arXiv subjects

Sthitadhi Roy

Publications and source records attributed to Sthitadhi Roy.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Measurement and entanglement phase transitions in all-to-all quantum circuits, on quantum trees, and in Landau-Ginsburg theory

A quantum many-body system whose dynamics includes local measurements at a nonzero rate can be in distinct dynamical phases, with differing entanglement properties. We introduce theoretical approaches to measurement-induced phase transitions (MPT) and also to entanglement transitions in random tensor networks. Many of our results are for "all-to-all" quantum circuits with unitaries and measurements, in which any qubit can couple to any other, and related settings where some of the complications of low-dimensional models are reduced. We also propose field theory descriptions for spatially local systems of any finite dimensionality. To build intuition, we first solve the simplest "minimal cut" toy model for entanglement dynamics in all-to-all circuits, finding scaling forms and exponents within this approximation. We then show that certain all-to-all measurement circuits allow exact results by exploiting local tree-like structure in the circuit geometry. For this reason, we make a detour to give general universal results for entanglement phase transitions random tree tensor networks, making a connection with classical directed polymers on a tree. We then compare these results with numerics in all-to-all circuits, both for the MPT and for the simpler "Forced Measurement Phase Transition" (FMPT). We characterize the two different phases in all-to-all circuits using observables sensitive to the amount of information propagated between initial and final time. We demonstrate signatures of the two phases that can be understood from simple models. Finally we propose Landau-Ginsburg-Wilson-like field theories for the MPT, the FMPT, and entanglement transitions in random tensor networks. This analysis shows a surprising difference between the MPT and the other cases. We discuss measurement dynamics with additional structure (e.g. free-fermion structure), and questions for the future.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

How periodic driving stabilises and destabilises Anderson localisation on random trees

Motivated by the link between Anderson localisation on high-dimensional graphs and many-body localisation, we study the effect of periodic driving on Anderson localisation on random trees. The time dependence is eliminated in favour of an extra dimension, resulting in an extended graph wherein the disorder is correlated along the new dimension. The extra dimension increases the number of paths between any two sites and allows for interference between their amplitudes. We study the localisation problem within the forward scattering approximation (FSA) which we adapt to this extended graph. At low frequency, this favours delocalisation as the availability of a large number of extra paths dominates. By contrast, at high frequency, it stabilises localisation compared to the static system. These lead to a regime of re-entrant localisation in the phase diagram. Analysing the statistics of path amplitudes within the FSA, we provide a detailed theoretical picture of the physical mechanisms governing the phase diagram.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2020

Self-consistent theory of mobility edges in quasiperiodic chains

We introduce a self-consistent theory of mobility edges in nearest-neighbour tight-binding chains with quasiperiodic potentials. Demarcating boundaries between localised and extended states in the space of system parameters and energy, mobility edges are generic in quasiperiodic systems which lack the energy-independent self-duality of the commonly studied Aubry-André-Harper model. The potentials in such systems are strongly and infinite-range correlated, reflecting their deterministic nature and rendering the problem distinct from that of disordered systems. Importantly, the underlying theoretical framework introduced is model-independent, thus allowing analytical extraction of mobility edge trajectories for arbitrary quasiperiodic systems. We exemplify the theory using two families of models, and show the results to be in very good agreement with the exactly known mobility edges as well numerical results obtained from exact diagonalisation.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2020

Localisation on certain graphs with strongly correlated disorder

Many-body localisation in interacting quantum systems can be cast as a disordered hopping problem on the underlying Fock-space graph. A crucial feature of the effective Fock-space disorder is that the Fock-space site energies are strongly correlated -- maximally so for sites separated by a finite distance on the graph. Motivated by this, and to understand the effect of such correlations more fundamentally, we study Anderson localisation on Cayley trees and random regular graphs, with maximally correlated disorder. Since such correlations suppress short distance fluctuations in the disorder potential, one might naively suppose they disfavour localisation. We find however that there exists an Anderson transition, and indeed that localisation is more robust in the sense that the critical disorder scales with graph connectivity $K$ as $\sqrt{K}$, in marked contrast to $K\ln K$ in the uncorrelated case. This scaling is argued to be intimately connected to the stability of many-body localisation. Our analysis centres on an exact recursive formulation for the local propagators as well as a self-consistent mean-field theory; with results corroborated using exact diagonalisation.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2020

Measurement-induced steering of quantum systems

We set out a general protocol for steering the state of a quantum system from an arbitrary initial state towards a chosen target state by coupling it to auxiliary quantum degrees of freedom. The protocol requires multiple repetitions of an elementary step: during each step the system evolves for a fixed time while coupled to auxiliary degrees of freedom (which we term 'detector qubits') that have been prepared in a specified initial state. The detectors are discarded at the end of the step, or equivalently, their state is determined by a projective measurement with an unbiased average over all outcomes. The steering harnesses back-action of the detector qubits on the system, arising from entanglement generated during the coupled evolution. We establish principles for the design of the system-detector coupling that ensure steering of a desired form. We illustrate our general ideas using both few-body examples (including a pair of spins-1/2 steered to the singlet state) and a many-body example (a spin-1 chain steered to the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki state). We study the continuous time limit in our approach and discuss similarities to (and differences from) drive-and-dissipation protocols for quantum state engineering. Our protocols are amenable to implementations using present-day technology. Obvious extensions of our analysis include engineering of other many-body phases in one and higher spatial dimensions, adiabatic manipulations of the target states, and the incorporation of active error correction steps.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Strong ergodicity breaking due to local constraints in a quantum system

Quantum systems that violate the eigenstate thermalisation hypothesis thereby falling outside the paradigm of conventional statistical mechanics are of both intellectual and practical interest. We show that such a breaking of ergodicity may arise purely due to local constraints on random many-body Hamiltonians. As an example, we study an ergodic quantum spin-1/2 model which acquires a localised phase upon addition of East-type constraints. We establish its phenomenology using spectral and dynamical properties obtained by exact diagonalisation. Mapping the Hamiltonian to a disordered hopping problem on the Fock space graph we find that potentially non-resonant bottlenecks in the Fock-space dynamics, caused by spatially local segments of frozen spins, lie at the root of localisation. We support this picture by introducing and solving numerically a class of random matrix models that retain the bottlenecks. Finally, we obtain analytical insight into the origins of localisation using the forward-scattering approximation. A numerical treatment of the forward-scattering approximation yields critical points which agree quantitatively with the exact diagonalisation results.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2019

Fock-space correlations and the origins of many-body localisation

We consider the problem of many-body localisation on Fock space, focussing on the essential features of the Hamiltonian which stabilise a localised phase. Any many-body Hamiltonian has a canonical representation as a disordered tight-binding model on the Fock-space graph. The underlying physics is however fundamentally different from that of conventional Anderson localisation on high-dimensional graphs because the Fock-space graph possesses non-trivial correlations. These correlations are shown to lie at the heart of whether or not a stable many-body localised phase can be sustained in the thermodynamic limit, and a theory is presented for the conditions the correlations must satisfy for a localised phase to be stable. Our analysis is rooted in a probabilistic, self-consistent mean-field theory for the local Fock-space propagator and its associated self-energy; in which the Fock-space correlations, together with the extensive nature of the connectivity of Fock-space nodes, are key ingredients. The origins of many-body localisation in typical local Hamiltonians where the correlations are strong, as well as its absence in uncorrelated random energy-like models, emerge as predictions from the same overarching theory. To test these, we consider three specific microscopic models, first establishing in each case the nature of the associated Fock-space correlations. Numerical exact diagonalisation is then used to corroborate the theoretical predictions for the occurrence or otherwise of a stable many-body localised phase; with mutual agreement found in each case.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2019

Self-consistent theory of many-body localisation in a quantum spin chain with long-range interactions

Many-body localisation is studied in a disordered quantum spin-1/2 chain with long-ranged power-law interactions, and distinct power-law exponents for interactions between longitudinal and transverse spin components. Using a self-consistent mean-field theory centring on the local propagator in Fock space and its associated self-energy, a localisation phase diagram is obtained as a function of the power-law exponents and the disorder strength of the random fields acting on longitudinal spin-components. Analytical results are corroborated using the well-studied and complementary numerical diagnostics of level statistics, entanglement entropy, and participation entropy, obtained via exact diagonalisation. We find that increasing the range of interactions between transverse spin components hinders localisation and enhances the critical disorder strength. In marked contrast, increasing the interaction range between longitudinal spin components is found to enhance localisation and lower the critical disorder.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2019

On time crystallinity in dissipative Floquet systems

We investigate the conditions under which periodically driven quantum systems subject to dissipation exhibit a stable subharmonic response. Noting that coupling to a bath introduces not only cooling but also noise, we point out that a system subject to the latter for the entire cycle tends to lose coherence of the subharmonic oscillations, and thereby the long-time temporal symmetry breaking. We provide an example of a short-ranged two-dimensional system which does not suffer from this and therefore displays persistent subharmonic oscillations stabilised by the dissipation. We also show that this is fundamentally different from the disordered DTC previously found in closed systems, both conceptually and in its phenomenology. The framework we develop here clarifies how fully connected models constitute a special case where subharmonic oscillations are stable in the thermodynamic limit.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Landau levels, Bardeen polynomials and Fermi arcs in Weyl semimetals: the who's who of the chiral anomaly

Condensed matter systems realizing Weyl fermions exhibit striking phenomenology derived from their topologically protected surface states as well as chiral anomalies induced by electromagnetic fields. More recently, inhomogeneous strain or magnetization were predicted to result in chiral electric $\mathbf{E}_5$ and magnetic $\mathbf{B}_5$ fields, which modify and enrich the chiral anomaly with additional terms. In this work, we develop a lattice-based approach to describe the chiral anomaly, which involves Landau and pseudo-Landau levels and treats all anomalous terms on equal footing, while naturally incorporating Fermi arcs. We exemplify its potential by physically interpreting the largely overlooked role of Fermi arcs in the covariant (Fermi level) contribution to the anomaly and revisiting the factor of $1/3$ difference between the covariant and consistent (complete band) contributions to the $\mathbf{E}_5\cdot\mathbf{B}_5$ term in the anomaly. Our framework provides a versatile tool for the analysis of anomalies in realistic lattice models as well as a source of simple physical intuition for understanding strained and magnetized inhomogeneous Weyl semimetals.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Percolation in Fock space as a proxy for many-body localisation

We study classical percolation models in Fock space as proxies for the quantum many-body localisation (MBL) transition. Percolation rules are defined for two models of disordered quantum spin-chains using their microscopic quantum Hamiltonians and the topologies of the associated Fock-space graphs. The percolation transition is revealed by the statistics of Fock-space cluster sizes, obtained by exact enumeration for finite-sized systems. As a function of disorder strength, the typical cluster size shows a transition from a volume law in Fock space to sub-volume law, directly analogous to the behaviour of eigenstate participation entropies across the MBL transition. Finite-size scaling analyses for several diagnostics of cluster size statistics yield mutually consistent critical properties. We show further that local observables averaged over Fock-space clusters also carry signatures of the transition, with their behaviour across it in direct analogy to that of corresponding eigenstate expectation values across the MBL transition. The Fock-space clusters can be explored under a mapping to kinetically constrained models. Dynamics within this framework likewise show the ergodicity-breaking transition via Monte Carlo averaged local observables, and yield critical properties consistent with those obtained from both exact cluster enumeration and analytic results derived in our recent work [arXiv:1812.05115]. This mapping allows access to system sizes two orders of magnitude larger than those accessible in exact enumerations. Simple physical pictures based on freezing of local real-space segments of spins are also presented, and shown to give values for the critical disorder strength and correlation length exponent $ν$ consistent with numerical studies.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2018

Exact solution of a percolation analogue for the many-body localisation transition

We construct and solve a classical percolation model with a phase transition that we argue acts as a proxy for the quantum many-body localisation transition. The classical model is defined on a graph in the Fock space of a disordered, interacting quantum spin chain, using a convenient choice of basis. Edges of the graph represent matrix elements of the spin Hamiltonian between pairs of basis states that are expected to hybridise strongly. At weak disorder, all nodes are connected, forming a single cluster. Many separate clusters appear above a critical disorder strength, each typically having a size that is exponentially large in the number of spins but a vanishing fraction of the Fock-space dimension. We formulate a transfer matrix approach that yields an exact value $ν=2$ for the localisation length exponent, and also use complete enumeration of clusters to study the transition numerically in finite-sized systems.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2018

Anomalous thermalization and transport in disordered interacting Floquet systems

Local observables in generic periodically driven closed quantum systems are known to relax to values described by periodic infinite temperature ensembles. At the same time, ergodic static systems exhibit anomalous thermalization of local observables and satisfy a modified version of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH), when disorder is present. This raises the question, how does the introduction of disorder affect relaxation in periodically driven systems? In this work, we analyze this problem by numerically studying transport and thermalization in an archetypal example. We find that thermalization is anomalous and is accompanied by subdiffusive transport with a disorder dependent dynamical exponent. Distributions of matrix elements of local operators in the eigenbases of a family of effective time-independent Hamiltonians, which describe the stroboscopic dynamics of such systems, show anomalous departures from predictions of ETH signaling that only a modified version of ETH is satisfied. The dynamical exponent is shown to be related to the scaling of the variance of these distributions with system size.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2018

Nonequilibrium quantum order at infinite temperature: spatiotemporal correlations and their generating functions

Localisation-protected quantum order extends the idea of symmetry breaking and order in ground states to individual eigenstates at arbitrary energy. Examples include many-body localised static and $π$-spin glasses in Floquet systems. Such order is inherently dynamical and difficult to detect as the order parameter typically varies randomly between different eigenstates, requiring specific superpositions of eigenstates to be targeted by the initial state. We show that two-time correlators overcome this, reflecting the presence or absence of eigenstate order even in fully-mixed, $infinite$ $temperature$ states. We show how spatiotemporal correlators are generated by the recently introduced dynamical potentials, demonstrating this explicitly using an Ising and a Floquet $π$-spin glass and focusing on features mirroring those of equilibrium statistical mechanics such as bimodal potentials in the symmetry-broken phase.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2018

Multifractality without fine-tuning in a Floquet quasiperiodic chain

Periodically driven, or Floquet, disordered quantum systems have generated many unexpected discoveries of late, such as the anomalous Floquet Anderson insulator and the discrete time crystal. Here, we report the emergence of an entire band of multifractal wavefunctions in a periodically driven chain of non-interacting particles subject to spatially quasiperiodic disorder. Remarkably, this multifractality is robust in that it does not require any fine-tuning of the model parameters, which sets it apart from the known multifractality of $critical$ wavefunctions. The multifractality arises as the periodic drive hybridises the localised and delocalised sectors of the undriven spectrum. We account for this phenomenon in a simple random matrix based theory. Finally, we discuss dynamical signatures of the multifractal states, which should betray their presence in cold atom experiments. Such a simple yet robust realisation of multifractality could advance this so far elusive phenomenon towards applications, such as the proposed disorder-induced enhancement of a superfluid transition.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2018

Tunable axial gauge fields in engineered Weyl semimetals: Semiclassical analysis and optical lattice implementations

In this work, we describe a toolbox to realize and probe synthetic axial gauge fields in engineered Weyl semimetals. These synthetic electromagnetic fields, which are sensitive to the chirality associated with Weyl nodes, emerge due to spatially and temporally dependent shifts of the corresponding Weyl momenta. First, we introduce two realistic models, inspired by recent cold-atom developments, which are particularly suitable for the exploration of these synthetic axial gauge fields. Second, we describe how to realize and measure the effects of such axial fields through center-of-mass observables, based on semiclassical equations of motion and exact numerical simulations. In particular, we suggest realistic protocols to reveal an axial Hall response due to the axial electric field $\mathbf{E}_5$, and also, the axial cyclotron orbits and chiral pseudo-magnetic effect due to the axial magnetic field $\mathbf{B}_5$.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2017

Dynamical potentials for non-equilibrium quantum many-body phases

Out of equilibrium phases of matter exhibiting order in individual eigenstates, such as many-body localised spin glasses and discrete time crystals, can be characterised by inherently dynamical quantities such as spatiotemporal correlation functions. In this work, we introduce dynamical potentials which act as generating functions for such correlations and capture eigenstate phases and order. These potentials show formal similarities to their equilibrium counterparts, namely thermodynamic potentials. We provide three representative examples: a disordered, many-body localised XXZ chain showing many-body localisation, a disordered Ising chain exhibiting spin-glass order and its periodically-driven cousin exhibiting time-crystalline order.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Locating topological phase transitions using nonequilibrium signatures in local bulk observables

Topological quantum phases cannot be characterized by local order parameters in the bulk. In this work however, we show that signatures of a topological quantum critical point do remain in local observables in the bulk, and manifest themselves as non-analyticities in their expectation values taken over a family of non-equilibrium states generated using a quantum quench protocol. The signature can be used for precisely locating the critical points in parameter space. A large class of initial states can be chosen for the quench (including finite temperature states), the sufficient condition being existence of a finite occupation-gradient with respect to energy for the single-particle critical mode. We demonstrate these results in tractable models of non-interacting fermions exhibiting topological phase transitions in one and two spatial dimensions. We also show that the non-analyticities can be absent if the gap-closing is non-topological, i.e., when it corresponds to no phase transition.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗