wannier description of period multiplication does not always exist, as we exemplify with band subspaces with either a nonzero Chern number or $\mathbb{Z}_2$ Kane-Mele topological order. To help identify band subspaces with $μ{>}1$, a general theorem is presented that outputs Zak phases that are symmetry-protected to integer multiples of $2π/n$, given the point-group symmetry representation of any gapped band subspace. A cold-atomic experiment that has observed period-multiplied Bloch oscillations is discussed, and directions are provided for future experiments.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2018

No-go theorem for topological insulators and sure-fire recipe for Chern insulators

For any symmorphic magnetic space group $G$, it is proven that topological band insulators with vanishing first Chern numbers cannot have a groundstate composed of a single, energetically-isolated band. This no-go statement implies that the minimal dimension of tight-binding Hamiltonians for such topological insulators is four if the groundstate is stable to addition of trivial bands, and three if the groundstate is unstable. A sure-fire recipe is provided to design models for Chern and unstable topological insulators by splitting elementary band representations; this recipe, combined with recently-constructed Bilbao tables on such representations, can be systematized for mass identification of topological materials. All results follow from our theorem which applies to any single, isolated energy band of a $G$-symmetric Schrödinger-type or tight-binding Hamiltonian: for such bands, being topologically trivial is equivalent to being a band representation of $G$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Comment on "Galilean invariance at quantum Hall edge"

In a recent paper by S. Moroz, C. Hoyos, and L. Radzihovsky [Phys. Rev. B 91, 195409 (2015)], it is claimed that the conductivity at low frequency $ω$ and small wavevector $q$ along the edge of a quantum Hall (QH) system (that possesses Galilean invariance along the edge) contains a universal contribution of order $q^2$ that is determined by the orbital spin per particle in the bulk of the system, or alternatively by the shift of the ground state. (These quantities are known to be related to the Hall viscosity of the bulk.) In this Comment we calculate the real part of the conductivity, integrated over $ω$, in this regime for the edge of a system of non-interacting electrons filling either the lowest, or the lowest $ν$ ($ν=1$, $2$, . . .), Landau level(s), and show that the $q^2$ term is non-universal and depends on details of the confining potential at the edge. In the special case of a linear potential, a form similar to the prediction is obtained, it is possible that this corrected form of the prediction may also hold for fractional QH states in systems with special forms of interactions between electrons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗