arXiv subjects

Stephan Haas

Publications and source records attributed to Stephan Haas.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Many-Body Protection of Topological Edge Memory in Strong Interacting Quenches

Quantum quenches drive edge states far from equilibrium, yet whether the memory of a topological initial state survives in a non-integrable, interacting system has remained largely unexplored. We study this question in the bond-alternating XXZ chain---an interacting Su--Schrieffer--Heeger model hosting symmetry-protected topological edge modes with markedly enhanced boundary magnetization---and analyze quenches across all combinations of single-particle and many-body initial and final Hamiltonians. The results organize by a single distinction as we rigorously establish in this work: whether the post-quench Hamiltonian is free or genuinely interacting. For a free post-quench Hamiltonian, the dynamics is solved exactly by a correlation-matrix approach; the boundary-mode return amplitude decays as $t^{-3/2}$, and initial interactions enter only through a dressed one-body density matrix. For a genuinely interacting post-quench Hamiltonian, finite-time stability bounds prove that away from local resonances the first-dimer magnetization remains stable on time windows growing as arbitrarily large powers of the inverse inter-dimer coupling. Matrix product state simulations across all four protocols show that interactions in the final Hamiltonian markedly extend finite-time boundary memory---with local suppression near the isotropic $SU(2)$ point---revealing a many-body protection mechanism in a non-integrable system where scrambling would otherwise wash out initial-state memory fast.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Geometric Decoherence Time in Lindbladian Dynamics

The onset of decoherence in open many-body systems lacks a dynamical timescale grounded in the loss of bipartite entanglement. Here, we introduce the $geometric$ $decoherence$ $time$, defined as the earliest moment the monotone relation between logarithmic negativity and R\'{e}nyi-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ entropy -- exactly equal across any bipartition for pure states -- breaks down under open-system evolution, signaling entropy growth without accompanying entanglement growth. We establish this criterion in both single-particle Gaussian dynamics and many-body Lindbladian evolution. We show that quantum mutual information provides a complementary long-time diagnostic: its asymptotic vanishing is equivalent to factorization of the steady state across the bipartition, a condition strictly stronger than separability, and whenever a product steady state is approached exponentially in trace norm, negativity and mutual information share the same decay rate. In the presence of a strong symmetry, this tracking can fail -- residual classical correlations can survive after entanglement has vanished. In the Kitaev chain with balanced gain and loss, we derive a closed-form solution and show that the topological phase sustains longer coherence times than the trivial phase at identical dissipation, with a local minimum at the chiral-symmetric point. In the interacting XXZ chain, exact many-body evolution shows that local $Z$-dephasing preserves residual classical correlations, whereas gain and loss restore the mutual-information tracking of negativity. Our results establish the geometric decoherence time as a dynamical scale tracking the onset of decoherence.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Dynamics of Majorana Fermions on a Quantum Computer

The study of quasiparticle dynamics is central to understanding non-equilibrium phenomena in quantum many-body systems. Direct simulation of such dynamics on quantum hardware has been limited by circuit depth and noise constraints. In this work, we use a recently developed constant-depth circuit algorithm to examine the real-time evolution of site-resolved magnetization in a transverse-field Ising chain on noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices. By representing each spin as a pair of Majorana fermions, we identify two distinct dynamical regimes governed by the relative strength of spin interaction. Furthermore, we show how local impurities can serve as probes of Majorana modes, acting as dynamical barriers in the weak coupling regime. These results demonstrate that constant-depth quantum circuits provide a viable route for studying quasiparticle propagation and for probing Majorana signatures on currently available quantum processors.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Topological Phase Diagram of Generalized SSH Models with Interactions

We investigate interacting Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains with two- and three-site unit cells using density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations. By selecting appropriate filling fractions and sweeping across interaction strength $ J_z $ and dimerization $ \delta $, we map out their phase diagrams and identify transition lines via entanglement entropy and magnetization measurements. In the two-site model, we observe the emergence of an interaction-induced antiferromagnetic intermediate phase between the topologically trivial and non-trivial regimes, as well as a critical region at negative $ J_z $ with suppressed magnetization and finite-size scaling of entanglement entropy. In contrast, the three-site model lacks an intermediate phase and exhibits asymmetric edge localization and antiferromagnetic ordering in both positive and negative $ J_z $ regimes. We further examine the response of edge states to Ising perturbations. In the two-site model, zero-energy edge modes are topologically protected and remain robust up to a finite interaction strength. However, in the three-site model, where the edge states reside at finite energy, this protection breaks down. Despite this, the edge-localized nature of these states survives in the form of polarized modes whose spatial profiles reflect the non-interacting limit.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Vortex stability in interacting Bose-Einstein condensates

We study the stability of vortices in a binary system of Bose-Einstein condensates, with their wave functions modeled by a set of coupled, time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equations. Beginning with an effective two-dimensional system, we identify miscible and immiscible regimes characterized by the inter- and intra-atomic interactions and the initial configuration of the system. We then consider a binary system of Bose-Einstein condensates placed in a rotating harmonic trap and study the single vortex state in this system. We derive an approximate form for the energy of a single vortex in the binary system and the critical angular velocity for the global stability of a vortex at the center of the trap. We also compute the metastability onset angular velocity for the local stability of a vortex at the center of the trap. Numerical solutions to the Gross-Pitaevskii equations support these expressions. These rotational results inform us of a novel subphase within the miscible regime of the binary condensate system. We thus demonstrate the non-trivial aspects of vortex stability in interacting binary Bose-Einstein condensates as a result of their non-linear interactions.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2024

SNS Junctions along the BCS-BEC Crossover

We present a theory of SNS junctions, a normal metal sandwiched between two superconductors, along the crossover from the BCS to the BEC regime. We calculate the Josephson current as a function of the chemical potential relative to the band edge in the superconducting region, $\mu_S$, where the BEC phase is indicated by $\mu_S <0$. The chemical potential relative to the band edge in the normal metal, $\mu_N$, allows us to tune the junction between the SNS case ($\mu_N>0$) and the SIS case, where the superconductors are separated by a tunneling barrier. We find that there are Andreev levels in the BEC regime, as long as there is sufficient density of states in the normal region, i.e. when $\mu_N>\Delta$, where $\Delta$ is the amplitude of the superconducting order parameter. For 1D SNS junctions, we find the Josephson current $I_S$ carried by these Andreev levels to be a function of the ratio $\Delta/\Delta_d$, where $\Delta_d$ is the Andreev level spacing. At zero temperature, the Josephson current has a maximum on the BCS side of the transition where $\Delta$ is maximal. At finite temperature, however, we find that the maximum moves to the BEC side of the crossover. We identify the mechanism for this phenomenon to be the decrease in the number of Andreev levels at the BCS-BEC crossover, accompanied by an increase in excitation energy to the unoccupied levels, making it less likely that these states are thermally occupied. Thereby, at finite temperature, the Josephson current is more strongly reduced on the BCS side of the crossover, resulting in a maximal Josephson current at the BCS-BEC crossover.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Hofstadter Butterflies in Topological Insulators

In this chapter, we investigate the energy spectra as well as the bulk and surface states in a two-dimensional system composed of a coupled stack of one-dimensional dimerized chains in the presence of an external magnetic field. Specifically, we analyze the Hofstadter butterfly patterns that emerge in a 2D stack of coupled 1D Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains subject to an external transverse magnetic field. Depending on the parameter regime, we find that the energy spectra of this hybrid topological system can exhibit topologically non-trivial bulk bands separated by energy gaps. Upon introducing boundaries into the system, we observe topologically protected in-gap surface states, which are protected either by a non-trivial Chern number or by inversion symmetry. We examine the resilience of these surface states against perturbations, confirming their expected stability against local symmetry-preserving perturbations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Entanglement flow in the Kane-Fisher quantum impurity problem

The problem of a local impurity in a Luttinger liquid, just like the anisotropic Kondo problem (of which it is technically a cousin), describes many different physical systems. As shown by Kane and Fisher, the presence of interactions profoundly modifies the physics familiar from Fermi liquid theory, and leads to non-intuitive features, best described in the Renormalization Group language (RG), such as flows towards healed or split fixed points. While this problem has been studied for many years using more traditional condensed matter approaches, it remains somewhat mysterious from the point of view of entanglement, both for technical and conceptual reasons. We propose and explore in this paper a new way to think of this important aspect. We use the realization of the Kane Fisher universality class provided by an XXZ spin chain with a modified bond strength between two sites and explore the difference of (Von Neumann) entanglement entropies of a region of length $\ell$ with the rest of the system - to which it relates to a modified bond - in the cases when $\ell$ is even and odd. Surprisingly, we find out that this difference $\delta S\equiv S^e-S^o$ remains of $O(1)$ in the thermodynamic limit, and gives rise now, depending on the sign of the interactions, to "resonance" curves, interpolating between $-\ln 2$ and $0$, and depending on the product $\ell T_B$, where $1/T_B$ is a characteristic length scale akin to the Kondo length in Kondo problems. $\delta S$ can be interpreted as a measure of the hybridization of the left-over spin in odd length subsystems with the "bath" constituted by the rest of the chain. The problem is studied both numerically using DMRG and analytically near the healed and split fixed points. Interestingly - and in contrast with what happens in other impurity problems - $\delta S$ can, at least to lowest order, be tackled by conformal perturbation theory.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Superconductivity in the Fibonacci Chain

Superconductivity was recently reported in several quasicrystalline systems. These are materials which are structurally ordered, but since they are not translationally invariant, the usual BCS theory does not apply. At the present time, the underlying mechanism and the properties of the superconducting phase are insufficiently understood. To gain a better understanding of quasiperiodic superconductors, we consider the attractive Hubbard model on the Fibonacci chain, and examine its low-temperature superconducting phase in detail using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes mean-field approach. We obtain superconducting solutions as a function of the parameters controlling the physical properties of the system: the strength of the Hubbard attraction $U$, the chemical potential $\mu$, and the strength of the modulation of the Fibonacci Hamiltonian, $w$. We find that there is a bulk transition at a critical temperature that obeys a power law in $U$. The local superconducting order parameter is self-similar both in real and perpendicular space. The local densities of states vary from site to site, however, the width of the superconducting gap is the same on all sites. The interplay between the Hubbard attraction and the intrinsic gaps of the Fibonacci chain results in a complex zero-temperature $\mu$-$U$ phase diagram with insulating domes surrounded by superconducting regions. Finally, we show that tuning $w$ from weak to strong quasicrystalline modulation gives rise to qualitatively different thermodynamic behaviors as could be observed by measuring the specific heat.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Dynamics of Symmetry-Protected Topological Matter on a Quantum Computer

Control of topological edge modes is desirable for encoding quantum information resiliently against external noise. Their implementation on quantum hardware, however, remains a long-standing problem due to current limitations of circuit depth and noise, which grows with the number of time steps. By utilizing recently developed constant-depth quantum circuits in which the circuit depth is independent of time, we demonstrate successful long-time dynamics simulation of bulk and surface modes in topological insulators on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) processors, which exhibits robust signatures of localized topological modes. We further identify a class of one-dimensional topological Hamiltonians that can be readily simulated with NISQ hardware. Our results provide a pathway towards stable long-time implementation of topological quantum spin systems on present day quantum processors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Entanglement Entropy Growth in Disordered Spin Chains with Tunable Range Interactions

The non-equilibrium dynamics of disordered many-body quantum systems after a global quantum quench unveils important insights about the competition between interactions and disorder, yielding in particular an insightful perspective on many body localization (MBL). Still, the experimentally relevant effect of bond randomness in long-range interacting spin chains on the quantum quench dynamics have so far not been investigated. In this letter, we examine the entanglement entropy growth after a global quench in a quantum spin chain with randomly placed spins and long-range tunable interactions decaying with distance with power $\alpha$. Using a dynamical version of the strong disorder renormalization group (SDRG) we find for $\alpha >\alpha_c$ that the entanglement entropy grows logarithmically with time and becomes smaller with larger $\alpha$ as $S(t) = S_p \ln(t)/(2\alpha)$. Here, $S_p= 2 \ln2 -1$. We use numerical exact diagonalization (ED) simulations to verify our results for system sizes up to $ N\sim 16$ spins, yielding good agreement for sufficiently large $\alpha > \alpha_c \approx 1.8$. For $\alpha<\alpha_c$, we find that the entanglement entropy grows as a power-law with time, $S(t)\sim t^{\gamma(\alpha)}$ with $0<\gamma(\alpha)<1$ a decaying function of the interaction exponent $\alpha$.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2022

Edge and corner superconductivity in a 2D topological model

We consider a two-dimensional generalization of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model which is known to possess a non-trivial topological band structure. For this model, which is characterized by a single parameter, the hopping ratio $0 \leq r\leq 1$, the inhomogeneous superconducting phases induced by an attractive $U$ Hubbard interaction are studied using mean field theory. We show, analytically and by numerical diagonalization, that in lattices with open boundaries, phases with enhanced superconducting order on the corners or the edges can appear, depending on the filling. For finite samples at half filling, the corner site superconducting transition temperature can be much larger than that of the bulk. A novel proximity effect thus arises for $T_{c,bulk} < T<T_{c,corner}$, in which the corner site creates a nonzero tail of the superconducting order in the bulk. We show that such tails should be observable for a range of $r$ and $U$ values.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Real-space BCS-BEC crossover in FeSe monolayer

The quantum many body states in the BCS-BEC crossover regime are of long-lasting interest. Here we report direct spectroscopic evidence of BCS-BEC crossover in real-space in a FeSe monolayer thin film by using spatially resolved scanning tunneling spectra. The crossover is driven by the shift of band structure relative to the Fermi level. The theoretical calculation based on a two-band model qualitatively reproduces the measured spectra in the whole crossover range. In addition, the Zeeman splitting of the quasi-particle states is found to be consistent with the characteristics of a condensate. Our work paves the way to study the exotic states of BCS-BEC crossover in a two-dimensional crystalline material at the atomic scale.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Parity effects and universal terms of O(1) in the entanglement near a boundary

In the presence of boundaries, the entanglement entropy in lattice models is known to exhibit oscillations with the (parity of the) length of the subsystem, which however decay to zero with increasing distance from the edge. We point out in this article that, when the subsystem starts at the boundary and ends at an impurity, oscillations of the entanglement (as well as of charge fluctuations) appear which do not decay with distance, and which exhibit universal features. We study these oscillations in detail for the case of the XX chain with one modified link (a conformal defect) or two successive modified links (a relevant defect), both numerically and analytically. We then generalize our analysis to the case of extended (conformal) impurities, which we interpret as SSH models coupled to metallic leads. In this context, the parity effects can be interpreted in terms of the existence of non-trivial topological phases.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Plasmons in Z2 Topological Insulators

We study plasmonic excitations in the Kane-Mele model, a two-dimensional Z2 topological insulator on the honeycomb lattice, using the random phase approximation (RPA). In the topologically non-trivial phase, the model has conducting edge states that traverse the bulk energy gap and display spin-momentum-locking. Such a state of matter is called the quantum spin hall (QSH) phase, which is robust against time-reversal (TR) invariant perturbations. We find that in the QSH phase, gapless spin-polarized plasmons can be excited on the edges of the system. The propagation of these plasmons is chiral for each individual spin component and shows spin-momentum-locking for both spin components on the same edge. Moreover, we study the effect of external magnetic fields on the gapless edge plasmons. Specifically, out-of-plane magnetic fields delocalize edge plasmons propagating in one direction without affecting the other one, while an in-plane magnetic field can be applied to selectively excite a specific spin-plasmon branch with proper doping or gating to the system. Our findings may have potential applications in novel plasmonic and spintronic devices. We also investigate plasmons in the Kane-Mele model on a finite-sized diamond-shaped nanoflake and observe low-energy plasmons circulating the boundary of the material.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Collision Dynamics of Bose-Einstein Condensates

We study the collision dynamics of two Bose-Einstein condensates with their dynamical wave functions modeled by a set of coupled, time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equations. Beginning with an effective one-dimensional system, we identify regimes characterized by the relationship between inter- and intra-atomic interactions and the initial configuration of the system, akin to the equilibrium phase diagram of two interacting Bose condensates. We consider a dynamical setup in which two wave packets are initially at rest with a small separation about the center of an asymmetric harmonic trap. Upon release, we observe a rapid approach to dynamical equilibrium in the limits of very large and very small inter-particle repulsion, characterized by periodic transmission or reflection of the condensates as distinguishable units, whereas the intermediate, critical regime is characterized by extended transient dynamics, density fracturing, and dynamical mixing. We therefore have reason to believe that non-trivial behavior may exist during the collisions of Bose-Einstein condensates as a result of their non-linear interactions, and these effects may be observable in a suitable laboratory environment.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Emulating Quantum Dynamics with Neural Networks via Knowledge Distillation

High-fidelity quantum dynamics emulators can be used to predict the time evolution of complex physical systems. Here, we introduce an efficient training framework for constructing machine learning-based emulators. Our approach is based on the idea of knowledge distillation and uses elements of curriculum learning. It works by constructing a set of simple, but rich-in-physics training examples (a curriculum). These examples are used by the emulator to learn the general rules describing the time evolution of a quantum system (knowledge distillation). The goal is not only to obtain high-quality predictions, but also to examine the process of how the emulator learns the physics of the underlying problem. This allows us to discover new facts about the physical system, detect symmetries, and measure relative importance of the contributing physical processes. We illustrate this approach by training an artificial neural network to predict the time evolution of quantum wave packages propagating through a potential landscape. We focus on the question of how the emulator learns the rules of quantum dynamics from the curriculum of simple training examples and to which extent it can generalize the acquired knowledge to solve more challenging cases.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Probing Majorana Modes via Local Spin Dynamics

We investigate Majorana modes in a quantum spin chain with bond-dependent exchange interactions by studying its dynamics. Specifically, we consider two-time correlations for the Kitaev-Heisenberg (KH) Hamiltonian close to the so-called Kitaev critical point. Here, the model coincides with a phase boundary of two uncoupled instances of Kitaev's model for p-wave superconductors, together supporting a degenerate ground state characterized by multiple Majorana modes. In this regime, the real-time dynamics of local spins reveal a set of strong zero modes, corresponding to a set of protruding frequencies in the two-time correlation function. We derive perturbative interactions that map the KH spin chain onto the topological regime of Kitaev's fermionic model, thus opening up a bulk gap whilst retaining almost degenerate modes in the mesoscopic regime, i.e., for finite system sizes. This showcases the emergence of Majorana modes in a chain of effective dimers. Here, the binding energy within each unit cell competes with the inter-dimer coupling to generate a finite size energy gap, in analogy with local energy terms in the transverse-field Ising model. These modes give rise to long coherence times of local spins located at the system edges. By breaking the local symmetry in each dimer, one can also observe a second class of Majorana modes in terms of a beating frequency in the two-time correlations function of the edge spin. Furthermore, we develop a scenario for realizing these model predictions in ion-trap quantum simulators with collective addressing of the ions.

quant-ph↗