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M. Cristina Diamantini

Publications and source records attributed to M. Cristina Diamantini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Bose metals, from prediction to realization

Bose metals are metals made of Cooper pairs, which form at very low temperatures in superconducting films and Josephson junction arrays as an intermediate phase between superconductivity and superinsulation. We predicted the existence of this 2D metallic phase of bosons in the mid 90s, showing that they arise due to topological quantum effects. The observation of Bose metals in perfectly regular Josephson junction arrays fully confirms our original prediction and rules out alternative models based on disorder. Here, we review the basic mechanism leading to Bose metals. The key points are that the relevant vortices in granular superconductors are core-less, mobile XY vortices which can tunnel through the system due to quantum phase slips, that there is no charge-phase commutation relation preventing such vortices to be simultaneously out of condensate with charges, and that out-of-condensate charges and vortices are subject to topological mutual statistics interactions, a quantum effect that dominates at low temperatures. These repulsive mutual statistics interactions are sufficient to increase the energy of the Cooper pairs and lift them out of condensate. The result is a topological ground state in which charge conduction along edges and vortex movement across them organize themselves so as to generate the observed metallic saturation at low temperatures. This state is known today as a bosonic topological insulator.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2018

Confinement and Asymptotic Freedom with Cooper pairs

One of the most profound aspects of the standard model of particle physics, the mechanism of confinement binding quarks into hadrons, is not sufficiently understood. The only known semiclassical mechanism of confinement, mediated by chromo-electric strings in a condensate of magnetic monopoles still lacks experimental evidence. Here we show that the infinite resistance superinsulating state, which emerges on the insulating side of the superconductor-insulator transition in superconducting films offers a realization of confinement that allows for a direct experimental access. We find that superinsulators realize a single-color version of quantum chromodynamics and establish the mapping of quarks onto Cooper pairs. We reveal that the mechanism of superinsulation is the linear binding of Cooper pairs into neutral "mesons" by electric strings. Our findings offer a powerful laboratory for exploring and testing the fundamental implications of confinement, asymptotic freedom, and related quantum chromodynamics phenomena via desktop experiments on superconductors.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

The superconductor-superinsulator transition: S-duality and QCD on the desktop

We show that the nature of quantum phases around the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) is controlled by charge-vortex topological interactions and does not depend on the details of material parameters and disorder. We find three distinct phases, superconductor, superinsulator and bosonic topological insulator. The superinsulator is a state of matter with infinite resistance in a finite temperature range, which is the S-dual of the superconductor and in which charge transport is prevented by electric strings binding charges of opposite sign. The electric strings ensuring linear confinement of charges are generated by instantons and are dual to superconducting Abrikosov vortices. Material parameters and disorder enter the London penetration depth of the superconductor, the string tension of the superinsulator and the quantum fluctuation parameter driving the transition between them. They are entirely encoded in four phenomenological parameters of a topological gauge theory of the SIT. Finally, we point out that, in the context of strong coupling gauge theories, the many-body localization phenomenon that is often referred to as an underlying mechanism for superinsulation is a mere transcription of the well-known phenomenon of confinement into solid state physics language and is entirely driven by endogenous disorder embodied by instantons with no need of exogenous disorder.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2018

Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman criticality of 3D superinsulators

It has been believed that the superinsulating state which is the low-temperature charge Berezinskii-Kosterlitz- Thouless (BKT) phase can exist only in two dimensions. We develop a general gauge description of the su- perinsulating state and the related deconfinement transition of Cooper pairs and predict the existence of the superinsulating state in three dimensions (3d). We find that 3d superinsulators exhibit Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) critical behavior at the phase transition. This is the 3d string analogue of the Berezinski-Kosterlitz- Thouless (BKT) criticality for logarithmically and linearly interacting point particles in 2d. Our results show that singular exponential scaling behaviors of the BKT type are generic for phase transitions associated with the condensation of topological excitations.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2017

Emergent Higgsless Superconductivity

We present a new Higgsless model of superconductivity, inspired from anyon superconductivity but P- and T-invariant and generalizable to any dimension. While the original anyon superconductivity mechanism was based on incompressible quantum Hall fluids as average field states, our mechanism involves topological insulators as average field states. In D space dimensions it involves a (D-1)-form fictitious pseudovector gauge field which originates from the condensation of topological defects in compact low-energy effective BF theories. There is no massive Higgs scalar as there is no local order parameter. When electromagnetism is switched on, the photon acquires mass by the topological BF mechanism. Although the charge of the gapless mode (2) and the topological order (4) are the same as those of the standard Higgs model, the two models of superconductivity are clearly different since the origins of the gap, reflected in the high-energy sectors are totally different. In 2D this type of superconductivity is explicitly realized as global superconductivity in Josephson junction arrays. In 3D this model predicts a possible phase transition from topological insulators to Higgsless superconductors.

hep-th↗
arXiv2016

Landauer Bound for Analog Computing Systems

By establishing a relation between information erasure and continuous phase transitions we generalise the Landauer bound to analog computing systems. The entropy production per degree of freedom during erasure of an analog variable (reset to standard value) is given by the logarithm of the configurational volume measured in units of its minimal quantum. As a consequence every computation has to be carried on with a finite number of bits and infinite precision is forbidden by the fundamental laws of physics, since it would require an infinite amount of energy.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2015

High-Capacity Quantum Associative Memories

We review our models of quantum associative memories that represent the "quantization" of fully coupled neural networks like the Hopfield model. The idea is to replace the classical irreversible attractor dynamics driven by an Ising model with pattern-dependent weights by the reversible rotation of an input quantum state onto an output quantum state consisting of a linear superposition with probability amplitudes peaked on the stored pattern closest to the input in Hamming distance, resulting in a high probability of measuring a memory pattern very similar to the input. The unitary operator implementing this transformation can be formulated as a sequence of one-qubit and two-qubit elementary quantum gates and is thus the exponential of an ordered quantum Ising model with sequential operations and with pattern-dependent interactions, exactly as in the classical case. Probabilistic quantum memories, that make use of postselection of the measurement result of control qubits, overcome the famed linear storage limitation of their classical counterparts because they permit to completely {\it eliminate crosstalk and spurious memories}. The number of control qubits plays the role of an inverse fictitious temperature, the accuracy of pattern retrieval can be tuned by lowering the fictitious temperature under a critical value for quantum content association while the complexity of the retrieval algorithm remains polynomial for any number of patterns polynomial in the number of qubits. These models solve thus the capacity shortage problem of classical associative memories, providing a {\it polynomial improvement} in capacity. The price to pay is the probabilistic nature of information retrieval.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2015

4D Topological Mass by Gauging Spin

We propose a spin gauge field theory in which the curl of a Dirac fermion current density plays the role of the pseudovector charge density. In this field-theoretic model, spin interactions are mediated by a single scalar gauge boson in its antisymmetric tensor formulation. We show that these long range spin interactions induce a gauge invariant photon mass in the one-loop effective action. The fermion loop generates a coupling between photons and the spin gauge boson, which acquires thus charge. This coupling represents also an induced, gauge invariant, topological mass for the photons, leading to the Meissner effect. The one-loop effective equations of motion for the charged spin gauge boson are the London equations. We propose thus spin gauge interactions as an alternative, topological mechanism for superconductivity in which no spontaneous symmetry breaking is involved.

hep-th↗
arXiv2014

Higgsless superconductivity from topological defects in compact BF terms

We present a new Higgsless model of superconductivity, inspired from anyon superconductivity but P- and T-invariant and generalizable to any dimension. While the original anyon superconductivity mechanism was based on incompressible quantum Hall fluids as average field states, our mechanism involves topological insulators as average field states. In D space dimensions it involves a (D-1)-form fictitious pseudovector gauge field which originates from the condensation of topological defects in compact low-energy effective BF theories. In the average field approximation, the corresponding uniform emergent charge creates a gap for the (D-2)-dimensional branes via the Magnus force, the dual of the Lorentz force. One particular combination of intrinsic and emergent charge fluctuations that leaves the total charge distribution invariant constitutes an isolated gapless mode leading to superfluidity. The remaining massive modes organise themselves into a D-dimensional charged, massive vector. There is no massive Higgs scalar as there is no local order parameter. When electromagnetism is switched on, the photon acquires mass by the topological BF mechanism. Although the charge of the gapless mode (2) and the topological order (4) are the same as those of the standard Higgs model, the two models of superconductivity are clearly different since the origins of the gap, reflected in the high-energy sectors are totally different. In 2D this type of superconductivity is explicitly realized as global superconductivity in Josephson junction arrays. In 3D this model predicts a possible phase transition from topological insulators to Higgsless superconductors.

hep-th↗
arXiv2014

Gauge Invariant Photon Mass Induced by Vortex Gauge Interactions

We propose a vortex gauge field theory in which the curl of a Dirac fermion current density plays the role of the pseudovector charge density. In this field-theoretic model, vortex interactions are mediated by a single scalar gauge boson in its antisymmetric tensor formulation. We show that these long range vortex interactions induce a gauge invariant photon mass in the one-loop effective action. The fermion loop generates a coupling between photons and the vortex gauge boson, which acquires thus charge. This coupling represents also an induced, gauge invariant, topological mass for the photons, leading to the Meissner effect. The one-loop effective equations of motion for the charged vortex gauge boson are the London equations. We propose thus vortex gauge interactions as an alternative, topological mechanism for superconductivity in which no spontaneous symmetry breaking is involved.

hep-th↗
arXiv2012

Minimal Models for a Superconductor-Insulator Conformal Quantum Phase Transition

Conformal field theories do not only classify 2D classical critical behavior but they also govern a certain class of 2D quantum critical behavior. In this latter case it is the ground state wave functional of the quantum theory that is conformally invariant, rather than the classical action. We show that the superconducting-insulating (SI) quantum phase transition in 2D Josephson junction arrays (JJAs) is a (doubled) $c=1$ Gaussian conformal quantum critical point. The quantum action describing this system is a doubled Maxwell-Chern-Simons model in the strong coupling limit. We also argue that the SI quantum transitions in frustrated JJAs realize the other possible universality classes of conformal quantum critical behavior, corresponding to the unitary minimal models at central charge $c=1-6/m(m+1)$.

hep-th↗
arXiv2012

From topological insulators to superconductors and Confinement

Topological matter in 3D is characterized by the presence of a topological BF term in its long-distance effective action. We show that, in 3D, there is another marginal term that must be added to the action in order to fully determine the physical content of the model. The quantum phase structure is governed by three parameters that drive the condensation of topological defects: the BF coupling, the electric permittivity and the magnetic permeability of the material. For intermediate levels of electric permittivity and magnetic permeability the material is a topological insulator. We predict, however, new states of matter when these parameters cross critical values: a topological superconductor when electric permittivity is increased and magnetic permeability is lowered and a charge confinement phase in the opposite case of low electric permittivity and high magnetic permeability. Synthetic topological matter may be fabricated as 3D arrays of Josephson junctions.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2012

Charge Spin Separation in 3D

Electron fractionalization into spinons and chargeons plays a crucial role in 2D models of strongly correlated electrons. In this paper we show that spin-charge separation is not a phenomenon confined to lower dimensions but, rather, we present a field-theoretic model in which it is realized in 3D. The model involves two gauge fields, a standard one and a two-form gauge field. The physical picture is that of a two-fluid model of chargeons and spinons interacting by the topological BF term. When a Higgs mechanism of the second kind for the two-form gauge field takes place, chargeons and spinons are bound together into a charge 1 particle with spin 1/2. The mechanism is the same one that gives spin to quarks bound into mesons in non-critical string theories and involves the self-intersection number of surfaces in 4D space-time. A state with free chargeons and spinons is a topological insulator. When chargeons condense, the system becomes a topological superconductor; a condensate of spinons, instead realizes U(1) charge confinement.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2010

Characterizing Topological Order in Superconducting Systems

Two established frameworks account for the onset of a gap in a superconducting system: one is based on spontaneous symmetry breaking via the Anderson-Higgs-Kibble mechanism, and the other is based on the recently developed paradigm of topological order. We show that, on manifolds with non trivial topology, both mechanisms yield a degeneracy of the ground state arising only from the {\it incompressibility} induced by the presence of a gap. We compute the topological entanglement entropy of a topological superconductor and argue that its measure allows to {\it distinguish} between the two mechanisms of generating a superconducting gap.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2010

Topological Quantum Phase Transitions in Topological Superconductors

In this paper we show that BF topological superconductors (insulators) exibit phase transitions between different topologically ordered phases characterized by different ground state degeneracy on manifold with non-trivial topology. These phase transitions are induced by the condensation (or lack of) of topological defects. We concentrate on the (2+1)-dimensional case where the BF model reduce to a mixed Chern-Simons term and we show that the superconducting phase has a ground state degeneracy $k$ and not $k^2$. When the symmetry is $U(1) \times U(1)$, namely when both gauge fields are compact, this model is not equivalent to the sum of two Chern-Simons term with opposite chirality, even if naively diagonalizable. This is due to the fact that U(1) symmetry requires an ultraviolet regularization that make the diagonalization impossible. This can be clearly seen using a lattice regularization, where the gauge fields become angular variables. Moreover we will show that the phase in which both gauge fields are compact is not allowed dynamically.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2006

Quantum Pattern Retrieval by Qubit Networks with Hebb Interactions

Qubit networks with long-range interactions inspired by the Hebb rule can be used as quantum associative memories. Starting from a uniform superposition, the unitary evolution generated by these interactions drives the network through a quantum phase transition at a critical computation time, after which ferromagnetic order guarantees that a measurement retrieves the stored memory. The maximum memory capacity p of these qubit networks is reached at a memory density p/n=1.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2006

Superconducting Topological Fluids in Josephson Junction Arrays

We argue that the frustrated Josephson junction arrays may support a topologically ordered superconducting ground state, characterized by a non-trivial ground state degeneracy on the torus. This superconducting quantum fluid provides an explicit example of a system in which superconductivity arises from a topological mechanism rather than from the usual Landau-Ginzburg mechanism.

cond-mat.supr-con↗