arXiv subjects

Pengcheng Hou

Publications and source records attributed to Pengcheng Hou.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Finite-Temperature Spin Exchange-Correlation Kernel of the Uniform Electron Gas

The finite-temperature spin response of the uniform electron gas (UEG) is a fundamental reference for spin-polarized and magnetized electron liquids, including warm dense matter (WDM), yet it remains far less constrained than charge response. Using variational diagrammatic Monte Carlo, we compute the static spin exchange--correlation (XC) kernel $K_{xc}(q;T)$ of the unpolarized UEG at metallic densities across the quantum-degenerate, warm-dense, and classical regimes. The kernel connects smoothly to zero-temperature spin-response parametrizations at low temperature, while heating suppresses the Fermi-surface-scale spin-correlation structure and weakens the XC-driven Stoner enhancement. Its long-wavelength limit provides a direct response test of the spin stiffness implied by thermal local-spin-density-approximation (LSDA) parametrizations, showing low-temperature consistency while exposing a resolved warm-dense residual in current LSDA parametrizations. In the classical regime, the spin XC kernel becomes nearly local on the Fermi-momentum scale, in sharp contrast to the corresponding charge XC kernel. These results provide a first-principles basis for finite-temperature spin-response theory and magnetized WDM modeling.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

First-Principles Effective Mass in the Three-Dimensional Uniform Electron Gas

The quasiparticle effective mass $m^*$ of the three-dimensional uniform electron gas (UEG) is a fundamental Fermi-liquid parameter whose value and density dependence have remained controversial for decades. Using renormalized perturbation theory with explicit counterterms, we determine $m^*$ in the metallic regime ($r_s \le 6$) from first principles by two complementary routes -- the self-energy and the forward-scattering four-point vertex via the $p$-wave spin-symmetric Landau parameter $F_1^s$ -- that agree within uncertainties at each density through sixth renormalized order. The resulting $m^*/m$ remains close to unity throughout the metallic regime, with a shallow non-monotonic density dependence -- a minimum near $r_s\approx 1$ followed by a gentle upturn -- reflecting the interplay of exchange and dynamical screening in the self-energy, and disfavoring strong monotonic suppression. This finding supports a physical picture for the metallic UEG in which dominant charge correlations are concentrated in nearly forward scattering and generate only a weak $F_1^s$ component.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Fractals of Simple Random Walks in Two Dimensions: A Monte Carlo Study

We present a Monte Carlo study of the fractal geometry of clusters formed by discrete-time simple random walks (sRW) of $L^2$ steps on a periodic square $L\times L$ lattice. We verify with high precision that the asymptotic behavior of the cluster mass follows $M/L^2 \simeq (\ln L)^{-1} [\frac{\pi}{2}+b (\ln L)^{-2}]$, with $b\approx -(\pi/2)^{-2}$, demonstrating marginal ``logarithmic fractals". We further determine the fractal dimension of the hull to be $d_{\rm hull}=1.333\,29(14)=4/3$, in excellent agreement with the prediction of Schramm-Loewner evolution ($\rm SLE_{8/3}$) for the Brownian frontier universality class. More importantly, we analyze the chemical distance $S$ spanning the cluster and obtain strong evidence that it asymptotically scales as $S\sim L(\ln L)^{1/4}$, lying exactly on the theoretical upper bound for the chemical distance for level-set percolation clusters on the two-dimensional Gaussian free field. Our numerical results show that the sRW cluster exhibits a conformally invariant external frontier and contains highly efficient asymptotically linear connective paths.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Two-Electron Correlations in the Metallic Electron Gas

We present high-precision \emph{ab initio} calculations of the four-point vertex function for the three-dimensional uniform electron gas using variational diagrammatic Monte Carlo. From these results, we extract Landau parameters that reveal a density-driven crossover from underscreening to overscreening, and obtain the full two-electron scattering amplitude on the Fermi surface with controlled accuracy. A residual analysis of the scattering amplitude against the charge-channel Kukkonen--Overhauser (KO$^+$) interaction shows that only a minimal s-wave correction in the antiparallel-spin channel is needed, defining the sKO$^+$ ansatz: KO$^+$ within the local-density approximation plus this short-range correction. Using both our direct VDMC amplitudes and the sKO$^+$ ansatz, we compute the electron-electron contribution to the thermal resistivity, obtaining quantitative agreement with experiments on simple metals (Al, Na, K, Rb). sKO$^+$ thus provides a controlled UEG-based effective interaction for simple-metal transport and future first-principles extensions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Matsubara-Frequency-Resolved Spin Exchange-Correlation Kernel for the Three-Dimensional Uniform Electron Gas

The spin Coulomb drag effect, arising from the exchange of momentum between electrons of opposite spins, plays a crucial role in the spin transport of interacting electron systems and can be characterized by the exchange-correlation (XC) kernel in the spin channel $K_{\rm XC}^-(q,\omega)$. Using the state-of-the-art Variational Diagrammatic Monte Carlo approach, we compute the Matsubara-frequency-resolved spin XC kernel $K_{\rm XC}^-(q,i\omega_n)$ for the three-dimensional uniform electron gas at sufficiently low temperatures with high precision. In the long-wavelength limit, we identified a singular behavior of the form $A(i\omega_n)/q^2$, confirming the theoretically predicted ultranonlocal behavior associated with spin Coulomb drag. Analysis of this structure in the low frequency region enables precise determination of two crucial parameters characterizing the spin Coulomb drag effect: the spin mass enhancement factor and spin diffusion relaxation time. We observe a significant trend of increasing enhancement of the spin mass factor with decreasing electron density, and provide clear evidence for the suppression of spin diffusion at low temperatures. These quantitative findings advance our understanding of Coulomb interaction effects on spin transport and provide essential parameters for time-dependent density functional theory and spintronics applications.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

An AI-powered Technology Stack for Solving Many-Electron Field Theory

Quantum field theory (QFT) for interacting many-electron systems is fundamental to condensed matter physics, yet achieving accurate solutions confronts computational challenges in managing the combinatorial complexity of Feynman diagrams, implementing systematic renormalization, and evaluating high-dimensional integrals. We present a unifying framework that integrates QFT computational workflows with an AI-powered technology stack. A cornerstone of this framework is representing Feynman diagrams as computational graphs, which structures the inherent mathematical complexity and facilitates the application of optimized algorithms developed for machine learning and high-performance computing. Consequently, automatic differentiation, native to these graph representations, delivers efficient, fully automated, high-order field-theoretic renormalization procedures. This graph-centric approach also enables sophisticated numerical integration; our neural-network-enhanced Monte Carlo method, accelerated via massively parallel GPU implementation, efficiently evaluates challenging high-dimensional diagrammatic integrals. Applying this framework to the uniform electron gas, we determine the quasiparticle effective mass to a precision significantly surpassing current state-of-the-art simulations. Our work demonstrates the transformative potential of integrating AI-driven computational advances with QFT, opening systematic pathways for solving complex quantum many-body problems across disciplines.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Precursory Cooper Flow in Ultralow-Temperature Superconductors

Superconductivity at low temperature -- observed in lithium and bismuth, as well as in various low-density superconductors -- calls for developing reliable theoretical and experimental tools for predicting ultralow critical temperatures, $T_c$, of Cooper instability in a system demonstrating nothing but normal Fermi liquid behavior in a broad range of temperatures below the Fermi energy, $T_{\rm F}$. Equally important are controlled predictions of stability in a given Cooper channel. We identify such a protocol within the paradigm of precursory Cooper flow -- a universal ansatz describing logarithmically slow temperature evolution of the linear response of the normal state to the pair-creating perturbation. Applying this framework to the two-dimensional uniform electron gas, we reveal a series of exotic superconducting states, pushing controlled theoretical predictions of $T_c$ to the unprecedentedly low scale of $10^{-100} T_{\rm F}$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Monte Carlo study of duality and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transitions of the two-dimensional $q$-state clock model in flow representations

The two-dimensional $q$-state clock model for $q \geq 5$ undergoes two Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transitions as temperature decreases. Here we report an extensive worm-type simulation of the square-lattice clock model for $q=$5--9 in a pair of flow representations, from the high- and low-temperature expansions, respectively. By finite-size scaling analysis of susceptibility-like quantities, we determine the critical points with a precision improving over the existing results. Due to the dual flow representations, each point in the critical region is observed to simultaneously exhibit a pair of anomalous dimensions, which are $η_1=1/4$ and $η_2 = 4/q^2$ at the two BKT transitions. Further, the approximate self-dual points $β_{\rm sd}(L)$, defined by the stringent condition that the susceptibility like quantities in both flow representations are identical, are found to be nearly independent of system size $L$ and behave as $β_{\rm sd} \simeq q/2π$ asymptotically at the large-$q$ limit. The exponent $η$ at $β_{\rm sd}$ is consistent with $1/q$ within statistical error as long as $q \geq 5$. Based on this, we further conjecture that $η(β_{\rm sd}) = 1/q$ holds exactly and is universal for systems in the $q$-state clock universality class. Our work provides a vivid demonstration of rich phenomena associated with the duality and self-duality of the clock model in two dimensions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Percolation of the two-dimensional XY model in the flow representation

We simulate the two-dimensional XY model in the flow representation by a worm-type algorithm, up to linear system size $L=4096$, and study the geometric properties of the flow configurations. As the coupling strength $K$ increases, we observe that the system undergoes a percolation transition $K_{\rm perc}$ from a disordered phase consisting of small clusters into an ordered phase containing a giant percolating cluster. Namely, in the low-temperature phase, there exhibits a long-ranged order regarding the flow connectivity, in contrast to the qusi-long-range order associated with spin properties. Near $K_{\rm perc}$, the scaling behavior of geometric observables is well described by the standard finite-size scaling ansatz for a second-order phase transition. The estimated percolation threshold $K_{\rm perc}=1.105 \, 3(4)$ is close to but obviously smaller than the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition point $K_{\rm BKT} = 1.119 \, 3(10)$, which is determined from the magnetic susceptibility and the superfluid density. Various interesting questions arise from these unconventional observations, and their solutions would shed lights on a variety of classical and quantum systems of BKT phase transitions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Critical exponents and universal excess cluster number of percolation in four and five dimensions

We study critical bond percolation on periodic four-dimensional (4D) and five-dimensional (5D) hypercubes by Monte Carlo simulations. By classifying the occupied bonds into branches, junctions and non-bridges, we construct the whole, the leaf-free and the bridge-free clusters using the breadth-first-search algorithm. From the geometric properties of these clusters, we determine a set of four critical exponents, including the thermal exponent $y_{\rm t} \equiv 1/ν$, the fractal dimension $d_{\rm f}$, the backbone exponent $d_{\rm B}$ and the shortest-path exponent $d_{\rm min}$. We also obtain an estimate of the excess cluster number $b$ which is a universal quantity related to the finite-size scaling of the total number of clusters. The results are $y_{\rm t} = 1.461(5)$, $d_{\rm f} = 3.044 \, 6(7)$, $d_{\rm B} = 1.984\,4(11)$, $d_{\rm min} = 1.604 \, 2(5)$, $b = 0.62(1)$ for 4D; and $y_{\rm t} = 1.743(10)$, $d_{\rm f} = 3.526\,0(14)$, $d_{\rm B} = 2.022\,6(27)$, $d_{\rm min} = 1.813\, 7(16)$, $b = 0.62(2)$ for 5D. The values of the critical exponents are compatible with or improving over the existing estimates, and those of the excess cluster number $b$ have not been reported before. Together with the existing values in other spatial dimensions $d$, the $d$-dependent behavior of the critical exponents is obtained, and a local maximum of $d_{\rm B}$ is observed near $d \approx 5$. It is suggested that, as expected, critical percolation clusters become more and more dendritic as $d$ increases.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2018

Geometric properties of the Fortuin-Kasteleyn representation of the Ising model

We present a Monte Carlo study of the Fortuin-Kasteleyn (FK) clusters of the Ising model on the square (2D) and simple-cubic (3D) lattices. The wrapping probability, a dimensionless quantity characterizing the topology of the FK clusters on a torus, is found to suffer from smaller finite-size corrections than the well-known Binder ratio, and yields a high-precision critical coupling as $K_c(3\rm D)=0.221\,654\,631(8)$. We then study geometric properties of the FK clusters at criticality. It is demonstrated that the distribution of the critical largest-cluster size $C_1$ follows a single-variable function as $P(C_1,L){\rm d}C_1=\tilde P(x){\rm d}x$ with $x\equiv C_1/L^{d_{\rm F}}$ ($L$ is the linear size), and that the fractal dimension $d_{\rm F}$ is identical to the magnetic exponent. An interesting bimodal feature is observed in distribution $\tilde P(x)$ in 3D, and attributed to the different approaching behaviors for $K \to K_c+0^\pm$. For a critical FK configuration, the cluster number per site $n(s,L)$ of size $s$ is confirmed to obey the standard scaling form $n(s,L)\sim s^{-τ}\tilde n(s/L^{d_{\rm F}})$, with hyper-scaling relation $τ=1+d/d_{\rm F}$ and the spatial dimension $d$. To further characterize the compactness of the FK clusters, we measure their graph distances and determine the shortest-path exponents as $d_{\rm min}(3\rm D)=1.259\,4(2)$ and $d_{\rm min}(2\rm D)=1.094\,0(3)$. Further, by excluding all the bridges from the occupied bonds, we obtain bridge-free configurations and determine the backbone exponents as $d_{\rm B}(3\rm D)=2.167\,3(15)$ and $d_{\rm B}(2\rm D)=1.732\,1(4)$. The estimates of the universal wrapping probabilities for the 3D Ising model and of the geometric critical exponents $d_{\rm min}$ and $d_{\rm B}$ either improve over the existing results or have not been reported yet.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Critical percolation clusters in seven dimensions and on a complete graph

We study critical bond percolation on a seven-dimensional (7D) hypercubic lattice with periodic boundary conditions and on the complete graph (CG) of finite volume $V$. We numerically confirm that for both cases, the critical number density $n(s,V)$ of clusters of size $s$ obeys a scaling form $n(s,V) \sim s^{-τ} \tilde{n} (s/V^{d^*_{\rm f}})$ with identical volume fractal dimension $d^*_{\rm f}=2/3$ and exponent $τ= 1+1/d^*_{\rm f}=5/2$. We then classify occupied bonds into {\em bridge} bonds, which includes {\em branch} and {\em junction} bonds, and {\em non-bridge} bonds; a bridge bond is a branch bond if and only if its deletion produces at least one tree. Deleting branch bonds from percolation configurations produces {\em leaf-free} configurations, whereas, deleting all bridge bonds leads to {\em bridge-free} configurations. It is shown that the fraction of non-bridge (bi-connected) bonds vanishes $ρ_{\rm n, CG}$$\rightarrow$0 for large CGs, but converges to a finite value $ ρ_{\rm n, 7D} =0.006 \, 193 \, 1(7)$ for the 7D hypercube. Further, we observe that while the bridge-free dimension $d^*_{\rm bf}=1/3$ holds for both the CG and 7D cases, the volume fractal dimensions of the leaf-free clusters are different: $d^*_{\rm \ell f, 7D} = 0.669 (9) \approx 2/3$ and $d^*_{\rm \ell f, CG} = 0. 333 7 (17) \approx 1/3$. We also study the behavior of the number and the size distribution of leaf-free and bridge-free clusters. For the number of clusters, we numerically find the number of leaf-free and bridge-free clusters on the CG scale as $\sim \ln V$, while for 7D they scale as $\sim V$. Our work demonstrates that the geometric structure of high-dimensional percolation clusters cannot be fully accounted for by their complete-graph counterparts.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗