arXiv subjects

Matteo Baggioli

Publications and source records attributed to Matteo Baggioli.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Chiral magnetic waves in strongly coupled Weyl semimetals

Propagating chiral magnetic waves (CMW) are expected to exist in chiral plasmas due to the interplay between the chiral magnetic and chiral separation effects induced by the presence of a chiral anomaly. Unfortunately, it was pointed out that, because of the effects of electric conductivity and dissipation, CMW are overdamped and therefore their signatures are unlikely to be seen in heavy-ion collision experiments and in the quark gluon plasma. Nonetheless, the chiral anomaly plays a fundamental role in Weyl semimetals and their anomalous transport properties as well. Hence, CMW could be potentially observed in topological semimetals using table-top experiments. By using a holographic model for strongly coupled Weyl semimetals, we investigate in detail the nature of CMW in presence of Coulomb interactions and axial charge relaxation and estimate whether, and in which regimes, CMW could be observed as underdamped collective excitations in topological materials.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Engineering flat bands in twisted-bilayer graphene away from the magic angle with chiral optical cavities

Twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) is a recently discovered two-dimensional superlattice structure which exhibits strongly-correlated quantum many-body physics, including strange metallic behavior and unconventional superconductivity. Most of TBG exotic properties are connected to the emergence of a pair of isolated and topological flat electronic bands at the so-called magic angle, $θ\approx 1.05^{\circ}$, which are nevertheless very fragile. In this work, we show that, by employing chiral optical cavities, the topological flat bands can be stabilized away from the magic angle in an interval of approximately $0.8^{\circ}<θ<1.3^{\circ}$. As highlighted by a simplified theoretical model, time reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB), induced by the chiral nature of the cavity, plays a fundamental role in flattening the isolated bands and gapping out the rest of the spectrum. Additionally, TRSB suppresses the Berry curvature and induces a topological phase transition, with a gap closing at the $Γ$ point, towards a band structure with two isolated flat bands with Chern number equal to $0$. The efficiency of the cavity is discussed as a function of the twisting angle, the light-matter coupling and the optical cavity characteristic frequency. Our results demonstrate the possibility of engineering flat bands in TBG using optical devices, extending the onset of strongly-correlated topological electronic phases in moiré superlattices to a wider range in the twisting angle.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

On the temperature dependence of the density of states of liquids at low energies

We report neutron-scattering measurements of the density of states (DOS) of water and liquid Fomblin in a wide range of temperatures. In the liquid phase, we confirm the presence of a universal low-energy linear scaling of the experimental DOS as a function of the frequency, $g(ω)= a(T) ω$, which persists at all temperatures. The low-frequency scaling of the DOS exhibits a sharp jump at the melting point of water, below which the standard Debye's law, $g(ω) \propto ω^2$, is recovered. On the contrary, in Fomblin, we observe a continuous transition between the two exponents reflecting its glassy dynamics, which is confirmed by structure measurements. More importantly, in both systems, we find that the slope $a(T)$ grows with temperature following an exponential Arrhenius-like form, $a(T) \propto \exp(-\langle E \rangle /T)$. We confirm this experimental trend using molecular dynamics simulations and show that the prediction of instantaneous normal mode (INM) theory for $a(T)$ is in qualitative agreement with the experimental data.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2024

Anharmonic theory of superconductivity and its applications to emerging quantum materials

The role of anharmonicity on superconductivity has often been disregarded in the past. Recently, it has been recognized that anharmonic decoherence could play a fundamental role in determining the superconducting properties (electron-phonon coupling, critical temperature, etc) of a large class of materials, including systems close to structural soft-mode instabilities, amorphous solids and metals under extreme high-pressure conditions. Here, we review recent theoretical progress on the role of anharmonic effects, and in particular certain universal properties of anharmonic damping, on superconductivity. Our focus regards the combination of microscopic-agnostic effective theories for bosonic mediators with the well-established BCS theory and Migdal-Eliashberg theory for superconductivity. We discuss in detail the theoretical frameworks, their possible implementation within first-principles methods, and the experimental probes for anharmonic decoherence. Finally, we present several concrete applications to emerging quantum materials, including hydrides, ferroelectrics and systems with charge density wave instabilities.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Inability of linear axion holographic Gubser-Rocha model to capture all the transport anomalies of strange metals

In the last decade, motivated by the concept of Planckian relaxation and the possible existence of a quantum critical point in cuprate materials, holographic techniques have been extensively used to tackle the problem of strange metals and high-$T_c$ superconductors. Among the various setups, the linear axion Gubser-Rocha model has often been considered as a promising holographic model for strange metals since endowed with the famous linear in $T$ resistivity property. As fiercely advocated by Phil Anderson, beyond $T$-linear resistivity, there are several additional anomalies unique to the strange metal phase, as for example a Fermi liquid like Hall angle -- the famous problem of the two relaxation scales. In this short note, we show that the linear axion holographic Gubser-Rocha model, which presents a single momentum relaxation time, fails in this respect and therefore is not able to capture the transport phenomenology of strange metals. We prove our statement by means of a direct numerical computation, a previously demonstrated scaling analysis and also a hydrodynamic argument. Finally, we conclude with an optimistic discussion on the possible improvements and generalizations which could lead to a holographic model for strange metals in all their glory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Holographic dissipative space-time supersolids

Driving a system out of equilibrium enriches the paradigm of spontaneous symmetry breaking, which could then take place not only in space but also in time. The interplay between temporal and spatial symmetries, as well as symmetries from other internal degrees of freedom, can give rise to novel nonequilibrium phases of matter. In this study, we investigate a driven-dissipative superfluid model using holographic methods and reveal the existence of a space-time supersolid (STS) phase which concomitantly breaks the time translation, spatial translation, and the internal U(1) symmetry. The holographic methods naturally include finite temperature effects, which enables us to explore the complex phase diagram of this model and observe a cascade of out-of-equilibrium phase transitions from the STS phase to a synchronized superfluid phase, and finally to a normal fluid phase, by increasing the temperature.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

A fresh look at the vibrational and thermodynamic properties of liquids within the soft potential model

Contrary to the case of solids and gases, where Debye theory and kinetic theory offer a good description for most of the physical properties, a complete theoretical understanding of the vibrational and thermodynamic properties of liquids is still missing. Liquids exhibit a vibrational density of states (VDOS) which does not obey Debye law, and a heat capacity which decreases monotonically with temperature, rather than growing as in solids. Despite many attempts, a simple, complete and widely accepted theoretical framework able to formally derive the aforementioned properties has not been found yet. Here, we revisit one of the theoretical proposals, and in particular we re-analyze the properties of liquids within the soft-potential model, originally formulated for glasses. We confirm that, at least at a qualitative level, many characteristic properties of liquids can be rationalized within this model. We discuss the validity of several phenomenological expressions proposed in the literature for the density of unstable modes, and in particular for its temperature and frequency dependence. We discuss the role of negative curvature regions and unstable modes as fundamental ingredients to have a linear in frequency VDOS. Finally, we compute the heat capacity within the soft potential model for liquids and we show that it decreases with temperature, in agreement with experimental and simulation data.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2023

U(1) quasi-hydrodynamics: Schwinger-Keldysh effective field theory and holography

We study the quasi-hydrodynamics of a system with a softly broken $U(1)$ global symmetry using effective field theory (EFT) and holographic methods. In the gravity side, we consider a holographic Proca model in the limit of small bulk mass, which is responsible for a controllable explicit breaking of the $U(1)$ global symmetry in the boundary field theory. We perform a holographic Schwinger-Keldysh analysis, which allows us to derive the form of the boundary effective action in presence of dissipation. We compare our results with the previously proposed EFT and hydrodynamic theories, and we confirm their validity by computing the low-energy quasi-normal modes spectrum analytically and numerically. Additionally, we derive the broken holographic Ward identity for the $U(1)$ current, and discuss the recently proposed novel transport coefficients for systems with explicitly broken symmetries. The setup considered is expected to serve as a toy model for more realistic situations where quasi-hydrodynamics is at work, such as axial charge relaxation in QCD, spin relaxation in relativistic systems, electric field relaxation in magneto-hydrodynamics, or momentum relaxation in condensed matter systems.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

A quantitative theoretical model of the boson peak based on stringlet excitations

The boson peak (BP), a low-energy excess in the vibrational density of states over the phonon Debye contribution, is usually identified as one of the distinguishing features between ordered crystals and amorphous solid materials. Despite decades of efforts, its microscopic origin still remains a mystery and a consensus on its theoretical derivation has not yet been achieved. Recently, it has been proposed, and corroborated with simulations, that the BP might stem from intrinsic localized modes which involve string-like excitations ("stringlets") having a one-dimensional (1D) nature. In this work, we build on a theoretical framework originally proposed by Lund that describes the localized modes as 1D vibrating strings, but we specify the stringlet size distribution to be exponential, as observed in independent simulation studies. We show that a generalization of this framework provides an analytically prediction for the BP frequency $ω_{BP}$ in the temperature regime well below the glass transition temperature in both 2D and 3D amorphous systems. The final result involves no free parameters and is in quantitative agreement with prior simulation observations. Additionally, this stringlet theory of the BP naturally reproduces the softening of the BP frequency upon heating and offers an analytical explanation for the experimentally observed scaling with the shear modulus in the glass state and changes in this scaling in cooled liquids. Finally, the theoretical analysis highlights the existence of a strong damping for the stringlet modes at finite temperature which leads to a large low-frequency contribution to the 3D vibrational density of states, as observed in both experiments and simulations.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2023

Entanglement entropy as an order parameter for strongly coupled nodal line semimetals

Topological semimetals are a class of many-body systems exhibiting novel macroscopic quantum phenomena at the interplay between high energy and condensed matter physics. They display a topological quantum phase transition (TQPT) which evades the standard Landau paradigm. In the case of Weyl semimetals, the anomalous Hall effect is a good non-local order parameter for the TQPT, as it is proportional to the separation between the Weyl nodes in momentum space. On the contrary, for nodal line semimetals (NLSM), the quest for an order parameter is still open. By taking advantage of a recently proposed holographic model for strongly-coupled NLSM, we explicitly show that entanglement entropy (EE) provides an optimal probe for nodal topology. We propose a generalized $c$-function, constructed from the EE, as an order parameter for the TQPT. Moreover, we find that the derivative of the renormalized EE with respect to the external coupling driving the TQPT diverges at the critical point, signaling the rise of non-local quantum correlations. Finally, we show that these quantum information quantities might be able to characterize not only the critical point but the whole quantum critical region at finite temperature.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Topological defects reveal the plasticity of glasses

Mixing theoretical topological structures with cutting-edge simulation methods, a recent study in Nature Communications has finally confirmed the existence of topological defects in glasses and their crucial role for plasticity.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2023

Glassy heat capacity from overdamped phasons and a hypothetical phason-induced superconductivity in incommensurate structures

Phasons are collective low-energy modes that appear in disparate condensed matter systems such as quasicrystals, incommensurate structures, fluctuating charge density waves, and Moiré superlattices. They share several similarities with acoustic phonon modes, but they are not protected by any exact translational symmetry. As a consequence, they are subject to a wavevector independent damping, and they develop a finite pinning frequency, which destroy their acoustic linearly propagating dispersion. Under a few and simple well-motivated assumptions, we compute the phason density of states, and we derive the phason heat capacity as a function of the temperature. Finally, imagining a hypothetical s-wave pairing channel with electrons, we compute the critical temperature $T_c$ of the corresponding superconducting state as a function of phason damping using the Eliashberg formalism. We find that for large phason damping, the heat capacity is linear in temperature, showing a distinctive glass-like behavior. Additionally, we observe that the phason damping can strongly enhance the effective Eliashberg coupling, and we reveal a sharp non-monotonic dependence of the superconducting temperature $T_c$ on the phason damping, with a maximum located at the underdamped to overdamped crossover scale. Our simple computations confirm the potential role of overdamped modes in explaining the glassy properties of incommensurate structures, but also in possibly inducing strongly-coupled superconductivity therein, and enhancing the corresponding $T_c$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Constrains on s and d components of electron boson coupling constants in one band d wave Eliashberg theory for high Tc superconductors

The phenomenology of overdoped high Tc superconductors can be described by a one band d wave Eliashberg theory where the mechanism of superconducting coupling is mediated by antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and whose characteristic energy Omega0 scales with Tc according to the empirical law Omega0 = 5.8 kBTc. This model presents universal characteristics that are independent of the critical temperature such as the link between the s and d components of electron boson coupling constants and the invariance of the ratio 2Delta/kBTc.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Breaking rotations without violating the KSS viscosity bound

We revisit the computation of the shear viscosity to entropy ratio in a holographic p-wave superfluid model, focusing on the role of rotational symmetry breaking. We study the interplay between explicit and spontaneous symmetry breaking and derive a simple horizon formula for $η/s$, which is valid also in the presence of explicit breaking of rotations and is in perfect agreement with the numerical data. We observe that a source which explicitly breaks rotational invariance suppresses the value of $η/s$ in the broken phase, competing against the effects of spontaneous symmetry breaking. However, $η/s$ always reaches a constant value in the limit of zero temperature, which is never smaller than the Kovtun-Son-Starinets (KSS) bound, $1/4π$. This behavior appears to be in contrast with previous holographic anisotropic models which found a power-law vanishing of $η/s$ at small temperature. This difference is shown to arise from the properties of the near-horizon geometry in the extremal limit. Thus, our construction shows that the breaking of rotations itself does not necessarily imply a violation of the KSS bound.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Observation of fast sound in two-dimensional dusty plasma liquids

Equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study two-dimensional (2D) dusty plasma liquids. Based on the stochastic thermal motion of simulated particles, the longitudinal and transverse phonon spectra are calculated, and used to determine the corresponding dispersion relations. From there, the longitudinal and transverse sound speeds of 2D dusty plasma liquids are obtained. It is discovered that, for wavenumbers beyond the hydrodynamic regime, the longitudinal sound speed of a 2D dusty plasma liquid exceeds its adiabatic value, i.e., the so-called fast sound. This phenomenon appears at roughly the same length scale of the cutoff wavenumber for transverse waves, confirming its relation to the emergent solidity of liquids in the non-hydrodynamic regime. Using the thermodynamic and transport coefficients extracted from the previous studies, and relying on the Frenkel theory, the ratio of the longitudinal to the adiabatic sound speeds is derived analytically, providing the optimal conditions for fast sound, which are in quantitative agreement with the current simulation results.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2023

Collective dynamics and the Anderson-Higgs mechanism in a bona fide holographic superconductor

The holographic superconductor is one of the most popular models in the context of applied holography. Despite what its name suggests, it does not describe a superconductor. On the contrary, the low temperature phase of its dual field theory is a superfluid with a spontaneously broken U(1) global symmetry. As already observed in the previous literature, a bona fide holographic superconductor can be constructed using mixed boundary conditions for the bulk gauge field. By exploiting this prescription, we study the near-equilibrium collective dynamics in the Higgs phase and reveal the characteristic features of the Anderson-Higgs mechanism. We show that second sound disappears from the spectrum and the gauge field acquires a finite energy gap of the order of the plasma frequency. We observe an overdamped to underdamped crossover for the Higgs mode which acquires a finite energy gap below $\approx T_c/2$, with $T_c$ the superconducting critical temperature. Interestingly, the energy gap of the Higgs mode at low temperature is significantly smaller than $2Δ$, with $Δ$ the superconducting energy gap. Finally, we interpret our results using Ginzburg-Landau theory and we confirm the validity of previously derived perturbative analytic expressions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

How to sit Maxwell and Higgs on the boundary of Anti-de Sitter

In the context of bottom-up holography, we demonstrate the power of mixed boundary conditions to promote the boundary gauge field to be dynamical. We provide two concrete applications of this idea. First, we consider a holographic dual for a strongly coupled plasma described by dissipative magnetohydrodynamics. Second, we reveal the expected features of the Higgs mechanism in a not counterfeit holographic superconductor.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Possible enhancement of the superconducting $T_c$ due to sharp Kohn-like soft phonon anomalies

Phonon softening is a ubiquitous phenomenon in condensed matter systems which is often associated with charge density wave (CDW) instabilities and anharmonicity. The interplay between phonon softening, CDW and superconductivity is a topic of intense debate. In this work, the effects of anomalous soft phonon instabilities on superconductivity are studied based on a recently developed theoretical framework that accounts for phonon damping and softening within the Migdal-Eliashberg theory. Model calculations show that the phonon softening in the form of a sharp dip in the phonon dispersion relation, either acoustic or optical (including the case of Kohn-type anomalies typically associated with CDW), can cause a manifold increase of the electron-phonon coupling constant $λ$. This, under certain conditions, which are consistent with the concept of optimal frequency introduced by Bergmann and Rainer, can produce a large increase of the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$. In summary, our results suggest the possibility of reaching high-temperature superconductivity by exploiting soft phonon anomalies restricted in momentum space.

cond-mat.supr-con↗