arXiv subjects

S. Boettcher

Publications and source records attributed to S. Boettcher.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2014

Renormalization and Scaling in Quantum Walks

We show how to extract the scaling behavior of quantum walks using the renormalization group (RG). We introduce the method by efficiently reproducing well-known results on the one-dimensional lattice. As a nontrivial model, we apply this method to the dual Sierpinski gasket and obtain its exact, closed system of RG-recursions. Numerical iteration suggests that under rescaling the system length, $L^{\prime}=2L$, characteristic times rescale as $t^{\prime}=2^{d_{w}}t$ with the exact walk exponent $d_{w}=\log_{2}\sqrt{5}=1.1609\ldots$. Despite the lack of translational invariance, this is very close to the ballistic spreading, $d_{w}=1$, found for regular lattices. However, we argue that an extended interpretation of the traditional RG formalism will be needed to obtain scaling exponents analytically. Direct simulations confirm our RG-prediction for $d_w$ and furthermore reveal an immensely rich phenomenology for the spreading of the quantum walk on the gasket. Invariably, quantum interference localizes the walk completely with a site-access probability that declines with a powerlaw from the initial site, in contrast with a classical random walk, which would pass all sites with certainty.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

Understanding the origin of band gap formation in graphene on metals: graphene on Cu/Ir(111)

Understanding the nature of the interaction at the graphene/metal interfaces is the basis for graphene-based electron- and spin-transport devices. Here we investigate the hybridization between graphene- and metal-derived electronic states by studying the changes induced through intercalation of a pseudomorphic monolayer of Cu in between graphene and Ir(111), using scanning tunnelling microscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory calculations. We observe the modifications in the band structure by the intercalation process and its concomitant changes in the charge distribution at the interface. Through a state-selective analysis of band hybridization, we are able to determine their contributions to the valence band of graphene giving rise to the gap opening. Our methodology reveals the mechanisms that are responsible for the modification of the electronic structure of graphene at the Dirac point, and permits to predict the electronic structure of other graphene-metal interfaces.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Ordinary Percolation with Discontinuous Transitions

Percolation on a one-dimensional lattice and fractals such as the Sierpinski gasket is typically considered to be trivial because they percolate only at full bond density. By dressing up such lattices with small-world bonds, a novel percolation transition with explosive cluster growth can emerge at a nontrivial critical point. There, the usual order parameter, describing the probability of any node to be part of the largest cluster, jumps instantly to a finite value. Here, we provide a simple example of this transition in form of a small-world network consisting of a one-dimensional lattice combined with a hierarchy of long-range bonds that reveals many features of the transition in a mathematically rigorous manner.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2012

Quantum Search Algorithms on Hierarchical Networks

The "abstract search algorithm" is a well known quantum method to find a marked vertex in a graph. It has been applied with success to searching algorithms for the hypercube and the two-dimensional grid. In this work we provide an example for which that method fails to provide the best algorithm in terms of time complexity. We analyze search algorithms in degree-3 hierarchical networks using quantum walks driven by non-groverian coins. Our conclusions are based on numerical simulations, but the hierarchical structures of the graphs seems to allow analytical results.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Structural and electronic properties of the graphene/Al/Ni(111) intercalation-like system

Decoupling of the graphene layer from the ferromagnetic substrate via intercalation of sp metal has recently been proposed as an effective way to realize single-layer graphene-based spin-filter. Here, the structural and electronic properties of the prototype system, graphene/Al/Ni(111), are investigated via combination of electron diffraction and spectroscopic methods. These studies are accompanied by state-of-the-art electronic structure calculations. The properties of this prospective Al-intercalation-like system and its possible implementations in future graphene-based devices are discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Optimal Vertex Cover for the Small-World Hanoi Networks

The vertex-cover problem on the Hanoi networks HN3 and HN5 is analyzed with an exact renormalization group and parallel-tempering Monte Carlo simulations. The grand canonical partition function of the equivalent hard-core repulsive lattice-gas problem is recast first as an Ising-like canonical partition function, which allows for a closed set of renormalization group equations. The flow of these equations is analyzed for the limit of infinite chemical potential, at which the vertex-cover problem is attained. The relevant fixed point and its neighborhood are analyzed, and non-trivial results are obtained both, for the coverage as well as for the ground state entropy density, which indicates the complex structure of the solution space. Using special hierarchy-dependent operators in the renormalization group and Monte-Carlo simulations, structural details of optimal configurations are revealed. These studies indicate that the optimal coverages (or packings) are not related by a simple symmetry. Using a clustering analysis of the solutions obtained in the Monte Carlo simulations, a complex solution space structure is revealed for each system size. Nevertheless, in the thermodynamic limit, the solution landscape is dominated by one huge set of very similar solutions.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2011

Ground States of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Spin Glass with Levy Bonds

Ground states of Ising spin glasses on fully connected graphs are studied for a broadly distributed bond family. In particular, bonds $J$ distributed according to a Levy distribution P(J)\propto 1/|J|^{1+α}, |J|>1, are investigated for a range of powers α. The results are compared with those for the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) model, where bonds are Gaussian distributed. In particular, we determine the variation of the ground state energy densities with α, their finite-size corrections, measure their fluctuations, and analyze the local field distribution. We find that the energies themselves at infinite system size attain universally the Parisi-energy of the SK as long as the second moment of P(J) exists (α>2), and compare favorably with recent one-step replica symmetry breaking predictions well below α=2. At and just below α=2, the simulations deviate significantly from theoretical expectations. The finite-size investigation reveals that the corrections exponent ωdecays from the SK value ω_{SK}=2/3 already well above α=2, at which point it reaches a minimum. This result is justified with a speculative calculation of a random energy model with Levy bonds. The exponent ρthat describes the variations of the ground state energy fluctuations with system size decays monotonically from its SK value over the entire range of αand apparently vanishes at α=1.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2011

Fixed Point Properties of the Ising Ferromagnet on the Hanoi Networks

The Ising model with ferromagnetic couplings on the Hanoi networks is analyzed with an exact renormalization group. In particular, the fixed-points are determined and the renormalization-group flow for certain initial conditions is analyzed. Hanoi networks combine a one-dimensional lattice structure with a hierarchy of small-world bonds to create a mix of geometric and mean-field properties. Generically, the small-world bonds result in non-universal behavior, i.e. fixed points and scaling exponents that depend on temperature and the initial choice of coupling strengths. It is shown that a diversity of different behaviors can be observed with seemingly small changes in the structure of the networks. Defining interpolating families of such networks, we find tunable transitions between regimes with power-law and certain essential singularities in the critical scaling of the correlation length, similar to the so-called inverted Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition previously observed only in scale-free or dense networks.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2011

Aging in Dense Colloids as Diffusion in the Logarithm of Time

The far-from-equilibrium dynamics of glassy systems share important phenomenological traits. A transition is generally observed from a time-homogeneous dynamical regime to an aging regime where physical changes occur intermittently and, on average, at a decreasing rate. It has been suggested that a global change of the independent time variable to its logarithm may render the aging dynamics homogeneous: for colloids, this entails diffusion but on a logarithmic time scale. Our novel analysis of experimental colloid data confirms that the mean square displacement grows linearly in time at low densities and shows that it grows linearly in the logarithm of time at high densities. Correspondingly, pairs of particles initially in close contact survive as pairs with a probability which decays exponentially in either time or its logarithm. The form of the Probability Density Function of the displacements shows that long-ranged spatial correlations are very long-lived in dense colloids. A phenomenological stochastic model is then introduced which relies on the growth and collapse of strongly correlated clusters ("dynamic heterogeneity"), and which reproduces the full spectrum of observed colloidal behaviors depending on the form assumed for the probability that a cluster collapses during a Monte Carlo update. In the limit where large clusters dominate, the collapse rate is ~1/t, implying a homogeneous, log-Poissonian process that qualitatively reproduces the experimental results for dense colloids. Finally an analytical toy-model is discussed to elucidate the strong dependence of the simulation results on the integrability (or lack thereof) of the cluster collapse probability function.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2011

Graphene on ferromagnetic surfaces and its functionalization with water and ammonia

Here we present an angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), x-ray absorption spec-troscopy (XAS), and density-functional theory (DFT) investigations of water and ammonia ad-sorption on graphene/Ni(111). Our results on graphene/Ni(111) reveal the existence of interface states, originating from the strong hybridization of the graphene π and spin-polarized Ni 3d valence band states. ARPES and XAS data of the H2O (NH3)/graphene/Ni(111) system give an information about the kind of interaction between adsorbed molecules and graphene on Ni(111). The presented experimental data are compared with the results obtained in the framework of the DFT approach.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Quantum Transport through Hierarchical Structures

The transport of quantum electrons through hierarchical lattices is of interest because such lattices have some properties of both regular lattices and random systems. We calculate the electron transmission as a function of energy in the tight binding approximation for two related Hanoi networks. HN3 is a Hanoi network with every site having three bonds. HN5 has additional bonds added to HN3 to make the average number of bonds per site equal to five. We present a renormalization group approach to solve the matrix equation involved in this quantum transport calculation. We observe band gaps in HN3, while no such band gaps are observed in linear networks or in HN5.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2010

Numerical Results for Spin Glass Ground States on Bethe Lattices: Gaussian Bonds

The average ground state energies for spin glasses on Bethe lattices of connectivities r=3,...,15 are studied numerically for a Gaussian bond distribution. The Extremal Optimization heuristic is employed which provides high-quality approximations to ground states. The energies obtained from extrapolation to the thermodynamic limit smoothly approach the ground-state energy of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model for r->\infty. Consistently for all values of r in this study, finite-size corrections are found to decay approximately with ~N^{-4/5}. The possibility of ~N^{-2/3} corrections, found previously for Bethe lattices with a bimodal +-J bond distribution and also for the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model, are constrained to the additional assumption of very specific higher-order terms. Instance-to-instance fluctuations in the ground state energy appear to be asymmetric up to the limit of the accuracy of our heuristic. The data analysis provides insights into the origin of trivial fluctuations when using continuous bonds and/or sparse networks.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2009

Small-World Bonds and Patchy Percolation on the Hanoi Network

The bond-percolation properties of the Hanoi networks are analyzed with the renormalization group. Unlike scale-free networks, they are meant to provide an analytically tractable interpolation between finite dimensional, lattice-based models and their mean-field limits. In percolation, the hierarchical small-world bonds in the Hanoi networks impose a new form of order by uniting otherwise disconnected, local clusters. This "patchy" order results in merely a finite probability to obtain a spanning cluster for certain ranges of the bond probability, unlike the usual 0-1 transition found on ordinary lattices. The various networks studied here exhibit a range of phase behaviors, depending on the prevalence of those long-range bonds. Fixed points in general exhibit non-universal behavior.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2008

Anomalous Diffusion on the Hanoi Networks

Diffusion is modeled on the recently proposed Hanoi networks by studying the mean- square displacement of random walks with time, ~t^{2/d_w}. It is found that diffusion - the quintessential mode of transport throughout Nature - proceeds faster than ordinary, in one case with an exact, anomalous exponent dw = 2-log_2(ϕ) = 1.30576 . . .. It is an instance of a physical exponent containing the "golden ratio" ϕ=(1+\sqrt{5})/2 that is intimately related to Fibonacci sequences and since Euclid's time has been found to be fundamental throughout geometry, architecture, art, and Nature itself. It originates from a singular renormalization group fixed point with a subtle boundary layer, for whose resolution ϕis the main protagonist. The origin of this rare singularity is easily understood in terms of the physics of the process. Yet, the connection between network geometry and the emergence of ϕin this context remains elusive. These results provide an accurate test of recently proposed universal scaling forms for first passage times.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Geometry and Dynamics for Hierarchical Regular Networks

The recently introduced hierarchical regular networks HN3 and HN4 are analyzed in detail. We use renormalization group arguments to show that HN3, a 3-regular planar graph, has a diameter growing as \sqrt{N} with the system size, and random walks on HN3 exhibit super-diffusion with an anomalous exponent d_w = 2 - \log_2ϕ= 1.306..., where ϕ= (\sqrt{5} + 1)/2 = 1.618... is the "golden ratio." In contrast, HN4, a non-planar 4-regular graph, has a diameter that grows slower than any power of N, yet, fast than any power of \ln N . In an annealed approximation we can show that diffusive transport on HN4 occurs ballistically (d_w = 1). Walkers on both graphs possess a first- return probability with a power law tail characterized by an exponent μ= 2 -1/d_w . It is shown explicitly that recurrence properties on HN3 depend on the starting site.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2008

Reduction of Dilute Ising Spin Glasses

The recently proposed reduction method for diluted spin glasses is investigated in depth. In particular, the Edwards-Anderson model with \pm J and Gaussian bond disorder on hyper-cubic lattices in d=2, 3, and 4 is studied for a range of bond dilutions. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of using bond dilution to elucidate low-temperature properties of Ising spin glasses, and provide a starting point to enhance the methods used in reduction. Based on that, a greedy heuristic call ``Dominant Bond Reduction'' is introduced and explored.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2008

Hierarchical, Regular Small-World Networks

Two new classes of networks are introduced that resemble small-world properties. These networks are recursively constructed but retain a fixed, regular degree. They consist of a one-dimensional lattice backbone overlayed by a hierarchical sequence of long-distance links. Both types of networks, one 3-regular and the other 4-regular, lead to distinct behaviors, as revealed by renormalization group studies. The 3-regular networks are planar, have a diameter growing as \sqrt{N} with the system size N, and lead to super-diffusion with an exact, anomalous exponent d_w=1.3057581..., but possesses only a trivial fixed point T_c=0 for the Ising ferromagnet. In turn, the 4-regular networks are non-planar, have a diameter growing as ~2^[\sqrt(\log_2 N^2)], exhibit "ballistic" diffusion (d_w=1), and a non-trivial ferromagnetic transition, T_c>0. It suggest that the 3-regular networks are still quite "geometric", while the 4-regular networks qualify as true small-world networks with mean-field properties. As an example of an application we discuss synchronization of processors on these networks.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2008

Low-Temperature Phase Boundary of dilute Lattice Spin Glasses

The thermal-to-percolative crossover exponent ϕ, well-known for ferromagnetic systems, is studied extensively for Edwards-Anderson spin glasses. The scaling of defect energies are determined at the bond percolation threshold p_c, using an improved algorithm. Simulations extend to system sizes above N=10^8 in dimensions d=2,...,7. The results can be related to the behavior of the transition temperature T_g (p-p_c)^ϕbetween the paramagnetic and the glassy regime for p-> p_c. In three dimensions, where our simulations predict ϕ=1.127(5), this scaling form for T_g provides a rare experimental test of predictions arising from the equilibrium theory of low-temperature spin glasses. For dimension near and above the upper critical dimension, the results provide a new challenge to reconcile mean-field theory with finite-dimensional properties.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗