arXiv subjects

Sergio Lerma-Hernández

Publications and source records attributed to Sergio Lerma-Hernández.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Electromagnetic properties in $^{160-170}$Dy nuclei: A microscopic description by the pseudo-SU(3) shell model

The large collectivity observed in the rare earth region of the nuclear landscape is well known. The microscopic studies are difficult to perform in this region due to the enormous size of the valence spaces, a problem that can be avoided by means of the use of symmetry based models. Here we present calculations for electromagnetic properties of $^{160-170}$Dy nuclei within the pseudo-SU(3) scheme. The model Hamiltonian includes the preserving symmetry $Q\cdot Q$ term and the symmetry-breaking Nilsson and pairing terms, systematically parametrized for all members of the chain. The model is used to calculate B(E2) and B(M1) inter-band transition strengths between the ground state, $γ$ and $β$-bands. In addition, we present results for quadrupole moments and $g$ factors in these rotational bands. The results show that the pseudo-SU(3) shell model is a powerful microscopic theory for a description of electromagnetic properties of states in the normal parity sector in heavy deformed nuclei.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2026

Classical and Quantum Properties of the Spin-Boson Dicke Model: Chaos, Localization, and Scarring

This review article describes major developments associated with the Dicke model, from its introduction in the 1950s to explain the transition from a normal to a superradiant phase to its modern applications in quantum many-body physics. Over the decades, this interacting spin-boson model has played a central role in the study of collective light-matter interactions, chaos, and quantum phase transitions. We focus on properties and phenomena that are best understood when seen from both the classical and quantum perspectives, with particular emphasis on the emergence of chaos, localization, and scarring. While our primary emphasis is on the isolated model, we also discuss recent advances in the open Dicke model, where environmental couplings are needed for describing realistic experimental platforms and exploring new regimes of quantum dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Resonant fragility and nonresonant robustness of Floquet eigenstates in kicked spin systems

In classical systems, the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) theorem establishes that resonant tori of integrable Hamiltonians are destroyed by any nonintegrable perturbation, whereas nonresonant tori are only deformed up to a finite value of the perturbation parameter. In this contribution, we identify a quantum analog of this differentiated sensitivity for one-degree-of-freedom spin Hamiltonians subject to periodic instantaneous kicks. After detecting quantum signatures of resonances in the participation ratio and in the quasiprobability phase-space distribution of Floquet eigenstates of the perturbed Hamiltonian, we show that eigenstates of the unperturbed Hamiltonian exhibit greater sensitivity against the perturbation when they satisfy a resonant condition. The sensitivity is quantified through the fidelity between perturbed and unperturbed eigenstates. This differentiated sensitivity becomes increasingly pronounced as the system size grows. Our findings are supported by numerical results and insights from analytical calculations based on unitary perturbation theory. Although our analysis focuses on kicked models, the mechanism could be extended to more general periodic drivings, providing a preliminary step toward a quantum counterpart of the classical breaking of resonant tori.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Resonance Assisted Tunneling in Floquet spin-J systems

We apply the theory of Resonance Assisted Tunneling (RAT) to a many-body quantum kicked system with a well-defined semiclassical limit. Using a quantum resonant condition, we identify eigenstates associated with classical resonances and compute their quasienergy splitting semiclassically. We distinguish two regimes: the first, where RAT predictions show excellent agreement with exact quantum results, and a second, where the splitting saturates and coincides with that of a harmonic oscillator with frequency determined by the classical oscillation of the resonance island. We quantify the perturbation strength above which RAT theory is no longer valid and analyze its scaling in the semiclassical limit, providing analytical expressions to estimate this upper bound.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Quantum multifractality as a probe of phase space in the Dicke model

We study the multifractal behavior of coherent states projected in the energy eigenbasis of the spin-boson Dicke Hamiltonian, a paradigmatic model describing the collective interaction between a single bosonic mode and a set of two-level systems. By examining the linear approximation and parabolic correction to the mass exponents, we find ergodic and multifractal coherent states and show that they reflect details of the structure of the classical phase space, including chaos, regularity, and features of localization. The analysis of multifractality stands as a sensitive tool to detect changes and structures in phase space, complementary to classical tools to investigate it. We also address the difficulties involved in the multifractal analyses of systems with unbounded Hilbert spaces.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Chaos and Thermalization in the Spin-Boson Dicke Model

We present a detailed analysis of the connection between chaos and the onset of thermalization in the spin-boson Dicke model. This system has a well-defined classical limit with two degrees of freedom, and it presents both regular and chaotic regions. Our studies of the eigenstate expectation values and the distributions of the off-diagonal elements of the number of photons and the number of excited atoms validate the diagonal and off-diagonal eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) in the chaotic region, thus ensuring thermalization. The validity of the ETH reflects the chaotic structure of the eigenstates, which we corroborate using the von Neumann entanglement entropy and the Shannon entropy. Our results for the Shannon entropy also make evident the advantages of the so-called "efficient basis" over the widespread employed Fock basis when investigating the unbounded spectrum of the Dicke model. The efficient basis gives us access to a larger number of converged states than what can be reached with the Fock basis.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Effective dimensions of infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces: A phase-space approach

By employing Husimi quasiprobability distributions, we show that a bounded portion of an unbounded phase space induces a finite effective dimension in an infinite dimensional Hilbert space. We compare our general expressions with numerical results for the spin-boson Dicke model in the chaotic energy regime, restricting its unbounded four-dimensional phase space to a classically chaotic energy shell. This effective dimension can be employed to characterize quantum phenomena in infinite dimensional systems, such as localization and scarring.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Identification of quantum scars via phase-space localization measures

There is no unique way to quantify the degree of delocalization of quantum states in unbounded continuous spaces. In this work, we explore a recently introduced localization measure that quantifies the portion of the classical phase space occupied by a quantum state. The measure is based on the $α$-moments of the Husimi function and is known as the Rényi occupation of order $α$. With this quantity and random pure states, we find a general expression to identify states that are maximally delocalized in phase space. Using this expression and the Dicke model, which is an interacting spin-boson model with an unbounded four-dimensional phase space, we show that the Rényi occupations with $α>1$ are highly effective at revealing quantum scars. Furthermore, by analyzing the high moments ($α>1$) of the Husimi function, we are able to identify qualitatively and quantitatively the unstable periodic orbits that scar some of the eigenstates of the model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Integrable Model of Topological SO(5) Superfluidity

Assisted by general symmetry arguments and a many-body invariant, we introduce a phase of matter that constitutes a topological SO(5) superfluid. Key to this finding is the realization of an exactly solvable model that displays some similarities with a minimal model of superfluid $^3$He. We study its quantum phase diagram and correlations, and find exotic superfluid as well as metallic phases in the repulsive sector. At the critical point separating trivial and nontrivial superfluid phases, our Hamiltonian reduces to the globally SO(5)-symmetric Gaudin model with a degenerate ground manifold that includes quartet states. Most importantly, the exact solution permits uncovering of an interesting non-pair-breaking mechanism for superfluids subject to external magnetic fields. Nonintegrable modifications of our model lead to a strong-coupling limit of our metallic phase with a ground-state manifold that shows an extensive entropy.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Quantum scarring in a spin-boson system: fundamental families of periodic orbits

As the name indicates, a periodic orbit is a solution for a dynamical system that repeats itself in time. In the regular regime, periodic orbits are stable, while in the chaotic regime, they become unstable. The presence of unstable periodic orbits is directly associated with the phenomenon of quantum scarring, which restricts the degree of delocalization of the eigenstates and leads to revivals in the dynamics. Here, we study the Dicke model in the superradiant phase and identify two sets of fundamental periodic orbits. This experimentally realizable atom-photon model is regular at low energies and chaotic at high energies. We study the effects of the periodic orbits in the structure of the eigenstates in both regular and chaotic regimes and obtain their quantized energies. We also introduce a measure to quantify how much scarred an eigenstate gets by each family of periodic orbits and compare the dynamics of initial coherent states close and away from those orbits.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Ubiquitous quantum scarring does not prevent ergodicity

In a classically chaotic system that is ergodic, any trajectory will be arbitrarily close to any point of the available phase space after a long time, filling it uniformly. Using Born's rules to connect quantum states with probabilities, one might then expect that all quantum states in the chaotic regime should be uniformly distributed in phase space. This simplified picture was shaken by the discovery of quantum scarring, where some eigenstates are concentrated along unstable periodic orbits. Despite of that, it is widely accepted that most eigenstates of chaotic models are indeed ergodic. Our results show instead that all eigenstates of the chaotic Dicke model are actually scarred. They also show that even the most random states of this interacting atom-photon system never occupy more than half of the available phase space. Quantum ergodicity is achievable only as an ensemble property, after temporal averages are performed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Trigonometric SU(N) Richardson-Gaudin models and dissipative multi-level atomic systems

We derive the exact solution of a system of N-level atoms in contact with a Markovian reservoir. The resulting Liouvillian expressed in a vectorized basis is mapped to an SU(N) trigonometric Richardson-Gaudin model whose exact solution for the complete set of eigenmodes is given by a set of non-linear coupled equations. For N = 2 (SU(2)) we recover the exact solution of Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 010401 (2019). We then study the SU(3) case for three-level atom systems and discuss the properties of the steady state and dissipative gaps for finite systems as well as for the thermodynamic limit.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Positive quantum Lyapunov exponents in experimental systems with a regular classical limit

Quantum chaos refers to signatures of classical chaos found in the quantum domain. Recently, it has become common to equate the exponential behavior of out-of-time order correlators (OTOCs) with quantum chaos. The quantum-classical correspondence between the OTOC exponential growth and chaos in the classical limit has indeed been corroborated theoretically for some systems and there are several projects to do the same experimentally. The Dicke model, in particular, which has a regular and a chaotic regime, is currently under intense investigation by experiments with trapped ions. We show, however, that for experimentally accessible parameters, OTOCs can grow exponentially also when the Dicke model is in the regular regime. The same holds for the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, which is integrable and also experimentally realizable. The exponential behavior in these cases are due to unstable stationary points, not to chaos.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Quantum and Classical Lyapunov Exponents in Atom-Field Interaction Systems

The exponential growth of the out-of-time-ordered correlator (OTOC) has been proposed as a quantum signature of classical chaos. The growth rate is expected to coincide with the classical Lyapunov exponent. This quantum-classical correspondence has been corroborated for the kicked rotor and the stadium billiard, which are one-body chaotic systems. The conjecture has not yet been validated for realistic systems with interactions. We make progress in this direction by studying the OTOC in the Dicke model, where two-level atoms cooperatively interact with a quantized radiation field. For parameters where the model is chaotic in the classical limit, the OTOC increases exponentially in time with a rate that closely follows the classical Lyapunov exponent.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Analytical description of the survival probability of coherent states in regular regimes

Using coherent states as initial states, we investigate the quantum dynamics of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) and Dicke models in the semi-classical limit. They are representative models of bounded systems with one- and two-degrees of freedom, respectively. The first model is integrable, while the second one has both regular and chaotic regimes. Our analysis is based on the survival probability. Within the regular regime, the energy distribution of the initial coherent states consists of quasi-harmonic sub-sequences of energies with Gaussian weights. This allows for the derivation of analytical expressions that accurately describe the entire evolution of the survival probability, from $t=0$ to the saturation of the dynamics. The evolution shows decaying oscillations with a rate that depends on the anharmonicity of the spectrum and, in the case of the Dicke model, on interference terms coming from the simultaneous excitation of its two-degrees of freedom. As we move away from the regular regime, the complexity of the survival probability is shown to be closely connected with the properties of the corresponding classical phase space. Our approach has broad applicability, since its central assumptions are not particular of the studied models.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Thermal and Quantum Phase Transitions in Atom-Field Systems: a Microcanonical Analysis

The thermodynamical properties of a generalized Dicke model are calculated and related with the critical properties of its energy spectrum, namely the quantum phase transitions (QPT) and excited state quantum phase transitions (ESQPT). The thermal properties are calculated both in the canonical and the microcanonical ensembles. The latter deduction allows for an explicit description of the relation between thermal and energy spectrum properties. While in an isolated system the subspaces with different pseudo spin are disconnected, and the whole energy spectrum is accesible, in the thermal ensamble the situation is radically different. The multiplicity of the lowest energy states for each pseudo spin completely dominates the thermal behavior, making the set of degenerate states with the smallest pseudo spin at a given energy the only ones playing a role in the thermal properties, making the positive energy states thermally inaccesible. Their quantum phase transitions, from a normal to a superradiant phase, are closely associated with the thermal transition. The other critical phenomena, the ESQPTs occurring at excited energies, have no manifestation in the thermodynamics, although their effects could be seen in finite sizes corrections. A new superradiant phase is found, which only exists in the generalized model, and can be relevant in finite size systems.

quant-ph↗