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Sebastian Diehl

Publications and source records attributed to Sebastian Diehl.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Far-from-equilibrium topological phase transition in one dimension

We uncover a mechanism for far-from-equilibrium topological phase transitions, via a one-dimensional compact phase model evolving deterministically from random initial conditions. It rests on topology and symmetry rather than on phenomenological postulates: phase compactness permits vortices, and a homogeneous fixed point suppresses their nucleation, with the fixed point itself implied by phase-shift symmetry. The competition between vortex-induced disordering and relaxation toward homogeneity drives a continuous nonequilibrium transition, whose universality class we identify as directed percolation (DP). We demonstrate this by constructing the corresponding effective field theory and numerically confirming DP critical scaling through dynamical-scaling analysis.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Far-from-equilibrium scaling of non-abelian Goldstone modes

We identify a broad class of nonthermal phases generated by the interplay of continuous symmetry breaking and weak nonequilibrium driving. Extending Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) physics beyond the single $SO(2)$ chronon associated with periodically broken time translations, we construct nonequilibrium nonlinear sigma models for $SO(2)\times O(N)$ symmetry, describing non-Abelian time crystals with coexisting temporal and internal order. This symmetry structure arises naturally in driven quantum materials, active matter, and optically induced periodic states. For rotating and oscillating phases, we derive the Goldstone theories and show that chronon-$O(N)$ couplings remain finite deep in the ordered regime. One-loop renormalization group analysis reveals a KPZ-like dimensional structure: in $d=1,2$, arbitrarily weak nonequilibrium perturbations destabilize the equilibrium fixed point and generate strongly coupled nonthermal fixed points, realizing emergent equilibrium breaking. By contrast, for $d > 2$, weak perturbations are irrelevant and effective equilibrium is restored. A central result is unconventional weak dynamic scaling in the rotating phase: strongly coupled Goldstone sectors acquire distinct universal dynamical exponents despite belonging to the same order parameter. We characterize this scaling analytically and corroborate it through direct simulations in $1+1$ dimensions. In the oscillating phase, we recover and extend weak-scaling regimes known from drifting polymers. Finally, compactness and topological defects ultimately destroy long-range order but leave experimentally accessible nonthermal scaling windows. Together, these results extend KPZ universality to non-Abelian symmetry breaking.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Driven-dissipative superconductivity in moir\'e heterostructure without attraction

Dissipative preparation of quantum order offers a route to superconductivity that does not rely on enhancing attractive interactions. Here we propose a driven-dissipative protocol to prepare superconductivity as a stationary state of a two-dimensional moir\'e heterostructure. The key ingredient is a bilayer moir\'e platform in which the layer degree of freedom acts as a pseudospin, allowing the pseudospin structure required for pairing to be implemented through optically induced spatial operations. This preparation scheme requires local dissipation, which we show to arises naturally from weakly dispersive bosonic modes in the heterostructure. In contrast, in the opposite regime of collective dissipation, the same platform exhibits an early-time superradiant burst. Our results establish driven-dissipative moir\'e heterostructures as a promising platform for preparing superconductivity, while also revealing a connection between steady-state pairing and transient superradiance.

cond-mat.str-el

Anomaly and symmetry-charge flow in mixed states

The $(1+1)$-dimensional chiral anomaly is a paradigmatic exact result in quantum field theory, traditionally formulated for zero-temperature pure states where it arises from spectral flow induced by external gauge fields and captures universal ground-state properties. In mixed states, however, the participation of many states and charge exchange with the environment invalidate this mechanism. Naive extensions yield model-dependent anomaly coefficients, calling its universality into question. Here, we resolve this problem for Abelian symmetries by deriving the anomaly from an algebraic relation between the symmetry and its flux-insertion operator. We obtain symmetry-charge flow, a mixed-state generalization of spectral flow, in which an applied field redistributes statistical weight across symmetry-resolved charge sectors. Fixed solely by symmetry, the anomaly restores universality and applies to both pure and mixed states in fermionic and bosonic systems. We substantiate these results in tight-binding fermionic models with continuous symmetry and in spin models with discrete symmetries.

cond-mat.str-el

Diffusion in quantum state preparation: From passive cooling to system-bath engineering

We investigate and compare two particle number-conserving protocols for the preparation of a topologically nontrivial state. The first is derived from thermally coupling the system to a cold bath, while the second is based on engineered dissipation. We numerically study the time required to reach the target state as well as its robustness against physically important perturbations. Crucially, in both protocols, the cooling capability is limited by dissipatively induced diffusion processes. The resulting quadratic scaling of the cooling time with system size is also corroborated analytically using mean-field approximations and a purely classical random-walk model. Furthermore, we find that the engineered protocol admits a unique and stable dark state, which contributes to an ongoing discussion regarding the applicability of dissipative state preparation to many-body systems.

cond-mat.quant-gas

Tracking the Catastrophic Collapse of Hybrid Exciton-Phonon Order in a Quantum Material

Revealing the interactions binding electronic and lattice components of cooperative quantum order is central to sculpting new states of matter. This challenge is epitomized by the charge density wave material 1T-TiSe$_2$, where photoexcitation disrupts its presumed hybrid exciton-phonon order. This exposes a paradox: the electronic component collapses within femtoseconds while the periodic lattice distortion persists. If the lattice distortion outlives the excitonic condensate, were they truly intertwined? Here we resolve this by uncovering a low-frequency mode (approx. 0.13 THz) emerging only in the ordered state, signaling exciton-phonon coupling. This mode is consistent with a locked phason -- a collective excitation arising if coupling between the excitonic condensate and lattice reduces continuous phase symmetry to a discrete one, giving the excitonic Goldstone mode finite mass. This is captured by an effective theory describing a shared potential landscape. At a critical threshold, the collapse of excitonic order flattens the potential, triggering an exciton-phonon catastrophe: selective overheating of the charge density wave phonon, disappearance of the locked phason, and sudden loss of electronic coherence. Remarkably, the lattice distortion survives as a dynamically trapped, non-thermal remnant, confirmed by the anomalous temperature dependence of the phononic response. These findings demonstrate that coupled potential energy landscapes can be manipulated to selectively dismantle complex quantum orders, advancing material control through dynamical design.

physics.app-ph

From Kardar-Parisi-Zhang scaling to soliton proliferation in Josephson junction arrays

We propose Josephson junction arrays as realistic platforms for observing nonequilibrium scaling laws characterizing the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class, and space-time soliton proliferation. Focusing on a two-chain ladder geometry, we perform numerical simulations for the roughness function. Together with analytical arguments, our results predict KPZ scaling at intermediate time scales, extending over sufficiently long time scales to be observable, followed by a crossover to the asymptotic long-time regime governed by soliton proliferation.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Fermion quantum criticality far from equilibrium

Driving a quantum system out of equilibrium while preserving its subtle quantum mechanical correlations on large scales presents a major challenge, both fundamentally and for technological applications. At its core, this challenge is pinpointed by the question of how quantum effects can persist at asymptotic scales, analogous to quantum critical points in equilibrium. In this work, we construct such a scenario using fermions as building blocks. These fermions undergo an absorbing-to-absorbing state transition between two topologically distinct and quantum-correlated dark states. Starting from a microscopic, interacting Lindbladian, we derive an effective Lindblad-Keldysh field theory in which critical fermions couple to a bosonic bath with hydrodynamic fluctuations associated with particle number conservation. A key feature of this field theory is an emergent symmetry that protects the purity of the fermions' state even in the presence of the thermal bath. We quantitatively characterise the critical point using a leading-order expansion around the upper critical dimension, thereby establishing the first non-equilibrium universality class of fermions. The symmetry protection mechanism, which exhibits parallels to the problem of directed percolation, suggests a pathway toward a broader class of robust, universal quantum phenomena in fermionic systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Nonequilibrium orders in parametrically driven field theories

Driving quantum materials with coherent light has proven a powerful platform to realize a plethora of interesting phases and transitions, ranging from ferroelectricity to superconductivity and limit cycles in pumped magnonics. In this paper we develop the field theoretical framework to describe nonequilibrium phases that emerge in systems pumped by rapid parametric drives. We consider paradigmatic O(N) models that describe the long-wavelength fluctuations of ordering fields in many condensed matter set ups. We show that rapid parametric driving of these models can induce an effective pump mechanism in the long wavelength regime through nonlinear scattering. This induces a nonequilibrium transition into a time-crystalline phase.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Observation of Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universal scaling in two dimensions

Equilibrium and nonequilibrium states of matter can exhibit fundamentally different behavior. A key example is the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class in two spatial dimensions (2D KPZ), where microscopic deviations from equilibrium give rise to macroscopic scaling laws without equilibrium counterparts. While extensively studied theoretically, direct experimental evidence of 2D KPZ scaling has remained limited to interface growth so far. Here, we report the observation of universal scaling consistent with the KPZ universality class in 2D exciton-polariton condensates -- quantum fluids of light that are inherently driven and dissipative, thus breaking equilibrium conditions. Using momentum-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy as well as space- and time-resolved interferometry, we probe the phase correlations across microscopically different systems, varying drive conditions in two distinct lattice geometries. Our analysis reveals correlation dynamics and scaling exponents in excellent agreement with 2D KPZ predictions. These results establish exciton-polariton condensates as a robust experimental platform for exploring 2D nonequilibrium universality quantitatively, and open new avenues for investigating the emergence of coherence in interacting quantum systems far from equilibrium.

quant-ph

Numerical renormalization of glassy dynamics

The quench dynamics of glassy systems are challenging. Due to aging, the system never reaches a stationary state but instead evolves on emergent scales that grow with its age. This slow evolution complicates field-theoretic descriptions, as the weak long-term memory and the absence of a stationary state hinder simplifications of the memory, always leading to the worst-case scaling of computational effort with the cubic power of the simulated time. Here, we present an algorithm based on two-dimensional interpolations of Green's functions, which resolves this issue and achieves sublinear scaling of computational cost. We apply it to the quench dynamics of the spherical mixed $p$-spin model to establish the existence of a phase transition between glasses with strong and weak ergodicity breaking at a finite temperature of the initial state. By reaching times three orders of magnitude larger than previously attainable, we determine the critical exponents of this transition. Interestingly, these are continuously varying and, therefore, non-universal. While we introduce and validate the method in the context of a glassy system, it is equally applicable to any model with overdamped excitations.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Topological response in open quantum systems with weak symmetries

In open quantum systems, the interaction of the system with its environment gives rise to two types of symmetry: a strong one, where the system's symmetry charge is conserved exactly, and a weak one, where the system can exchange symmetry charge with the environment but still preserve symmetry at the ensemble level. While generic open quantum systems feature weak symmetries only, the symmetry protected topological response for bosonic/spin systems has only been considered in the stricter setup with additional strong symmetries. Here, we address the generic case and demonstrate that weak symmetries alone can protect topological responses that distinguish different phases of matter. For bosonic systems, focusing on one-dimensional mixed states described by locally purifiable density operators, we propose a quantized response characterizing qualitatively distinct phases. It is detectable via the decay behavior of different string order parameters. We illustrate our general results through a noisy Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki model. In particular, we show that the coupling to the environment can induce a phase transition to a state protected by weak symmetries, without a pure-state or strong-symmetry analog.

quant-ph

Nonperturbative treatment of a quenched Langevin field theory

We present a novel approach within the functional renormalization group framework for computing critical exponents that characterize the time evolution of out-of-equilibrium many-body systems. Our approach permits access to quantities involved in the renormalization procedure, using an expansion about time-translation invariant problems. This expansion can be upgraded to a fully time-dependent computation by iteration. As a prototypical example, we compute the aging exponent $\theta$ describing the dynamics of model A following a sudden quench to the critical point. Already at leading order, the approach demonstrates remarkable accuracy when compared with MC simulations and resummed perturbative expansions in the range $2<d<4$. This yields results that surpass those of the two-loop $\epsilon$ expansion in accuracy and match analytically known benchmarks at large $N$. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of out-of-equilibrium universality and open new avenues for non-perturbative studies of critical dynamics, as well as for exploring the critical behavior of systems with spatial boundaries.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Monitored interacting Dirac fermions

We analytically study interacting Dirac fermions, described by the Thirring model, under weak local particle number measurements with monitoring rate $\gamma$. This system maps to a bosonic replica field theory, analyzed via the renormalization group. For a nonzero attractive interaction, a phase transition occurs at a critical measurement strength $\gamma_c$. When $\gamma>\gamma_c$, the system enters a localized phase characterized by exponentially decaying density-density correlations beyond a finite correlation length; for $\gamma<\gamma_c$, the correlations decay algebraically. The transition is of BKT-type, reflected by a characteristic scaling of the correlation length. In the non-interacting limit, $\gamma_c\to0$ shifts to zero, reducing the algebraic phase to a single point in parameter space. This identifies weak measurements in the free case as an implicit double fine-tuning to the critical endpoint of the BKT phase transition. Along the non-interacting line, we compute the entanglement entropy from density-density correlation functions and find no entanglement transition at nonzero measurement strength in the thermodynamic limit.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Coherent information as a mixed-state topological order parameter of fermions

Quantum error correction protects quantum information against decoherence provided the noise strength remains below a critical threshold. This threshold marks the critical point for the decoding phase transition. Here we connect this transition in the toric code to a topological phase transition in disordered Majorana fermions at high temperatures. A quantum memory in the error correctable phase is captured by the presence of a Majorana zero mode, trapped in vortex defects associated with twisted boundary conditions. These results are established by expressing the coherent information, which measures the amount of recoverable quantum information in a given noisy code, in terms of a mixed-state topological order parameter of fermions. Our work hints at a broader connection of the robustness of quantum information in stabilizer codes and mixed-state topological phase transitions in symmetry protected fermion matter.

quant-ph

Kardar-Parisi-Zhang scaling in time-crystalline matter

We discuss the universal behavior linked to the Goldstone mode associated with the spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry in many-body systems, in which the order parameter traces out a limit cycle. We show that this universal behavior is closely tied to Kardar-Parisi-Zhang physics, which can strongly affect the scaling properties in all dimensions. Our work predicts the relevance of KPZ in numerous systems such as nonreciprocal phases in active matter, active magnets, driven-dissipative quantum systems, and synchronization of oscillators.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Error threshold in active steering protocols for few-qubit systems

We study active steering protocols for weakly measured qubits in the presence of error channels due to amplitude and phase noise. If the error rate is sufficiently small, the protocol approaches and stabilizes a predesignated pure target state with high fidelity and high purity, and thus implements autonomous state stabilization. We present numerical simulation results for one and two qubits, taking Andreev qubit circuits as example. As function of the error rate, a sharp threshold separates an error-correcting weak-damping regime from a strong-damping regime where the target state cannot be reached anymore. At the threshold, the purity gap closes.

quant-ph

Interaction-induced topological phase transition at finite temperature

We demonstrate the existence of topological phase transitions in interacting, symmetry-protected quantum matter at finite temperatures. Using a combined numerical and analytical approach, we study a one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with added Hubbard interactions, where no thermodynamic phase transition occurs at finite temperatures. The transition is signalled by a quantized, non-local bulk topological order parameter. It is driven by defects, which are enabled by the combination of interaction and thermal activation, with no counterpart in the non-interacting limit. The defects localize topological zero modes, which, when sufficiently abundant, cause the order parameter to vanish. This phenomenon, interpreted via bulk-boundary correspondence, reflects the loss of a topological edge mode at a well-defined critical temperature in the thermodynamic limit. Unlike zero-temperature topological transitions, these finite-temperature transitions lack thermodynamic signatures but remain observable in controlled quantum systems, such as ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices.

cond-mat.quant-gas