arXiv subjects

Michael Knap

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Knap.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

Theory of Nonlinear Spectroscopy of Quantum Magnets

Two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy (2DCS) is an established method for characterizing molecules and has been proposed in the THz regime as a new tool for probing exotic excitations of quantum magnets; however, the precise nature of the coupling between pump field and spin degrees of freedom has remained unclear. Here, we develop a general response theory of 2DCS and show how magneto-electric as well as polarization couplings contribute to 2DCS in addition to the typically assumed magnetization. We propose experimental protocols to distill individual contributions, for instance from exchange-striction or spin current mechanism, when the electric field couples to terms quadratic in spin operators. We provide example calculations for the paradigmatic twisted Kitaev chain material $\mathrm{CoNb}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{6}$ and highlight the crucial role of contributions from cross-coupling between polarization and magnetic nonlinear susceptibilities. Our work paves the way for systematic studies of light-matter couplings in quantum magnets and for establishing 2DCS as a versatile tool for probing fractional excitations of exotic magnetic quantum phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Single-particle spectral function of fractional quantum anomalous Hall states

Fractional quantum Hall states are the most prominent example of states with topological order, hosting excitations with fractionalized charge. Recent experiments in twisted $\text{MoTe}_2$ and graphene-based heterostructures provided evidence of fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) states, which spontaneously break time-reversal symmetry and persist even without an external magnetic field. Understanding the unique properties of these states requires the characterization of their low-energy excitations. To that end, we construct a parton theory for the energy and momentum-resolved single-particle spectral function of FQAH states. We explicitly consider several experimentally observed filling fractions as well as a composite Fermi liquid in the half-filled Chern band. The parton description qualitatively captures our numerical exact diagonalization results. Additionally, we discuss how the finite bandwidth of the Chern band and the non-ideal quantum geometry affect the fractionalized excitations. Our work demonstrates that the energy and momentum-resolved electronic single-particle spectral function provides a valuable tool to characterize fractionalized excitations of FQAH states in moiré lattices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Realizing Altermagnetism in Fermi-Hubbard Models with Ultracold Atoms

Altermagnetism represents a type of collinear magnetism, that is in some aspects distinct from ferromagnetism and from conventional antiferromagnetism. In contrast to the latter, sublattices of opposite spin are related by spatial rotations and not only by translations and inversions. As a result, altermagnets have spin-split bands leading to unique experimental signatures. Here, we show theoretically how a d-wave altermagnetic phase can be realized with ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices. We propose an altermagnetic Hubbard model with anisotropic next-nearest neighbor hopping and obtain the Hartree-Fock phase diagram. The altermagnetic phase separates in a metallic and an insulating phase and is robust over a large parameter regime. We show that one of the defining characteristics of altermagnetism, the anisotropic spin transport, can be probed with trap-expansion experiments.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2024

Signatures of Domain-Wall Confinement in Raman Spectroscopy of Ising Spin Chains

Mesonic bound states of domain walls can be stabilized in quasi one-dimensional magnetic compounds. Here, we theoretically study the Raman light scattering response of a twisted Kitaev chain with tilted magnetic fields as a minimal model for confinement in $\mathrm{CoNb}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{6}$. By both numerical matrix product states and few-domain wall variational states, we show that confinement-induced bound states directly manifest themselves as sharp peaks in the Raman response. Remarkably, by tuning the polarization of the incident light field, we demonstrate that the Raman response offers new insights into the intrinsic symmetry of the bound state wavefunction.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Gate-tunable Bose-Fermi mixture in a strongly correlated moiré bilayer electron system

Quantum gases consisting of species with distinct quantum statistics, such as Bose-Fermi mixtures, can behave in a fundamentally different way than their unmixed constituents. This makes them an essential platform for studying emergent quantum many-body phenomena such as mediated interactions and unconventional pairing. Here, we realize an equilibrium Bose-Fermi mixture in a bilayer electron system implemented in a WS$_{2}$/WSe$_{2}$ moiré heterobilayer with strong Coulomb coupling to a nearby moiré-free WSe$_{2}$ monolayer. Absent the fermionic component, the underlying bosonic phase manifests as a dipolar excitonic insulator. By injecting excess charges into it, we show that the bosonic phase forms a stable mixture with added electrons but abruptly collapses upon hole doping. We develop a microscopic model to explain the unusual asymmetric stability with respect to electron and hole doping. By studying the Bose-Fermi mixture via monitoring excitonic resonances from both layers, we demonstrate gate-tunability over a wide range in the boson/fermion density phase space, in excellent agreement with theoretical calculations. Our results further the understanding of phases stabilized in moiré bilayer electron systems and demonstrate their potential for exploring the exotic properties of equilibrium Bose-Fermi mixtures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Kinetic Ferromagnetism and Topological Magnons of the Hole-Doped Kitaev Spin Liquid

We study the effect of hole doping on the Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) and find that for ferromagnetic (FM) Kitaev exchange $K$ the system is very susceptible to the formation of a FM spin polarization. Through density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations on finite systems, we uncover that the introduction of a single hole with a hopping strength of just $t\sim{}0.28K$ is enough to disrupt fractionalization and polarize the spins in the [001] direction due to an order-by-disorder mechanism. Taking into account a material relevant FM anisotropic spin exchange $\varGamma$ drives the polarization towards the [111] direction via a reorientation transition into a topological FM state with chiral magnon excitations. We develop a parton mean-field theory incorporating fermionic holons and bosonic spinons/magnons, which accounts for the doping induced FM phases and topological magnon excitations. We discuss experimental signatures and implications for Kitaev candidate materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Observation of magnon bound states in the long-range, anisotropic Heisenberg model

Over the recent years coherent, time-periodic modulation has been established as a versatile tool for realizing novel Hamiltonians. Using this approach, known as Floquet engineering, we experimentally realize a long-ranged, anisotropic Heisenberg model with tunable interactions in a trapped ion quantum simulator. We demonstrate that the spectrum of the model contains not only single magnon excitations but also composite magnon bound states. For the long-range interactions with the experimentally realized power-law exponent, the group velocity of magnons is unbounded. Nonetheless, for sufficiently strong interactions we observe bound states of these unconventional magnons which possess a non-diverging group velocity. By measuring the configurational mutual information between two disjoint intervals, we demonstrate the implications of the bound state formation on the entanglement dynamics of the system. Our observations provide key insights into the peculiar role of composite excitations in the non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Entanglement Properties of Gauge Theories from Higher-Form Symmetries

We explore the relationship between higher-form symmetries and entanglement properties in discrete lattice gauge theories, which can exhibit both topologically ordered phases and higher-form symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases. Our study centers on generalizing the Fradkin-Shenker model, where the Gauss law constraint can be either emergent or exact. The phase diagram includes a topologically ordered phase and a non-trivial SPT phase protected by a 1-form and a 0-form symmetry. We obtain the following key findings: First, the entanglement properties depend on whether the 1-form symmetries and the Gauss law are exact or emergent. For the emergent Gauss law, the entanglement spectrum (ES) of the non-trivial SPT phase exhibits degeneracies, which are robust at low energies against weak perturbations that explicitly break the exact 1-form symmetry. When the Gauss law and the 1-form symmetry are both exact, the ES degeneracy is extensive. This extensive degeneracy is fragile and can be removed completely by infinitesimal perturbations that explicitly break the exact 1-form symmetry while keeping the Gauss law exact. Second, we consider the ES in the topologically ordered phase where 1-form symmetries are spontaneously broken. In contrast to the ES of the non-trivial SPT phase, we find that spontaneous higher-form symmetry breaking removes "half" of the ES levels, leading to a non-degenerate ES in the topologically ordered phase in general. Third, we derive a connection between spontaneous higher-form symmetry breaking and the topological entanglement entropy (TEE). Using this relation, we investigate the entanglement entropy that can be distilled in the deconfined phase of the original Fradkin-Shenker model using gauge-invariant measurements. We show that the TEE is robust against the measurement when the 1-form symmetry is emergent but fragile when the 1-form symmetry is exact.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Realizing Topological Superconductivity in Tunable Bose-Fermi Mixtures with Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Heterostructures

Heterostructures of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are emerging as a promising platform for investigating exotic correlated states of matter. Here, we propose to engineer Bose-Fermi mixtures in these systems by coupling inter-layer excitons to doped charges in a trilayer structure. Their interactions are determined by the inter-layer trion, whose spin-selective nature allows excitons to mediate an attractive interaction between charge carriers of only one spin species. Remarkably, we find that this causes the system to become unstable to topological p+ip superconductivity at low temperatures. We then demonstrate a general mechanism to develop and control this unconventional state by tuning the trion binding energy using a solid-state Feshbach resonance.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Probing magnetism in moiré heterostructures with quantum twisting microscopes

Spin-ordered states close to metal-insulator transitions are poorly understood theoretically and challenging to probe in experiments. Here, we propose that the quantum twisting microscope, which provides direct access to the energy-momentum resolved spectrum of single-particle and collective excitations, can be used as a novel tool to distinguish between different types of magnetic order. To this end, we calculate the single-particle spectral function and the dynamical spin-structure factor for both a ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic generalized Wigner crystal formed in fractionally filled moiré superlattices of transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures. We demonstrate that magnetic order can be clearly identified in these response functions. Furthermore, we explore signatures of quantum phase transitions in the quantum twisting microscope response. We focus on the specific case of triangular moiré lattices at half filling, which have been proposed to host a topological phase transition between a chiral spin liquid and a 120 degree ordered state. Our work demonstrates the potential for quantum twisting microscopes to characterize quantum magnetism in moiré heterostructures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Fractionalized Prethermalization in a Driven Quantum Spin Liquid

Quantum spin liquids subject to a periodic drive can display fascinating non-equilibrium heating behavior because of their emergent fractionalized quasi-particles. Here, we investigate a driven Kitaev honeycomb model and examine the dynamics of emergent Majorana matter and $Z_2$ flux excitations. We uncover a distinct two-step heating profile $\textrm{--}$ dubbed fractionalized prethermalization $\textrm{--}$ and a quasi-stationary state with vastly different temperatures for the matter and the flux sectors. We argue that this peculiar prethermalization behavior is a consequence of fractionalization. Furthermore, we discuss an experimentally feasible protocol for preparing a zero-flux initial state of the Kiteav honeycomb model with a low energy density, which can be used to observe fractionalized prethermalization in quantum information processing platforms.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Chiral Pseudo Spin Liquids in Moire Heterostructures

We propose multi-layer moire structures in strong external magnetic fields as a novel platform for realizing highly-tunable, frustrated Hubbard physics with topological order. Identifying the layer degree of freedom as a pseudo spin, allows us to retain SU(2) symmetry while controlling ring-exchange processes and concurrently quenching the kinetic energy by large external magnetic fields. This way, a broad class of interacting Hubbard-Hofstadter states and their transitions can be studied. Remarkably, in the limit of strong interactions the system becomes Mott insulating and we find chiral pseudo spin liquid phases which are induced by the magnetic field. We find that this topologically ordered state remains exceptionally stable towards relevant perturbations. We discuss how layer pseudo-spin can be probed in near-term experiments. As the magnetic flux can be easily tuned in moire systems, our approach provides a promising route towards the experimental realization and control of topologically ordered phases of matter.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Deconfinement Dynamics of Fractons in Tilted Bose-Hubbard Chains

Fractonic constraints can lead to exotic properties of quantum many-body systems. Here, we investigate the dynamics of fracton excitations on top of the ground states of a one-dimensional, dipole-conserving Bose-Hubbard model. We show that nearby fractons undergo a collective motion mediated by exchanging virtual dipole excitations, which provides a powerful dynamical tool to characterize the underlying ground state phases. We find that in the gapped Mott insulating phase, fractons are confined to each other as motion requires the exchange of massive dipoles. When crossing the phase transition into a gapless Luttinger liquid of dipoles, fractons deconfine. Their transient deconfinement dynamics scales diffusively and exhibits strong but subleading contributions described by a quantum Lifshitz model. We examine prospects for the experimental realization in tilted Bose-Hubbard chains by numerically simulating the adiabatic state preparation and subsequent time evolution, and find clear signatures of the low-energy fracton dynamics.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2024

Single-hole spectra of Kitaev spin liquids: from dynamical Nagaoka ferromagnetism to spin-hole fractionalization

The dynamical response of a quantum spin liquid upon injecting a hole is a pertinent open question. In experiments, the hole spectral function, measured momentum-resolved in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) or locally in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), can be used to identify spin liquid materials. In this study, we employ tensor network methods to simulate the time evolution of a single hole doped into the Kitaev spin-liquid ground state. Focusing on the gapped spin liquid phase, we reveal two fundamentally different scenarios. For ferromagnetic spin couplings, the spin liquid is highly susceptible to hole doping: a Nagaoka ferromagnet forms dynamically around the doped hole, even at weak coupling. By contrast, in the case of antiferromagnetic spin couplings, the hole spectrum demonstrates an intricate interplay between charge, spin, and flux degrees of freedom, best described by a parton mean-field ansatz of fractionalized holons and spinons. Moreover, we find a good agreement of our numerical results to the analytically solvable case of slow holes. Our results demonstrate that dynamical hole spectral functions provide rich information on the structure of fractionalized quantum spin liquids.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Unconventional spin transport in strongly correlated kagome systems

Recent progress in material design enables the study of correlated, low-temperature phases and associated anomalous transport in two-dimensional kagome systems. Here, we show that unconventional spin transport can arise in such systems even at elevated temperatures due to emergent dynamical constraints. To demonstrate this effect, we consider a strong-coupling limit of an extended Hubbard model on the kagome lattice with density of $2/3$. We numerically investigate the charge and spin transport by a cellular automaton circuit, allowing us to perform simulations on large systems to long times while preserving the essential conservation laws. The charge dynamics reflects the constraints and can be understood by a Gaussian field theory of a scalar height field. Moreover, the system exhibits a hidden spin conservation law with a dynamic sublattice structure, which enables additional slow relaxation pathways for spin excitations. These features can be directly tested by measuring the dynamic spin structure factor with neutron scattering.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Deconfined Quantum Criticality in the long-range, anisotropic Heisenberg Chain

Deconfined quantum criticality describes continuous phase transitions that are not captured by the Landau-Ginzburg paradigm. Here, we investigate deconfined quantum critical points in the long-range, anisotropic Heisenberg chain. With matrix product state simulations, we show that the model undergoes a continuous phase transition from a valence bond solid to an antiferromagnet. We extract the critical exponents of the transition and connect them to an effective field theory obtained from bosonization techniques. We show that beyond stabilizing the valance bond order, the long-range interactions are irrelevant and the transition is well described by a double frequency sine-Gordon model. We propose how to realize and probe deconfined quantum criticality in our model with trapped-ion quantum simulators.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Finite Temperature Entanglement Negativity of Fermionic Symmetry Protected Topological Phases and Quantum Critical Points in One Dimension

We study the logarithmic entanglement negativity of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases and quantum critical points (QCPs) of one-dimensional noninteracting fermions at finite temperatures. In particular, we consider a free fermion model that realizes not only quantum phase transitions between gapped phases but also an exotic topological phase transition between quantum critical states in the form of the fermionic Lifshitz transition. The bipartite entanglement negativity between adjacent fermion blocks reveals the crossover boundary of the quantum critical fan near the QCP between two gapped phases. Along the critical phase boundary between the gapped phases, the sudden decrease in the entanglement negativity signals the fermionic Lifshitz transition responsible for the change in the topological nature of the QCPs. In addition, the tripartite entanglement negativity between spatially separated fermion blocks counts the number of topologically protected boundary modes for both SPT phases and topologically nontrivial QCPs at zero temperature. However, the long-distance entanglement between the boundary modes vanishes at finite temperatures due to the instability of SPTs, the phases themselves.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Dynamical Spectral Response of Fractonic Quantum Matter

Quantum many-body systems with fractonic excitations can realize fascinating phases of matter. Here, we study the low-energy excitations of a constrained Bose-Hubbard model in one dimension, which conserves the center of mass or, equivalently, the dipole moment in addition to the particle number. This model is known to realize fractonic phases, including a dipole Mott insulator, a dipole Luttinger liquid, and a metastable dipole supersolid. We use tensor network methods to compute spectral functions from the dynamical response of the system and verify predictions from low-energy field theories of the corresponding ground state phases. We demonstrate the existence of gapped excitations compatible with strong coupling results in a dipole Mott insulator, linear sound modes characteristic of a Luttinger liquid of dipoles, and soft quadratic modes at both zero and finite momenta in a supersolid state with charge density wave order and phase coherence at non-integer filling.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗