arXiv subjects

Pierre-Antoine Graham

Publications and source records attributed to Pierre-Antoine Graham.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum Electron Quasicrystal

The strongly correlated phases of the homogeneous electron gas constitute the vocabulary of many-body condensed matter physics and find a natural realization in semiconductors. In this setting, recent neural-network variational Monte Carlo calculations discovered an unexpected quantum phase of matter in wide quantum wells: an electronic quasicrystal formed by a bilayer Wigner crystals with a 30-degrees twist. This state defies classical expectations and emerges in a regime dominated by quantum fluctuations. Here, we develop an analytical framework to reveal its origin. By computing zero-point energy corrections to bilayer Wigner crystal configurations, we show that quantum fluctuations qualitatively reshape the energetic landscape, destabilizing the classical honeycomb state and selecting the 30-degrees quasicrystalline ground state over a broad parameter range. Our results identify zero-point motion as the mechanism stabilizing the electronic quasicrystal and establish a route to spontaneous moir\'e physics driven by many-body quantum effects.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Electronic crystals and quasicrystals in semiconductor quantum wells: an AI-powered discovery

The homogeneous electron gas is a cornerstone of quantum condensed matter physics, providing the foundation for developing density functional theory and understanding electronic phases in semiconductors. However, theoretical understanding of strongly-correlated electrons in realistic semiconductor systems remains limited. In this work, we develop a neural network based variational approach to study quantum wells in three dimensional geometry for a variety of electron densities and well thicknesses. Starting from first principles, our unbiased AI-powered method reveals metallic and crystalline phases with both monolayer and bilayer charge distributions. In the emergent bilayer, we discover a new quantum phase of matter: the electronic quasicrystal.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Trajectory-Protected Quantum Computing

We introduce a novel method that simultaneously isolates a quantum computer from decoherence and enables the controlled implementation of computational gates. We demonstrate a quantum computing model that utilizes a qubit's motion to protect it from decoherence. We model a qubit interacting with a quantum field via the standard light-matter interaction model: an Unruh-DeWitt detector, i.e., the qubit, follows a prescribed classical trajectory while interacting with a scalar quantum field. We switch off the rotating-wave terms, i.e., the resonant transitions, using the technique of acceleration-induced transparency which eliminates the dominant decoherence channels by controlling the qubit's trajectory. We are able to perform one-qubit gates by stimulating the counter-rotating wave terms (i.e., the non-resonant transitions) and two-qubit gates by extracting the entanglement from the quantum field prepared in a squeezed state. Finally, we discuss the fundamental limits on quantum error protection: on the trade-off between isolating a quantum computer from decoherence, and the speed with which entangling gates may be applied, comparable to the Eastin-Knill theorem for quantum error correction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Van Roosbroeck's equations with topological terms: the case of Weyl semimetals

Van Roosbroeck's equations constitute a versatile tool to determine the dynamics of electrons under time- and space-dependent perturbations. Extensively utilized in ordinary semiconductors, their potential to model devices made from topological materials remains untapped. Here, we adapt van Roosbroeck's equations to theoretically study the bulk response of a Weyl semimetal to an ultrafast and spatially localized light pulse in the presence of a quantizing magnetic field. We predict a transient oscillatory photovoltage that originates from the chiral anomaly. The oscillations take place at the plasma frequency (THz range) and are damped by intervalley scattering and dielectric relaxation. Our results illustrate the ability of van Roosbroeck's equations to unveil the interplay between electronic band topology and fast carrier dynamics in microelectronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Effective fluid mixture of tensor-multi-scalar gravity

We apply to tensor-multi-scalar gravity the effective fluid analysis based on the representation of the gravitational scalar field as a dissipative effective fluid. This generalization poses new challenges as the effective fluid is now a complicated mixture of individual fluids mutually coupled to each other and many reference frames are possible for its description. They are all legitimate, although not all convenient for specific problems, and they give rise to different physical interpretations. Two of these frames are highlighted.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Critical solutions of nonminimally coupled scalar field theory and first-order thermodynamics of gravity

Analytical solutions of nonminimally coupled scalar field cosmology corresponding to critical scalar field values constitute a potential challenge to the recent first-order thermodynamics of scalar-tensor gravity (a formalism picturing general relativity as the zero-temperature equilibrium state for modified gravity). The critical solutions are unstable with respect to homogeneous perturbations, hence unphysical.

gr-qc↗