arXiv subjects

Kun Yang

Publications and source records attributed to Kun Yang.

At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Superfluid-Insulator Transition and Fermion Pairing in Bose-Fermi Mixtures

It is well known that bosons on an optical lattice undergo a second-order superfluid-insulator transition (SIT) when the lattice potential increases. In this paper we study SIT when fermions coexist with the bosons. We find that the critical properties of particle-hole symmetric SIT with dynamical exponent z=1 is modified when fermions are present; it either becomes a fluctuation-driven first order transition or a different second-order transition. On the other hand the more generic particle-hole asymmetric (with z=2) SIT is stable against coupling with fermions. We also discuss pairing interaction between fermions mediated by quantum critical fluctuations near SIT.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Quantum Hall Transition near a Fermion Feshbach Resonance in a Rotating Trap

We consider two-species of fermions in a rotating trap that interact via an s-wave Feshbach resonance, at total Landau level filling factor two (or one for each species). We show that the system undergoes a quantum phase transition from a fermion integer quantum Hall state to a boson fractional quantum Hall state as the pairing interaction strength increases, with the transition occurring near the resonance. The effective field theory for the transition is shown to be that of a (emergent) massless relativistic bosonic field coupled to a Chern-Simons gauge field, with the coupling giving rise to semionic statistics to the emergent particles.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Infinite-Randomness Fixed Points for Chains of Non-Abelian Quasiparticles

One-dimensional chains of non-Abelian quasiparticles described by $SU(2)_k$ Chern-Simons-Witten theory can enter random singlet phases analogous to that of a random chain of ordinary spin-1/2 particles (corresponding to $k \to \infty$). For $k=2$ this phase provides a random singlet description of the infinite randomness fixed point of the critical transverse field Ising model. The entanglement entropy of a region of size $L$ in these phases scales as $S_L \simeq \frac{\ln d}{3} \log_2 L$ for large $L$, where $d$ is the quantum dimension of the particles.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking and Quantum Hall Effect in Graphene

In this article we briefly review recent experimental and theoretical work on quantum Hall effect in graphene, and argue that some of the quantum Hall states exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking that is driven by electron-electron interaction. We will also discuss how to experimentally determine the actual manner in which symmetry breaking occurs, and detect the collective charge and neutral excitations associated with symmetry breaking. Other issues will also be briefly mentioned.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Realization, Characterization, and Detection of Novel Superfluid Phases with Pairing between Unbalanced Fermion Species

In this chapter we review recent experimental and theoretical work on various novel superfluid phases in fermion systems, that result from pairing fermions of different species with unequal densities. After briefly reviewing existing experimental work in superconductors subject to a strong magnetic field and trapped cold fermionic atom systems, we discuss how to characterize the possible pairing phases based on their symmetry properties, and the structure/topology of the Fermi surface(s) formed by the unpaired fermions due to the density imbalance. We also discuss possible experimental probes that can be used to directly detect the structure of the superfluid order parameter in superconductors and trapped cold atom systems, which may establish the presence of some of these phases unambiguously.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Edge Excitations and Non-Abelian Statistics in the Moore-Read State: A Numerical Study in the Presence of Coulomb Interaction and Edge Confinement

We study the ground state and low-energy excitations of fractional quantum Hall systems on a disk at filling fraction $ν= 5/2$, with Coulomb interaction and background confining potential. We find the Moore-Read ground state is stable within a finite but narrow window in parameter space. The corresponding low-energy excitations contain a fermionic branch and a bosonic branch, with widely different velocities. A short-range repulsive potential can stabilize a charge $+e/4$ quasihole at the center, leading to a different edge excitation spectrum due to the change of boundary conditions for Majorana fermions, clearly indicating the non-Abelian nature of the quasihole.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Collective Modes and Skyrmion Excitations in Graphene SU(4) Quantum Hall Ferromagnets

Graphene exhibits quantum Hall ferromagnetism in which an approximate SU(4) symmetry involving spin and valley degrees of freedom is spontaneously broken. We construct a set of integer and fractional quantum Hall states that break the SU(4) spin/valley symmetry, and study their neutral and charged excitations. Several properties of these ferromagnets can be evaluated analytically in the SU(4) symmetric limit, including the full collective mode spectrum at integer fillings. By constructing explicit wave functions we show that the lowest energy skyrmion states carry charge $\pm 1$ for {\em any} integer filling, and that skyrmions are the lowest energy charged excitations for graphene Landau level index $|n| \le 3$. We also show that the skyrmion lattice states which occur near integer filling factors support four gapless collective mode branches in the presence of full SU(4) symmetry. Comparisons are made with the more familiar SU(2) quantum Hall ferromagnets studied previously.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Conductance characteristics between a normal metal and a two-dimensional Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov superconductor: the Fulde-Ferrell state

The Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state has received renewed interest recently due to the experimental indication of its presence in CeCoIn$_5$, a quasi 2-dimensional (2D) d-wave superconductor. However direct evidence of the spatial variation of the superconducting order parameter, which is the hallmark of the FFLO state, does not yet exist. In this work we explore the possibility of detecting the phase structure of the order parameter directly using conductance spectroscopy through micro-constrictions, which probes the phase sensitive surface Andreev bound states of d-wave superconductors. We employ the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism to calculate the conductance characteristics between a normal metal (N) and a 2D $s$- or $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductor in the Fulde-Ferrell state, for all barrier parameter $z$ from the point contact limit ($z=0$) to the tunneling limit ($z \gg 1$). We find that the zero-bias conductance peak due to these surface Andreev bound states observed in the uniform d-wave superconductor is split and shifted in the Fulde-Ferrell state. We also clarify what weighted bulk density of states is measured by the conductance in the limit of large $z$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Quantum criticality of a Fermi gas with a spherical dispersion minimum

We describe the quantum phase transition of a Fermi gas occurring when the quasiparticle excitation energy has a minimum in momentum space which crosses zero on a sphere of radius k_0 \neq 0. The quasiparticles have a universal interaction which controls the physical properties in vicinity of the quantum critical point. We discuss applications to fermionic superfluids formed by pairing two fermion species, near the point where the densities of the two species become unequal.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Fermi surfaces and Luttinger's theorem in paired fermion systems

We discuss ground state properties of a mixture of two fermion species which can bind to form a molecular boson. When the densities of the fermions are unbalanced, one or more Fermi surfaces can appear: we describe the constraints placed by Luttinger's theorem on the volumes enclosed by these surfaces in such Bose-Fermi mixtures. We also discuss the nature of the quantum phase transitions involving changes in the number of Fermi surfaces.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Realization and Detection of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov Superfluid Phases in Trapped Atomic Fermion Systems

In a very interesting recent Letter\cite{machida}, the authors suggested the possibility of realizing the spatially modulated, or Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) superfluid state in trapped atomic fermion systems. The authors this Letter used a 1D mean field solution as guidance to estimate the parameter range for the existence of the FFLO phase, and also discussed the possibility of its detection by imaging the atomic density of the system. In this comment I wish to make two points. (i) In 1D there exists an exact solution based on bosonization, which fully takes into account the important quantum fluctuation effects\cite{yang01}; the exact solution suggests a wider parameter range for the FFLO state than that obtained from the mean-field solution of the present Letter. (ii) One can detect the FFLO pairing (in which Cooper pairs carry finite momenta) more directly by extending the methods used to detect BCS pairing\cite{regal,altman,greiner}.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Quantum Liquid Crystal Phases in Fermionic Superfluids with Pairing between Fermion Species of Unequal Densities

Superfluidity in fermionic systems originates from pairing of fermions, and Bose condensation of these so-called Cooper pairs. The Cooper pairs are usually made of fermions of different species; for example in superconductors they are pairs of electrons with opposite spins. Thus the most favorable situation for pairing and superfluidity is when the two species of fermions that form pairs have the same density. This paper studies the possible superfluid states when the two pairing species have different densities, and show that the resultant states have remarkable similarities to the phases of liquid crystals. This enables us to provide a unified description of the possible pairing phases, and understand the phase transitions among them.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Effects of Quantum Hall Edge Reconstruction on Momenum-Resolved Tunneling

During the reconstruction of the edge of a quantum Hall liquid, Coulomb interaction energy is lowered through the change in the structure of the edge. We use theory developed earlier by one of the authors [K. Yang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 036802 (2003)] to calculate the electron spectral functions of a reconstructed edge, and study the consequences of the edge reconstruction for the momentum-resolved tunneling into the edge. It is found that additional excitation modes that appear after the reconstruction produce distinct features in the energy and momentum dependence of the spectral function, which can be used to detect the presence of edge reconstruction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Electron Spectral Functions of Reconstructed Quantum Hall Edges

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Dynamics of weakly coupled random antiferromagnetic quantum spin chains

We study the low-energy collective excitations and dynamical response functions of weakly coupled random antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chains. The interchain coupling leads to Neel order at low temperatures. We use the real-space renormalization group technique to tackle the intrachain couplings and treat the interchain couplings within the Random Phase Approximation (RPA). We show that the system supports collective spin wave excitations, and calculate the spin wave velocity and spectra weight within RPA. Comparisons will be made with inelastic neutron scattering experiments quasi-one-dimensional disordered spin systems such as doped CuGeO$_3$

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2005

Mobility gap in fractional quantum Hall liquids: Effects of disorder and layer thickness

We study the behavior of two-dimensional electron gas in the fractional quantum Hall regime in the presence of finite layer thickness and correlated disordered potential. Generalizing the Chern number calculation to many-body systems, we determine the mobility gaps of fractional quantum Hall states based on the distribution of Chern numbers in a microscopic model. We find excellent agreement between experimentally measured activation gaps and our calculated mobility gaps, when combining the effects of both disordered potential and layer thickness. We clarify the difference between mobility gap and spectral gap of fractional quantum Hall states and explain the disorder-driven collapse of the gap and the subsequent transitions from the fractional quantum Hall states to insulator.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Quantum Theory of Pomeranchuck Transition in Two Dimensional Fermi Liquids via High Dimensional Bosonization

We use high dimensional bosonization to derive an effective field theory that describes the Pomeranchuck transition in two-dimensional Fermi liquids. The bosonization approach explicitly retains all low-energy degrees of freedom of the system. The resultant theory has dynamical exponent z=2 at tree level and upper critical dimension d_c=2, thus in 2D the system is at the upper critical dimension. These results differ from those of an earlier study based on integrating out fermions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Numerical study of spin quantum Hall transitions in superconductors with broken time-reversal symmetry

We present results of numerical studies of spin quantum Hall transitions in disordered superconductors, in which the pairing order parameter breaks time-reversal symmetry. We focus mainly on p-wave superconductors in which one of the spin components is conserved. The transport properties of the system are studied by numerically diagonalizing pairing Hamiltonians on a lattice, and by calculating the Chern and Thouless numbers of the quasiparticle states. We find that in the presence of disorder, (spin-)current carrying states exist only at discrete critical energies in the thermodynamic limit, and the spin-quantum Hall transition driven by an external Zeeman field has the same critical behavior as the usual integer quantum Hall transition of non-interacting electrons. These critical energies merge and disappear as disorder strength increases, in a manner similar to those in lattice models for integer quantum Hall transition.

cond-mat.supr-con↗