arXiv subjects

Quentin Marsal

Publications and source records attributed to Quentin Marsal.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Probing Topological Stability with Nonlocal Quantum Geometric Markers

Spatially resolved local quantum geometric markers play a crucial role in the diagnosis of topological phases without long-range translational symmetry, including amorphous systems. Here, we focus on the nonlocality of such markers. We demonstrate that they behave as correlation functions independently of the material's structure, showing sharp variations in the vicinity of topological transitions and exhibiting a unique pattern in real space for each transition. Notably, we find that, even within the same Altland-Zirnbauer class, distinct topological transitions generate qualitatively different spatial signatures, enabling a refined, class-internal probe of topological stability. As such, nonlocal quantum geometric indicators provide a more efficient and versatile tool to understand and predict the stability of topological phase transitions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Laser-induced topological phases in monolayer amorphous carbon

Driving non-topological materials out of equilibrium using time-periodic perturbations, such as circularly-polarized laser light, is a compelling way to engineer topological phases. At the same time, topology has traditionally only been considered for crystalline materials. Here we propose an experimentally feasible way of driving monolayer amorphous carbon topological.We show that circularly polarized laser light induces both regular and anomalous edge modes at quasienergies $0$ and $\pm \pi$, respectively. We also obtain a complete topological characterization using an energy- and space-resolved topological marker based on the spectral localizer. Additionally, by introducing atomic coordination defects in the amorphous carbon, we establish the importance of the local atomic coordination in topological amorphous materials. Our work establishes amorphous systems, including carbon, as a versatile and abundant playground to engineer topological phases.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Quantum metric and localization in a quasicrystal

We use the quantum metric to understand the properties of quasicrystals, represented by the one-dimensional (1D) Fibonacci chain. We show that the quantum metric can relate the localization properties of the eigenstates to the self-similarity of both the chain and its energy spectrum. In particular, the quantum metric incorporates information about distances between the local symmetry centers of each eigenstate, making it much more sensitive to the localization properties of quasicrystals than other measures of localization, such as the inverse participation ratio. Importantly, we further find that a complete description of localization requires us to, in addition, introduce a new phasonic component to the quantum metric, along with a similarly mixed phason-position Chern number. Using this, we show that the sum of both position and phasonic components of the quantum metric is lower-bounded by the gap labels associated with each energy gap of the Fibonacci chain, which stem from the Chern number. This establishes a direct link through the quantum geometry between spatial localization and fractal energy spectrum of quasicrystals. Taken together, quantum geometry provides a unifying, yet accessible, understanding of quasicrystals, rooted in their self-similarity and with intriguing consequences also for many-body physics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Enhanced quantum metric due to vacancies in graphene

Random vacancies in a graphene monolayer induce defect states that are known to form a narrow impurity band centered around zero energy at half-filling. We use a space-resolved formulation of the quantum metric and establish a strong enhancement of the electronic correlations in this impurity band. The enhancement is primarily due to strong correlations between pairs of vacancies situated on different sublattices at anomalously large spatial distances. We trace the strong enhancement to both the multifractal vacancy wave functions, which ties the system exactly at the Anderson insulator transition for all defect concentrations, and preserving the chiral symmetry.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Establishing Coherent Momentum-Space Electronic States in Locally Ordered Materials

In our understanding of solids, the formation of highly spatially coherent electronic states, fundamental to command the quantum behavior of materials, relies on the existence of discrete translational symmetry of the crystalline lattice. In contrast, in the absence of long-range order, as in the case of non-crystalline materials, the electronic states are localized and electronic coherence does not develop. This brings forward the fundamental question whether long range order is necessary condition to establish coherence and structured momentum-dependent electronic state, and how to characterize it in the presence of short-range order. Here we study Bi$_2$Se$_3$, a material that exists in its crystalline form with long range order, in amorphous form, with short and medium range order, and in its nanocrystalline form, with reduced short range order. By using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy to directly access the electronic states in a momentum resolved manner, we reveal that, even in the absence of long-range order, a well-defined real-space length scale is sufficient to produce dispersive band structures. Moreover, we observe for the first time a repeated Fermi surface structure of duplicated annuli, reminiscent of Brillouin zone-like repetitions. These results, together with our simulations using amorphous Hamiltonians, reveal that the typical momentum scale where coherence occurs is the inverse average nearest-neighbor distance, the direct fingerprint of the local order of the underlying atomic structure. These results, not only lead the way to a new understanding of electronic coherence in solids, but also open the way to the realization of novel momentum-dependent quantum phenomena such as momentum pairing and spin-orbit coupling, in a much broader class of materials than the currently studied ones, lacking long range crystalline translational symmetry.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Amorphous topological matter: theory and experiment

Topological phases of matter are ubiquitous in crystals, but less is known about their existence in amorphous systems, that lack long-range order. In this perspective, we review the recent progress made on theoretically defining amorphous topological phases and the new phenomenology that they can open. We revisit key experiments suggesting that amorphous topological phases exist in both solid-state and synthetic amorphous systems. We finish by discussing the open questions in the field, that promises to significantly enlarge the set of materials and synthetic systems benefiting from the robustness of topological matter.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Obstructed insulators and flat bands in topological phase-change materials

Phase-change materials are ubiquitous in technology because of their ability to transition between amorphous and crystalline phases fast and reversibly, upon shining light or passing a current. Here we argue that to fully understand their electronic properties it is necessary to define a novel electronic phase: the amorphous obstructed insulator. It differs from an obstructed insulator crystal in that it presents localized edge or surface states irrespective of the sample termination. Consequently, we show that obstructed amorphous insulators in three-dimensions host a surface two-dimensional flat band, detectable using ARPES. Our work establishes basic models for materials where topological and obstructed properties can be switched on and off externally, including two-dimensional surface flatbands.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Topological Weaire-Thorpe models of amorphous matter

Amorphous solids remain outside of the classification and systematic discovery of new topological materials, partially due to the lack of realistic models that are analytically tractable. Here we introduce the topological Weaire-Thorpe class of models, which are defined on amorphous lattices with fixed coordination number, a realistic feature of covalently bonded amorphous solids. Their short-range properties allow us to analytically predict spectral gaps. Their symmetry under permutation of orbitals allows us to analytically compute topological phase diagrams, which determine quantized observables like circular dichroism, by introducing symmetry indicators for the first time in amorphous systems. These models and our procedures to define invariants are generalizable to higher coordination number and dimensions, opening a route towards a complete classification of amorphous topological states in real space using quasilocal properties.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗