arXiv subjects

Martin Claassen

Publications and source records attributed to Martin Claassen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum-Geometric Raman Response in Multiorbital Flat-Band Systems

Flat-band materials host rich collective phenomena, yet a complete theory of their signatures in inelastic light scattering remains lacking. While naive theories of interacting flat bands would predict that Raman scattering vertices vanish identically in the limit of vanishing dispersion, we show that this picture is incomplete upon including the multiorbital character of such systems. We show that virtual interband processes generate a finite subgap Raman vertex controlled by the quantum geometric tensor even in the strict flat-band limit. We develop a systematic perturbative theory for Raman scattering from flat bands in the limit where the photon energy is far from resonance with interband transitions. Treating interband Coulomb scattering and light-matter coupling on equal footing, we decompose the Raman scattering vertices into an interaction-independent geometric term expressible directly in terms of the quantum geometric tensor, together with effective resonant and non-resonant pieces generated by virtual interband Coulomb scattering. We then study the polarization-resolved Raman response from collective excitations of an interacting flat band with nontrivial quantum geometry, and demonstrate quantitative agreement of our framework with a full multi-orbital calculation at large photon detuning from interband transitions. These results establish quantum geometry as an intrinsic contribution to inelastic light scattering in flat-band systems, and suggest polarization-resolved Raman spectroscopy as a quantum geometry-sensitive probe of the collective excitations of correlated flat-band platforms.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Polarization-Resolved Photon Statistics of Cavity Quantum Materials

By forming hybrid light-matter states, optical cavities offer a route for engineering material properties, however, unambiguously probing the effects of light-matter coupling remains difficult. Here, we show that the polarization-resolved statistics of photons transmitted through a cavity, measurable via $g^{(2)}$, provide one such diagnostic. By relating $g^{(2)}$ to matter correlation functions such as the Raman structure factor, we link photon bunching and antibunching to material properties. By applying this method to the stripy-to-antiferromagnetic transition in the Kitaev-Heisenberg spin model, we find that polarization-dependent patterns of bunching and antibunching encode the magnetic point-group symmetries of each phase and characterize the behavior at the phase boundary. Finally, we predict measuring $g^{(2)}$ for output photon pairs polarized orthogonal to the input field will isolate higher-order light-matter scattering processes that probe higher-order material correlations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Extrinsic quantum geometry in the quadrupolar bulk photovoltaic effect

The bulk photovoltaic effect has become a valuable probe of the quantum geometry of Bloch bands. While it is restricted to inversion-broken systems within the dipole approximation, the finite momentum of light is appreciated to give rise to this effect even in centrosymmetric crystals, an effect referred to as "photon drag." In this work, we recast the photon drag effect at leading order in the optical wavevector, highlighting a previously neglected contribution arising intuitively from the electric quadrupole correction to light-matter coupling. In the language of band geometry, we identify this interband quadrupole as a multiband metric tensor that quantifies the variation of two resonantly driven states extrinsic to the subspace they span. We predict that systems in which three or more bands strongly admix in momentum space, such as twisted MoTe$_2$ bilayers, will have anomalously large photon drag due to this quadrupolar effect. Our work provides a conceptual bridge between band-geometric organizing principles and electromagnetic multipole corrections in nonlinear optics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Ultrastrong Coupling Signatures in Photon Statistics from Terahertz Higgs-Polaritons

The ultrastrong coupling regime of cavity photons and quantum materials has emerged as a pathway to modify materials properties, however definitive signatures of ultrastrong coupling remain elusive. Focusing on the quantum photon statistics of light transmitted through a cavity-embedded superconductor, we show that a two-photon Higgs polariton at strong coupling realizes a photonic nonlinearity at the single terahertz photon level. We find that as light-matter coupling increases, the photon statistics show pronounced changes due to the formation of a hybrid photon-matter dark-cavity state with finite photon occupancy, producing testable signatures of ultrastrong coupling. We derive a non-Markovian input output relation and study the cavity-embedded superconductor 2H-NbSe2 as it approaches ultrastrong light-matter coupling. Our results reveal a diagnostic for ultrastrong coupling in the two-photon coincidence statistics that is absent in total counts.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Fluctuation engineering in cavity quantum materials

Coupling tailored electromagnetic fluctuations to materials provides a resource for controlling correlated quantum matter. By structuring the frequency, spatial, and modal distribution of fluctuations through a new generation of cavity quantum materials, vacuum and thermal spectra can shift phase boundaries and stabilize or suppress orders. This review organizes the field around a fluctuation-focused perspective, surveying a practical design toolbox and recent milestones, and outlining theory-experiment challenges in realistic, multimode, beyond-long-wavelength regimes. We highlight photonic observables and map opportunities for equilibrium and driven control across superconducting, magnetic, moire, and topological platforms.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Quantum-geometry-driven Mott transitions and magnetism

Quantum geometry quantifies how the single-particle Bloch wavefunction changes in phase and amplitude across the Brillouin Zone. In multi-orbital systems where bands have strongly mixed orbital composition, quantum geometry plays a vital role in determining the ground state and low-energy properties of interacting electronic systems. In this work, we show that Mott metal-insulator transitions, as well as transitions between different magnetic orders within the Mott insulating phase, can be driven by the quantum geometry of the underlying Bloch band, thereby providing a mechanism complementary to conventional bandwidth-tuned Mott transitions. By studying the Kane-Mele-Hubbard model using exact diagonalization, we demonstrate that in in half-filled and topologically-trivial bands, quantum geometric properties of the Bloch states alone can act as a tuning knob for Mott metal-to-insulator and affect the competition between ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. We show that both transitions may be heuristically understood via non-local Coulomb scattering in a basis of exponentially localized Wannier functions. These results highlight the role of quantum geometry beyond topological settings as a governing principle for conventional Mott and magnetic physics in multi-orbital and moir\'e materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Lessons from $\alpha$-RuCl3 for pursuing quantum spin liquid physics in atomically thin materials

Quantum spin liquids can arise from Kitaev magnetic interactions, and exhibit fractionalized excitations with the potential for a topological form of quantum computation. This review surveys recent experimental and theoretical progress on the pursuit of phenomena related to Kitaev magnetism in layered and exfoliatable materials, which offer numerous opportunities to apply powerful techniques from the field of atomically thin materials. We primarily focus on the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator $\alpha$-RuCl3, which exhibits Kitaev couplings and is readily exfoliated to single- or few-layer sheets, and thus serves as a test bed for developing probes of Kitaev phenomena in atomically thin materials and devices. We introduce the Kitaev model and how it is realized in $\alpha$-RuCl3 and other material candidates; and cover $\alpha$-RuCl3 synthesis and fabrication into van der Waals heterostructure devices. A key discovery is a work-function-mediated charge transfer that heavily dopes both the $\alpha$-RuCl3 and proximate materials, and can enhance Kitaev interactions by up to 50%. We further discuss a wide range of recent results in electronic transport and optical and tunneling spectroscopies of $\alpha$-RuCl3 devices. The experimental techniques and theoretical insights developed for $\alpha$-RuCl3 establish a framework for discovering and engineering superior two-dimensional Kitaev materials that may ultimately realize elusive quantum spin liquid phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Probing the Quantum Geometry of Correlated Metals using Optical Conductivity

Recent studies have revealed that the quantum geometry of electronic bands determines the electromagnetic properties of non-interacting insulators and semimetals. However, the role of quantum geometry in the optical responses of interacting electron systems remains largely unexplored. Here we examine the interplay between Coulomb interactions and Bloch-band quantum geometry in clean metals. We demonstrate that the low-frequency optical conductivity of a correlated metal encodes the structure of Bloch wavefunctions at the Fermi surface. This response originates from integrating out highly off-resonant interband scattering processes enabled by Coulomb interactions. The resulting quantum-geometric contribution appears generically in multiband systems, but becomes the dominant effect in the optical conductivity for a parabolic band. We consider a dilute correlated metal near a topological band inversion and show that the doping dependence of optical absorption can measure how the orbital character of Bloch wavefunctions changes at the Fermi surface. Our results illustrate how the confluence of quantum geometry and Coulomb interactions can enable optical processes and enrich the physics of Fermi liquids.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Supercell Wannier Functions and Emergent Kondo Lattices in Topological Bands

Conventional theories for Mott insulators involve well-localized electronic orbitals. This picture fails in the presence of topological obstructions in Chern bands which prevent the formation of exponentially localized orbitals and are instead often viewed by analogy to Landau levels. Here, we show that strong interactions in fractionally-filled topological bands realize a class of Mott insulating states on emergent topological Kondo lattices. These can be naturally described by a partial Wannier basis of N-1 exponentially-localized orbitals for an N-band manifold with net non-zero Chern number. Choosing a gauge which breaks translation symmetry, we construct a supercell basis which segregates an isolated topological band into well-localized supercell Wannier orbitals that can host the local moments of a Mott insulating state, as well as an itinerant power-law-localized orbital that retains the topological obstruction. Together, they constitute a spontaneous Kondo lattice. We study fractionally-filled interacting quantum spin Hall bands in the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model as well as twisted bilayers of MoTe2 at -1/3 filling. We demonstrate that strong short-ranged Coulomb interactions can stabilize a new class of topological Mott insulating states with broken translation symmetry and antiferromagnetic order, which compete with fractional Chern insulating states. Our results predict a new scenario for time-reversal-symmetric interacting topological bands in solids, beyond conventional Landau level paradigms for the fractional quantum Hall effect.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Signatures of Floquet Engineering in the proximal Kitaev Quantum Spin Liquid H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$ by tr-RIXS

We present the first circularly polarized Floquet engineering time-resolved Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (tr-RIXS) experiment in H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$, an iridium-based Kitaev system. Our calculations and experimental results are consistent with the modification of the low energy magnetic excitations in H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$ only during illumination by the laser pulse, consistent with the Floquet engineering of the exchange interactions. However, the penetration length mismatch between the X-ray probe and laser pump and the intrinsic complexity of Kitaev magnets prevented us from unequivocally extracting towards which ground H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$ was driven. We outline possible solutions to these challenges for Floquet stabilization and observation of the Kitaev Quantum Spin Liquid limit by RIXS.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

2D Theoretically Twistable Material Database

The study of twisted two-dimensional (2D) materials, where twisting layers create moir\'e superlattices, has opened new opportunities for investigating topological phases and strongly correlated physics. While systems such as twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) and twisted transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been extensively studied, the broader potential of a seemingly infinite set of other twistable 2D materials remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we define "theoretically twistable materials" as single- or multi-layer structures that allow for the construction of simple continuum models of their moir\'e structures. This excludes, for example, materials with a "spaghetti" of bands or those with numerous crossing points at the Fermi level, for which theoretical moir\'e modeling is unfeasible. We present a high-throughput algorithm that systematically searches for theoretically twistable semimetals and insulators based on the Topological 2D Materials Database. By analyzing key electronic properties, we identify thousands of new candidate materials that could host rich topological and strongly correlated phenomena when twisted. We propose representative twistable materials for realizing different types of moir\'e systems, including materials with different Bravais lattices, valleys, and strength of spin-orbital coupling. We provide examples of crystal growth for several of these materials and showcase twisted bilayer band structures along with simplified twisted continuum models. Our results significantly broaden the scope of moir\'e heterostructures and provide a valuable resource for future experimental and theoretical studies on novel moir\'e systems.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Many-Body Photon Blockade and Quantum Light Generation from Cavity Quantum Materials

The strong coupling regime of photons and quantum materials inside optical cavities has emerged as a promising environment for manipulating states of matter with light. Here, in turn, we show that photons bear witness to cavity quantum-electrodynamical modifications of the material, leading to profoundly non-classical properties of light passing through the cavity. By generalizing quantum-optical input-output relations to correlated quantum materials, we study the second-order photon coherence g2(t) and demonstrate that antibunching of transmitted photons serves as direct evidence of light-induced changes to the cavity-embedded material. We show that materials near a quantum critical point can realize a collective many-body photon blockade, enabling the generation of single photons or Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pairs via leveraging strong matter fluctuations. Our findings provide new routes for interrogating and harnessing cavity-embedded quantum materials as quantum light sources, as a resource for photon-based computation and quantum sensing.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Intertwined Superconductivity and Magnetism from Repulsive Interactions in Kondo Bilayers

While superconductors are conventionally established by attractive interactions, higher-temperature mechanisms for emergent electronic pairing from strong repulsive electron-electron interactions remain under considerable scrutiny. Here, we establish a strong-coupling mechanism for intertwined superconductivity and magnetic order from purely repulsive interactions in a Kondo-like bilayer system, composed of a two-dimensional Mott insulator coupled to a layer of weakly-interacting itinerant electrons. Combining large scale DMRG and Monte Carlo simulations, we find that superconductivity persists and coexists with magnetism over a wide range of interlayer couplings. We classify the resulting rich phase diagram and find 2-rung antiferromagnetic and 4-rung antiferromagnetic order in one-dimensional systems along with a phase separation regime, while finding that superconductivity coexists with either antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic order in two dimensions. Remarkably, the model permits a rigorous strong-coupling analysis via localized spins coupled to charge-2e bosons through Kugel-Khomskii interactions, capturing the pairing mechanism in the presence of magnetism due to emergent attractive interactions. Our numerical analysis reveals that pairing remains robust well beyond the strong-coupling regime, establishing a new mechanism for superconductivity in coupled weakly- and strongly-interacting electron systems, relevant for infinite-layer nickelates and superconductivity in moire multilayer heterostructures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Engineering 2D square lattice Hubbard models in 90$^\circ$ twisted Ge/SnX (X=S, Se) moir\'e supperlattices

Due to the large-period superlattices emerging in moire two-dimensional (2D) materials, electronic states in such systems exhibit low energy flat bands that can be used to simulate strongly correlated physics in a highly tunable setup. While many investigations have thus far focused on moire flat bands and emergent correlated electron physics in triangular, honeycomb and quasi-one-dimensional lattices, tunable moire realizations of square lattices subject to strong correlations remain elusive. Here we propose a feasible scheme to construct moire square lattice systems by twisting two or more layers of 2D materials in a rectangular lattice by 90 degrees. We demonstrate the concept with twisted GeX/SnX (X=S, Se) moire superlattices and calculate their electronic structures from first principles. We show that the lowest conduction flat band in these systems can be described by a square lattice Hubbard model with parameters which can be controlled by varying the choice of host materials, number of layers, and external electric fields. In particular, twisted double bilayer GeSe realizes a square lattice Hubbard model with strong frustration due to the next nearest neighbour hopping that could host unconventional superconductivity{, in close analogy to the Hubbard model for copper-oxygen planes of cuprate high-temperature superconductors}. The presented scheme uses 90-degree twisted 2D materials with rectangular unit cells as a promising platform for realizing the physical phenomena of square lattice Hubbard models, establishing a new route for studying its rich phase diagram of magnetism, charge order, and unconventional superconductivity in a highly tunable setting.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Linear and Non-Linear Response of Quadratic Lindbladians

Quadratic Lindbladians encompass a rich class of dissipative electronic and bosonic quantum systems, which have been predicted to host new and exotic physics. In this study, we develop a Lindblad-Keldysh spectroscopic response formalism for open quantum systems that elucidates their steady-state response properties and dissipative phase transitions via finite-frequency linear and non-linear probes. As illustrative examples, we utilize this formalism to calculate the (1) density and dynamic spin susceptibilities of a boundary driven XY model at and near criticality, (2) linear and non-linear optical responses in Bernal bilayer graphene coupled to dissipative leads, and (3) steady state susceptibilities in a bosonic optical lattice. We find that the XY model spin density wavelength diverges with critical exponent 1/2, and there are gapless dispersive modes in the dynamic spin response that originate from the underlying spin density wave order; additionally the dispersing modes of the weak and ultra-strong dissipation limits exhibit a striking correspondence since the boundary dissipators couple only weakly to the bulk in both cases. In the optical response of the Bernal bilayer, we find that the diamagnetic response can decrease with increasing occupation, as opposed to in closed systems where the response increases monotonically with occupation; we study the effect of second harmonic generation and shift current and find that these responses, forbidden in centrosymmetric closed systems, can manifest in these open systems as a result of dissipation. We compare this formalism to its equilibrium counterpart and draw analogies between these non-interacting open systems and strongly interacting closed systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Entanglement and Topology in Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics

Cavity materials are a frontier to investigate the role of light-matter interactions on the properties of electronic phases of matter. In this work, we raise a fundamental question: can non-local interactions mediated by cavity photons destabilize a topological electronic phase? We investigate this question by characterizing entanglement, energy spectrum and correlation functions of the topological Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain interacting with an optical cavity mode. Employing density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) and exact diagonalization (ED), we demonstrate the stability of the edge state and establish an area law scaling for the ground state entanglement entropy, despite long-range correlations induced by light-matter interactions. These features are linked to gauge invariance and the scaling of virtual photon excitations entangled with matter, effectively computed in a low-dimensional Krylov subspace of the full Hilbert space. This work provides a framework for characterizing novel equilibrium phenomena in topological cavity materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Angle-Resolved Pair Photoemission Theory for Correlated Electrons

In this paper we consider the possibility and conditions for pair photoemission whereby two incident photons emit pairs of electrons from a candidate material as a novel method to measure and visualize electronic correlations. As opposed to double photoemission - where a single photon precipitates the ejection of a pair electrons via a subsequent electron energy loss scattering process - we show that pair photoemission need not be limited to interference between initial photoelectrons and valence electrons, and moreover, can occur without the energy penalty of two work functions. This enables detection of pairs of electrons at high energy resolution that may be correlated in the same quantum many-body states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Light-induced switching between singlet and triplet superconducting states

While the search for topological triplet-pairing superconductivity has remained a challenge, recent developments in optically stabilizing metastable superconducting states suggest a new route to realizing this elusive phase. Here, we devise a testable theory of competing superconducting orders that permits ultrafast switching to an opposite-parity superconducting phase in centrosymmetric crystals with strong spin-orbit coupling. Using both microscopic and phenomenological models, we show that dynamical inversion symmetry breaking with a tailored light pulse can induce odd-parity (spin triplet) order parameter oscillations in a conventional even-parity (spin singlet) superconductor, which when driven strongly can send the system to a competing minimum in its free energy landscape. Our results provide new guiding principles for engineering unconventional electronic phases using light, suggesting a fundamentally non-equilibrium route toward realizing topological superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗