arXiv subjects

Ken K. W. Ma

Publications and source records attributed to Ken K. W. Ma.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

An Effective String Theory Toolbox for Quantum Hall Interfaces I: Worldsheet Kinematics and Constraint Structure

A freely moving quantum Hall interface is fundamentally different from an ordinary edge fixed by an external confining potential. Since a normal displacement changes the areas occupied by the adjacent incompressible phases, the interface geometry and charge dynamics cannot be treated as independent degrees of freedom. We formulate this problem for interfaces between Abelian quantum Hall phases using a spatially reparametrization-invariant worldsheet description, in which tangential motion is a relabeling of the interface while normal motion is physical. Starting from the two-sided Chern--Simons response, we derive the relation between normal charge transport and interface motion. We then introduce a relative-area construction, defined with respect to a material reference curve, that converts this velocity relation into an equal-time constraint linking the charged boundary sector to the interface shape. Combined with the folded $K$-matrix current algebra, this identifies the universal Hall kinematics of the moving interface while leaving its geometric energy and neutral dynamics dependent on microscopic interface physics. The resulting framework provides a systematic basis for effective theories of dynamical quantum Hall interfaces.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

An Effective String Theory Toolbox for Quantum Hall Interfaces II: Majorana Fermions on Fluctuating Moore-Read Worldsheets

A Moore--Read interface carries a chiral Majorana mode on a boundary whose geometry may itself fluctuate. Fixed-edge theory does not determine how this neutral mode should be transported when the interface bends and moves, or how its dynamics couples to the fluctuating shape. Here we construct a spatially reparametrization-invariant Majorana theory on the nonrelativistic worldsheet of a freely moving interface. The changing line element fixes a universal half-density transport law, while additional curvature- and velocity-dependent couplings remain controlled by microscopic interface physics. The resulting framework identifies the Majorana stress tensor as the mediator between neutral and geometric dynamics and provides the neutral sector needed for effective theories of dynamical non-Abelian quantum Hall interfaces.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

An Effective String Theory Toolbox for Quantum Hall Interfaces III: Open Worldsheets, Endpoint Conditions, and Branes

A freely moving quantum Hall (QH) interface may end on a physical edge or topological boundary, but fixed-edge theory cannot determine what endpoint data make such a termination consistent. Here we formulate an open-worldsheet junction framework in which the embedding, material charge, anomaly flow, and topological boundary condition are organized together. The endpoint is specified by a geometric support and variational boundary data, together with condensable topological sectors and any outgoing channels required to absorb or continue the worldsheet flux. This construction extends the charge--shape relation to an interval and shows why a lone chiral Majorana cannot terminate on a finite-dimensional endpoint degree of freedom. It gives an operational definition of a QH brane and a systematic basis for endpoint and network theories of dynamical QH interfaces.

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arXiv2025

Fermion liquids as quantum Hall liquids in phase space: A unified approach for anomalies and responses

The discovery of many strongly correlated metallic phases has inspired different routes to generalize or go beyond the celebrated Landau Fermi liquid theory. To this end, from universal consideration of symmetries and anomalies, Else, Thorngren and Senthil (ETS) have introduced a class of theories called ersatz Fermi liquids which possess a Fermi surface and satisfy a generalized Luttinger's theorem. In this work, we view all such fermion liquids obeying the Luttinger theorem as incompressible quantum Hall liquids in higher-dimensional phase space and use it as the starting point to derive their effective low-energy field theory. The noncommutativity of phase space motivates us to use the Seiberg-Witten map to derive the field theory in an ordinary (commutative) space and naturally leads to terms that correspond to the correct topological Chern-Simons action postulated by ETS in one, two, and three dimensions. Additionally, our approach also reproduces all the non-topological terms that characterize important contributions to the response, including the semiclassical equations of motion. Finally, our derivations of Chern-Simons terms from the Seiberg-Witten map also verify a longstanding conjecture in noncommutative field theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Information Scrambling at Quantum Hall Interfaces and Their Analog to Black Hole Event Horizon

The black hole information paradox has been hotly debated for the last few decades without a full resolution. This makes it desirable to find analogues of this paradox in simple and experimentally accessible systems, whose resolutions may shed light on this longstanding and fundamental problem. Here, we review and resolve the apparent "information paradox" in two different interfaces separating Abelian and non-Abelian quantum Hall states. In both cases, the information carried by the pseudospin degree of freedom of the Abelian anyons get scrambled when they cross the interface and enter the non-Abelian quantum Hall liquid. Nevertheless, it is found that the scrambling mechanism depends on the nature of the interface. The corresponding analogues of different concepts in black hole physics such as event horizon, black hole interior, Hawking radiation, and Page curve will also be discussed.

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arXiv2024

Locally controlled arrested thermalization

The long-time dynamics of quantum systems, typically, but not always, results in a thermal steady state. The microscopic processes that lead to or circumvent this fate are of interest, since everyday experience tells us that not all spatial regions of a system heat up or cool down uniformly. This motivates the question: under what conditions can one slow down or completely arrest thermalization locally? Is it possible to construct realistic Hamiltonians and initial states such that a local region is effectively insulated from the rest, or acts like a barrier between two or more regions? We answer this in the affirmative by outlining the conditions that govern the flow of energy and entropy between subsystems. Using these ideas we provide a representative example for how simple few-body states can be used to engineer a ``thermal switch" between interacting regions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Competing phases and intertwined orders in coupled wires near the self-dual point

The interplay between different quantum phases plays an important role in strongly correlated systems, such as high-$T_c$ cuprates, quantum spin systems, and ultracold atoms. In particular, the application of effective field theory model and renormalization group analysis suggested that the coexistence of density wave (DW) and superfluid (SF) orders can lead to a supersolid phase of ultracold bosons. Here we revisit the problem by considering weakly coupled wires, where we treat the intra-wire interactions exactly via bosonization and inter-wire couplings using a mean-field theory which becomes asymptotically exact in the limit of high dimensionality. We obtain and solve the mean-field equations for the system near the self-dual point, where each wire has the Luttinger parameter $K=1$ and the inter-wire DW and SF coupling strengths are identical. This allows us to find explicit solutions for the possible supersolid order. An energy comparison between different possible solutions shows that the supersolid order is energetically unfavorable at zero temperature. This suggests that the density wave and superfluid phases are connected by a first order transition near the self-dual point. We also discuss the relation between our work and the intertwining of charge density wave and superconducting orders in cuprates.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Eigenstate thermalization and disappearance of quantum many-body scar states in interacting fermion systems

The recent discovery of quantum many-body scar states has revealed the possibility of having states with low entanglement that violate the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis in nonintegrable systems. Such states with low entanglement entropy are rare but naturally exist in the integrable system of free fermions. Here, we demonstrate analytically that these atypical states would be always eliminated when an arbitrary weak interaction is introduced between the fermions. In particular, we show that the probability of having a many-body scar state with entanglement entropy satisfying a sub-volume scaling law decreases double exponentially as the system size. Thus, our results provide a quantitative argument for the disappearance of scar states in interacting fermion systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Anyon condensation, topological quantum information scrambling, and Andreev-like reflection of non-Abelian anyons in quantum Hall interfaces

Quantum information scrambling is the spread of local information into correlation throughout the entire quantum many-body system. This concept has become a central topic in different contexts. In this work, we restate the connection between anyon condensation and topological quantum information scrambling in quantum Hall interfaces. We consider the interface between the Abelian Halperin-330 state and the non-Abelian Read-Rezayi state. We verify explicitly that the interface can be fully gapped. This allows the transmutation of local pseudospin information carried by an Abelian anyon into topological information stored entirely by the anyons in the non-Abelian quantum Hall liquid, with no scrambled information stored at the interface. In combination with our previous work [K. K. W. Ma and K. Yang, Phys. Rev. B 105, 045306 (2022)], our results demonstrate the dependence of the scrambling mechanism on the gapfulness of the interface. Possible Andreev-like reflection of non-Abelian anyons in the fully gapped interface is also discussed.

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arXiv2022

Fractional quantum Hall effect at the filling factor $ν=5/2$

The fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect at the filling factor $ν=5/2$ was discovered in GaAs heterostructures more than 35 years ago. Various topological orders have been proposed as possible candidates to describe this FQH state. Some of them possess non-Abelian anyon excitations, an entirely new type of quasiparticle with fascinating properties. If observed, non-Abelian anyons could offer fundamental building blocks of a topological quantum computer. Nevertheless, the nature of the FQH state at $ν=5/2$ is still under debate. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the theoretical background, numerical results, and experimental measurements pertaining to this special FQH state. Furthermore, we review some recent developments and their possible interpretations. Possible future directions toward resolving the nature of the $5/2$ state are also discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Kolmogorov complexity as intrinsic entropy of a pure state: Perspective from entanglement in free fermion systems

We consider free fermion systems in arbitrary dimensions and represent the occupation pattern of each eigenstate as a classical binary string. We find that the Kolmogorov complexity of the string correctly captures the scaling behavior of its entanglement entropy (EE). In particular, the logarithmically-enhanced area law for EE in the ground state and the volume law for EE in typical highly excited states are reproduced. Since our approach does not require bipartitioning the system, it allows us to distinguish typical and atypical eigenstates directly by their intrinsic complexity. We reveal that the fraction of atypical eigenstates which do not thermalize in the free fermion system vanishes exponentially in the thermodynamic limit. Our results illustrate explicitly the connection between complexity and EE of individual pure states in quantum systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Simple analog of the black-hole information paradox in quantum Hall interfaces

The black hole information paradox has been hotly debated for the last few decades, without full resolution. This makes it desirable to find analogs of this paradox in simple and experimentally accessible systems, whose resolutions may shed light on this long-standing and fundamental problem. Here we identify and resolve an apparent "information paradox" in a quantum Hall interface between the Halperin-331 and Pfaffian states. Information carried by the pseudospin degree of freedom of the Abelian 331 quasiparticles gets scrambled when they cross the interface to enter non-Abelian Pfaffian state, and becomes inaccessible to local measurements; in this sense the Pfaffian region is an analog of black hole interior while the interface plays a role similar to its horizon. We demonstrate that the "lost" information gets recovered once the "black hole" evaporates and the quasiparticles return to the 331 region, albeit in a highly entangled form. Such recovery is quantified by the Page curve of the entropy carried by these quasiparticles, which are analogs of Hawking radiation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Quantitative theory of composite fermions in Bose-Fermi mixtures at $ν=1$

Composite fermions provide a simple and unified picture to understand a vast amount of phenomenology in the quantum Hall regime. However it has remained challenging to formulate this concept properly within a single Landau level. Recently a low-energy noncommutative field theory for bosons at Landau-level filling factor $ν=1$ has been formulated by Dong and Senthil. In the limit of long-wavelength and small-amplitude gauge fluctuation, they found it reduces to the celebrated Halperin-Lee-Read theory of composite fermion liquid. In this work we consider a Bose-Fermi mixture at total filling factor $ν=1$. Different from previous work, the number density of composite fermions in the mixture and corresponding Fermi momentum can be tuned by changing the filling factor of bosons, $ν_b = 1 -ν_f$. This tunability enables us to study the dilute limit $ν_b\ll 1$, which allows for a controlled and asymptotically exact calculation of the energy dispersion and effective mass of composite fermions. Furthermore, the approximation of the low-energy description by a commutative field theory is manifestly justified. Most importantly, we demonstrate gauge fluctuations acquire a Higgs mass due to the presence of a composite boson condensate, as a result of which the system behaves like a genuine Landau Fermi liquid. Combined with the irrelevance of four-fermion interaction in the dilute limit, we are able to obtain asymptotically exact properties of this composite fermion Fermi liquid. In the opposite limit of $ν_f\ll 1$, the Higgs mass goes to zero and we find crossover between Fermi liquid and non-Fermi liquid as temperature increases. Observing these properties either experimentally or numerically provides unambiguous evidence of not only the composite fermions and the Fermi surface they form, but also the presence of emergent gauge fields and their fluctuations due to strong correlation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Dynamics of Quantum Hall Interfaces

A quantum Hall (QH) interface is different from an ordinary QH edge, as the latter has its location determined by the confining potential, while the former can be unpinned and behave like a free string. In this paper, we demonstrate this difference by studying three different interfaces formed by (i) the Laughlin state and the vacuum, (ii) the Pfaffian state and the vacuum, and (iii) the Pfaffian and the anti-Pfaffian states. We find that string-like interfaces propagating freely in the QH system lead to very different dynamical properties from edges. This qualitative difference gives rise to fascinating new physics and suggests a new direction in future research on QH physics. We also discuss briefly possible analogies between QH interfaces and concepts in string theory.

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arXiv2021

Realization of supersymmetry and its spontaneous breaking in quantum Hall edges

Supersymmetry (SUSY) relating bosons and fermions plays an important role in unifying different fundamental interactions in particle physics. Since no superpartners of elementary particles have been observed, SUSY, if present, must be broken at low-energy. This makes it important to understand how SUSY is realized and broken, and study their consequences. We show that an $\mathcal{N}=(1,0)$ SUSY, arguably the simplest type, can be realized at the edge of the Moore-Read quantum Hall state. Depending on the absence or presence of edge reconstruction, both SUSY-preserving and SUSY broken phases can be realized in the same system, allowing for their unified description. The significance of the gapless fermionic Goldstino mode in the SUSY broken phase is discussed.

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arXiv2020

Multiphoton resonance and chiral transport in the generalized Rabi model

The generalized Rabi model (gRM) with both one- and two-photon coupling terms has been successfully implemented in circuit quantum electrodynamics systems. In this paper, we examine theoretically multiphoton resonances in the gRM and derive their effective Hamiltonians. With different detunings in the system, we show that all three- to six-photon resonances can be achieved by involving two intermediate states. Furthermore, we study the interplay between multiphoton resonance and chiral transport of photon Fock states in a resonator junction with broken time-reversal symmetry. Depending on the qubit-photon interaction and photon-hopping amplitude, we find that the system can demonstrate different short-time dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

PH-Pfaffian order in a translationally and rotationally invariant system

The PH-Pfaffian topological order has been proposed as a candidate order for the $ν=5/2$ quantum Hall effect. The PH-Pfaffian liquid is known to be the ground state in several coupled wire and coupled stripe constructions. No translationally and rotationally invariant models with the PH-Pfaffian ground state have been identified so far. By employing anyon condensation on top of a topological order, allowed in an isotropic system, we argue that the PH-Pfaffian order is possible in the presence of rotational and translational symmetries.

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arXiv2020

Thermal equilibration on the edges of topological liquids

Thermal conductance has emerged as a powerful probe of topological order in the quantum Hall effect and beyond. The interpretation of experiments crucially depends on the ratio of the sample size and the equilibration length, on which energy exchange among contra-propagating chiral modes becomes significant. We show that at low temperatures the equilibration length diverges as $1/T^2$ for almost all Abelian and non-Abelian topological orders. A faster $1/T^4$ divergence is present on the edges of the non-Abelian PH-Pfaffian and negative-flux Read-Rezayi liquids. We address experimental consequences of the $1/T^2$ and $1/T^4$ laws in a sample, shorter than the equilibration length.

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