arXiv subjects

P. D. Sacramento

Publications and source records attributed to P. D. Sacramento.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Reduced density matrix and order parameters of a topological insulator

It has been recently proposed that the reduced density matrix may be used to derive the order parameter of a condensed matter system. Here we propose order parameters for the phases of a topological insulator, specifically a spinless Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model, and consider the effect of short-range interactions. All the derived order parameters and their possible corresponding quantum phases are verified by the entanglement entropy and electronic configuration analysis results. The order parameter appropriate to the topological regions is further proved by calculating the Berry phase under twisted boundary conditions. It is found that the topological non-trivial phase is robust to the introduction of repulsive inter-site interactions, and can appear in the topological trivial parameter region when appropriate interactions are added.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Zero energy modes in a superconductor with ferromagnetic adatom chains and quantum phase transitions

We study Majorana zero energy modes (MZEM) that occur in a s-wave superconducting surface, at the ends of a ferromagnetic (FM) chain of adatoms, in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) considering both non self-consistent and self-consistent superconducting order. We find that in the self-consistent solution the average superconducting gap function over the adatom sites has a discontinuous drop with increasing exchange interaction at the same critical value where the topological phase transition occurs. We also study the MZEM for both treatments of superconducting order and find that the decay length is a linear function of the exchange coupling strength, chemical potential and superconducting order. For wider FM chains the MZEM occur at smaller exchange couplings and the slope of the decay length as a function of exchange coupling grows with chain width. Thus we suggest experimental detection of different delocalization of MZEM in chains of varying widths. We discuss similarities and differences between the MZEM for the two treatments of the superconducting order.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Effect of hybridization symmetry on topological phases of odd-parity multiband superconductors

We study two-band one-dimensional superconducting chains of spinless fermions with inter and intra-band pairing. These bands hybridize and depending on the relative angular momentum of their orbitals this can be symmetric or anti-symmetric. The competition between intra and inter-band superconductivity and how it is affected by the symmetry of the hybridization is investigated. The interband pairing is shown to be dominant on a large region of parameter space. A rich phase diagram is found in the presence of anti-symmetric hybridization. The topological properties of the model are obtained through the topological invariant winding number. We find the existence of a topological phase due to the inter-band superconductivity and induced by symmetric hybridization. Robustness of zero-energy edge states are discussed and are shown to be present in the topological phase.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Edge mode dynamics of quenched topological wires

The fermionic and Majorana edge mode dynamics of various topological systems is compared, after a sudden global quench of the Hamiltonian parameters takes place. Attention is focused on the regimes where the survival probability of an edge state has oscillations either due to critical or off-critical quenches. The nature of the wave functions and the overlaps between the eigenstates of different points in parameter space determine the various types of behaviors, and the distinction due to the Majorana nature of the excitations plays a lesser role. Performing a sequence of quenches it is shown that the edge states, including Majorana modes, may be switched off and on. Also, the generation of Majoranas due to quenching from a trivial phase is discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Magnetic chains on a triplet superconductor

The topological state of a two-dimensional triplet superconductor may be changed by an appropriate addition of magnetic impurities. A ferromagnetic magnetic chain at the surface of a superconductor with spin-orbit coupling may eliminate the edge states of a finite system giving rise to localized zero modes at the edges of the chain. The coexistence/competition between the two types of zero modes is considered. The reduction of the system to an effective $1d$ system gives partial information on the topological properties but the study of the two sets of zero modes requires a two-dimensional treatment. Increasing the impurity density from a magnetic chain to magnetic islands leads to a finite Chern number. At half-filling small concentrations are enough to induce chiral modes.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Charge and spin edge currents in two-dimensional Floquet topological superconductors

A time periodic driving on a topologically trivial system induces edge modes and topological properties. In this work we consider triplet and singlet superconductors subject to periodic variations of the chemical potential, spin-orbit coupling and magnetization, in both topologically trivial and nontrivial phases, and study their influence on the charge and spin currents that propagate along the edges of the two-dimensional system, for moderate to large driving frequencies. Currents associated with the edge modes are induced in the trivial phases and enhanced in the topological phases. In some cases there is a sign reversal of the currents as a consequence of the periodic driving. The edge states associated with the finite quasi-energy states at the edge of the Floquet zone are in general robust, while the stability of the zero quasi-energy states depends on the parameters. Also, the spin polarization of the Floquet spectrum quasi-energies is strong as for the unperturbed topological phases. It is found that in some cases the unperturbed edge states are immersed in a continuum of states due to the perturbation, particularly if the driving frequency is not large enough. However, their contribution to the edge currents and spin polarization is still significant.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Fermi points and topological quantum phase transitions in a model of superconducting wires

The importance of models with an exact solution for the study of materials with non-trivial topological properties has been extensively demonstrated. Among these, the Kitaev model of a one-dimensional $p$-wave superconductor plays a guiding role in the search for Majorana modes in condensed matter systems. Also, the $sp$ chain, with an anti-symmetric mixing among the $s$ and $p$ bands provides a paradigmatic example of a topological insulator with well understood properties. There is an intimate relation between these two models and in particular their topological quantum phase transitions share the same universality class. Here we consider a two-band $sp$ model of spinless fermions with an attractive (inter-band) interaction. Both the interaction and hybridization between the $s$ and $p$ fermions are anti-symmetric. The zero temperature phase diagram of the model presents a variety of phases including a Weyl superconductor, topological insulator and trivial phases. The quantum phase transitions between these phases can be either continuous or discontinuous. We show that the transition from the topological superconducting phase to the trivial one has critical exponents different from those of an equivalent transition in Kitaev's model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Dynamical structure factors of the spin-1/2 XXX chain at finite magnetic field

We study the dynamical structure factors of the spin-1/2 XXX chain at finite magnetic field h, focusing in particular on the singularities at excitation energies in the vicinity of the lower thresholds of the leading-order dominant excitations. We derive the exact momentum and spin-density dependences of the exponents controlling the singularities for both the longitudinal and transversal dynamical structure factors for the whole momentum range, in the thermodynamic limit. In that limit we argue that the higher-order excitations change neither the exponents nor the sharpness of the singularities. We discuss the relation to neutron scattering and suggest new experiments on spin-chain compounds using a carefully oriented crystal.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Entanglement modes and topological phase transitions in superconductors

Topological insulators and topological superconductors display various topological phases that are characterized by different Chern numbers or by gapless edge states. In this work we show that various quantum information methods such as the von Neumann entropy, entanglement spectrum, fidelity, and fidelity spectrum may be used to detect and distinguish topological phases and their transitions. As an example we consider a two-dimensional $p$-wave superconductor, with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and a Zeeman term. The nature of the phases and their changes are clarified by the eigenvectors of the $k$-space reduced density matrix. We show that in the topologically nontrivial phases the highest weight eigenvector is fully aligned with the triplet pairing state. A signature of the various phase transitions between two points on the parameter space is encoded in the $k$-space fidelity operator.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Emergent Nesting of the Fermi Surface from Local-Moment Description of Iron-Pnictide High-Tc Superconductors

We uncover the low-energy spectrum of a t-J model for electrons on a square lattice of spin-1 iron atoms with 3dxz and 3dyz orbital character by applying Schwinger-boson-slave-fermion mean-field theory and by exact diagonalization of one hole roaming over a 4 x 4 x 2 lattice. Hopping matrix elements are set to produce hole bands centered at zero two-dimensional (2D) momentum in the free-electron limit. Holes can propagate coherently in the t-J model below a threshold Hund coupling when long-range antiferromagnetic order across the d+ = 3d(x+iy)z and d- = 3d(x-iy)z orbitals is established by magnetic frustration that is off-diagonal in the orbital indices. This leads to two hole-pocket Fermi surfaces centered at zero 2D momentum. Proximity to a commensurate spin-density wave (cSDW) that exists above the threshold Hund coupling results in emergent Fermi surface pockets about cSDW momenta at a quantum critical point (QCP). This motivates the introduction of a new Gutzwiller wavefunction for a cSDW metal state. Study of the spin-fluctuation spectrum at cSDW momenta indicates that the dispersion of the nested band of one-particle states that emerges is electron-type. Increasing Hund coupling past the QCP can push the hole-pocket Fermi surfaces centered at zero 2D momentum below the Fermi energy level, in agreement with recent determinations of the electronic structure of mono-layer iron-selenide superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Fate of Majorana fermions and Chern numbers after a quantum quench

The stability of Majorana fermions at the edges of a two-dimensional topological supercondutor is studied, after quenches to either non-topological phases or other topological phases. Both instantaneous and slow quenches are considered. In general, the Majorana modes decay and, in the case of instantaneous quenches, their revival times scale to infinity as the system size grows. Considering fast quantum quenches within the same topological phase, leads, in some cases, to robust edge modes. Quenches to a topological $Z_2$ phase reveal some robustness of the Majorana fermions. Comparing strong spin-orbit coupling with weak spin-orbit coupling, it is found that the Majorana fermions are fairly robust, if the pairing is not aligned with the spin-orbit Rashba coupling. It is also shown that the Chern number remains invariant after the quench, until the propagation of the mode along the transverse direction reaches the middle point, beyond which the Chern number oscillates between increasing values. In some cases, the time average Chern number seems to converge to the appropriate value, but often the decay is very slow. The effect of varying the rate of change in slow quenches is also analysed. It is found that the defect production is non-universal and does not follow the Kibble-Zurek scaling with the quench rate, as obtained before for other systems with topological edge states.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2013

Entanglement entropy and entanglement spectrum of triplet topological superconductors

We analyse the entanglement entropy properties of a two-dimensional p-wave superconductor with Rashba spin-orbit coupling, which displays a rich phase-space that supports non-trivial topological phases, as the chemical potential and the Zeeman term are varied. We show that the entanglement entropy and its derivatives clearly signal the topological transitions and provides a sensible signature of each topological phase. We separately analyse the contributions to the entanglement entropy that are proportional to or independent of the perimeter of the system, as a function of the Hamiltonian coupling constants and the geometry of the subsystem. We conclude that both contributions are generically non-universal depending on the specific Hamiltonian parameters and on the particular geometry. Nevertheless, contributions to the entanglement entropy due to different kinds of boundaries or edges simply add up. We also observe a relationship between a topological contribution to the entanglement entropy in a half- cylinder geometry and the number of edge states, and that the entanglement spectrum has robust modes associated with each edge state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

1D Hubbard model elementary objects scattering

In terms of electron processes, the 1D Hubbard model is a nonperturbative problem. That renders the description in terms of electron scattering of the microscopic processes that control the model properties a very difficult task. In this paper we study the corresponding scattering processes of the elementary objects whose occupancy configurations generate the energy eigenstates from the electron vacuum. Due to the related occurrence of an infinite set of conservation laws associated with the model integrability, such objects are found to undergo only zero-momentum forward-scattering collisions. The description of the model dynamical properties in terms of such elementary objects scattering events then drastically simplifies. The corresponding 1D Hubbard model scattering theory refers to arbitrary values of the densities and finite repulsive interaction U>0. Each ground-state - excited-state transition is associated with a well defined set of elementary zero-momentum forward-scattering events. The elementary-object scatterers dressed S matrix is expressed as a commutative product of S matrices, each corresponding to a two-object scattering event. This commutative factorization is stronger than the factorization associated with Yang-Baxter equation for the original spin-1/2 electron bare S matrix. The power-law singularities exponents in the finite-energy correlation-functions of the metallic phases of a wide class of 1D integrable and non-integrable systems are momentum dependent. In the present exactly solvable model such an exponent momentum dependence is controlled by the phase shifts and corresponding dressed S matrix considered in this paper.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Spinon and eta-spinon correlation functions

We calculate real-space static correlation functions related to basic entities of the one-dimensional Hubbard model, which emerge from the exact Bethe-ansatz solution. These entities involve complex rearrangements of the original electrons. Basic ingredients are operators related to unoccupied, singly occupied with spin up or spin down and doubly occupied sites. The spatial decay of their correlation functions is determined using an approximate mean-field-like approach based on the Zou-Anderson transformation and DMRG results for the half-filled case. The nature and spatial extent of the correlations between two sites on the Hubbard chain is studied using the eigenstates and eigenvalues of the two-site reduced density matrix.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Charge dynamics in half-filled Hubbard chains with finite on-site interaction

We study the charge dynamic structure factor of the one-dimensional Hubbard model with finite on-site repulsion U at half filling. Numerical results from the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group are analyzed by comparison with the exact spectrum of the model. The evolution of the line shape as a function of U is explained in terms of a relative transfer of spectral weight between the two-holon continuum that dominates in the limit U\to \infty and a subset of the two-holon-two-spinon continuum that reconstructs the electron-hole continuum in the limit U\to 0. Power-law singularities along boundary lines of the spectrum are described by effective impurity models that are explicitly invariant under spin and η-spin SU(2) rotations. The Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transition is reflected in a discontinuous change of the exponents of edge singularities at U=0. The sharp feature observed in the spectrum for momenta near the zone boundary is attributed to a Van Hove singularity that persists as a consequence of integrability.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Fermi surfaces of iron-pnictide high-Tc superconductors from the limit of local magnetic moments

A 2-orbital t-J model over the square lattice that describes low-energy electronic excitations in iron-pnictide high-Tc superconductors is analyzed with Schwinger-boson-slave-fermion meanfield theory and by exact numerical diagonalization on a finite system. A quantum critical point (QCP) is identified that separates a commensurate spin-density wave (cSDW) state at strong Hund's rule coupling from a hidden half-metal state at weak Hund's rule coupling when inter-orbital hole hopping is suppressed. Low-energy spinwaves that disperse anisotropically from cSDW momenta are predicted at the QCP. Nested Fermi surfaces similar to those observed experimentally in iron-pnictide materials are also predicted in such case.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2011

Supercurrent induced domain wall motion

We study the dynamics of a magnetic domain wall, inserted in, or juxtaposed to, a conventional superconductor, via the passage of a spin polarized current through a FSF junction. Solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation of motion for the magnetic moments we calculate the velocity of the domain wall and compare it with the case of a FNF junction. We find that in several regimes the domain wall velocity is larger when it is driven by a supercurrent.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2011

Anomalous Hall effect in superconductors with spin-orbit interaction

We calculate the anomalous Hall conductance of superconductors with spin-orbit interaction and with either uniform or local magnetization. In the first case we consider a uniform ferromagnetic ordering in a spin triplet superconductor, while in the second case we consider a conventional s-wave spin singlet superconductor with a magnetic impurity (or a diluted set of magnetic impurities). In the latter case we show that the anomalous Hall conductance can be used to track the quantum phase transition, that occurs when the spin coupling between the impurity and electronic spin density exceeds a certain critical value. In both cases we find that for large spin-orbit coupling the superconductivity is destroyed and the Hall conductance oscillates strongly.

cond-mat.supr-con↗