arXiv subjects

Thomas L. Schmidt

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas L. Schmidt.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Quantum and classical magnetic Bloch points

A Bloch point represents a three-dimensional hedgehog singularity of a magnetic vector field in which the magnetization vanishes. However, standard micromagnetic theory, developed for magnetic moments of fixed lengths, lacks full applicability in studying such singularities. To address this gap, we study a Bloch point in a quantum Heisenberg model for the case of spin-1/2 particles. Performing an exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian as well as using density matrix renormalization group techniques, we obtain the ground state, which can be used to recover the corresponding magnetization profile. Our findings demonstrate a variation of the spin length in the quantum model, leading smoothly to zero magnetization at the Bloch point. Our results indicate the necessity of generalizing the classical micromagnetic model by adding the third degree of freedom of the spins: the ability to change its length. To this end, we introduce the micromagnetic $\mathbb{S}_{3}$-model, which enables the description of magnets with and without Bloch point singularities.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Topological properties of finite-size heterostructures of magnetic topological insulators and superconductors

Heterostructures of magnetic topological insulators (MTIs) and superconductors (SCs) in two-dimensional (2D) slab and one-dimensional (1D) nanoribbon geometries have been predicted to host, respectively, chiral Majorana edge states (CMESs) and Majorana bound states (MBSs). We study the topological properties of such MTI/SC heterostructures upon variation of the geometry from wide slabs to quasi-1D nanoribbon systems and as a function of the chemical potential, the magnetic doping, and the induced superconducting pairing potential. To do so, we construct effective symmetry-constrained low-energy Hamiltonians accounting for the real-space confinement. For a nanoribbon geometry with finite width and length, we observe different phases characterized by CMESs, MBSs, as well as coexisting CMESs and MBSs, as the chemical potential, the magnetic doping and/or the width are varied.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Low-energy modeling of three-dimensional topological insulator nanostructures

We develop an accurate nanoelectronic modeling approach for realistic three-dimensional topological insulator nanostructures and investigate their low-energy surface-state spectrum. Starting from the commonly considered four-band $\boldsymbol{\mathrm{k\cdot p}}$ bulk model Hamiltonian for the Bi$_2$Se$_3$ family of topological insulators, we derive new parameter sets for Bi$_2$Se$_3$, Bi$_2$Te$_3$ and Sb$_2$Te$_3$. We consider a fitting strategy applied to \emph{ab initio} band structures around the $Γ$ point that ensures a quantitatively accurate description of the low-energy bulk and surface states, while avoiding the appearance of unphysical low-energy states at higher momenta, something that is not guaranteed by the commonly considered perturbative approach. We analyze the effects that arise in the low-energy spectrum of topological surface states due to band anisotropy and electron-hole asymmetry, yielding Dirac surface states that naturally localize on different side facets. In the thin-film limit, when surface states hybridize through the bulk, we resort to a thin-film model and derive thickness-dependent model parameters from \emph{ab initio} calculations that show good agreement with experimentally resolved band structures, unlike the bulk model that neglects relevant many-body effects in this regime. Our versatile modeling approach offers a reliable starting point for accurate simulations of realistic topological material-based nanoelectronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Braiding of Majorana bound states in a driven-dissipative Majorana box setup

We investigate a system of Majorana box qubits, where each of the Coulomb blockaded boxes is driven by an applied AC voltage and is embedded in a dissipative environment. The AC voltage is applied between a pair of quantum dots, each of which is coupled by tunneling to a Majorana box qubit. Moreover, the dissipation is created by the coupling to an electromagnetic environment. Recent work has shown that in this case the Majorana bound states which form the computational basis can emerge as dark states, which are stabilized by the dissipation. In our work, we show that the same platform can be used to enable topological braiding of these dissipative Majorana bound states. We show that coupling three such Majorana boxes allows a braiding transformation by changing the tunnel amplitudes adiabatically in time.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Dynamical Casimir cooling in circuit QED systems

A transmission line coupled to an externally driven superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) can exhibit the Dynamical Casimir Effect (DCE). Employing this setup, we quantize the SQUID degrees of freedom and show that it gives rise to a three-body interaction Hamiltonian with the cavity modes. By considering only two interacting modes from the cavities we show that the device can function as an autonomous cooler where the SQUID can be used as a work source to cool down the cavity modes. Moreover, this setup allows for coupling to all modes existing inside the cavities, and we show that by adding two other extra modes to the interaction with the SQUID the cooling effect can be enhanced.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Hydrodynamic Navier-Stokes equations in two-dimensional systems with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

We study a two-dimensional (2D) electron system with a linear spectrum in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit (RSO) coupling in the hydrodynamic regime. We derive a semiclassical Boltzmann equation with a collision integral due to Coulomb interactions in the basis of the eigenstates of the system with RSO coupling. Using the local equilibrium distribution functions, we obtain a generalized hydrodynamic Navier-Stokes equation for electronic systems with RSO coupling. In particular, we discuss the influence of the spin-orbit coupling on the viscosity and the enthalpy of the system and present some of its observable effects in hydrodynamic transport.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Counting interacting electrons in one dimension

The calculation of the full counting statistics of the charge within a finite interval of an interacting one-dimensional system of electrons is a fundamental, yet as of now unresolved problem. Even in the non-interacting case, charge counting turns out to be more difficult than anticipated because it necessitates the calculation of a nontrivial determinant and requires regularization. Moreover, interactions in a one-dimensional system are best described using bosonization. However, this technique rests on a long-wavelength approximation and is a priori inapplicable for charge counting due to the sharp boundaries of the counting interval. To mitigate these problems, we investigate the counting statistics using several complementary approaches. To treat interactions, we develop a diagrammatic approach in the fermionic basis, which makes it possible to obtain the cumulant generating function up to arbitrary order in the interaction strength. Importantly, our formalism preserves charge quantization in every perturbative order. We derive an exact expression for the noise and analyze its interaction-dependent logarithmic cutoff. We compare our fermionic formalism with the results obtained by other methods, such as the Wigner crystal approach and numerical calculations using the density-matrix renormalization group. Surprisingly, we show good qualitative agreement with the Wigner crystal for weak interactions, where the latter is in principle not expected to apply.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Perfectly localized Majorana corner modes in fermionic lattices

Focusing on examples of Majorana zero modes on the corners of a two-dimensional lattice, we introduce a method to find parameter regions where the Majorana modes are perfectly localized on a single site. Such a limit allows us to study the dimerization structure of the sparse bulk Hamiltonian that results in the higher-order topology of the system. Furthermore, such limits typically provide an analytical understanding of the system energy scales. Based on the dimerization structure we extract from the two-dimensional model, we identify a more general stacking procedure to construct Majorana zero modes in arbitrary corners of a $d$-dimensional hypercube, which we demonstrate explicitly in $d\leq3$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Black hole mirages: electron lensing and Berry curvature effects in inhomogeneously tilted Weyl semimetals

We study electronic transport in Weyl semimetals with spatially varying nodal tilt profiles. We find that the flow of electrons can be guided precisely by judiciously chosen tilt profiles. In a broad regime of parameters, we show that electron flow is described well by semiclassical equations of motion similar to the ones governing gravitational attraction. This analogy provides a physically transparent tool for designing tiltronic devices like electronic lenses. The analogy to gravity circumvents the notoriously difficult full-fledged description of inhomogeneous solids. A comparison to microscopic lattice simulations shows that it is only valid for trajectories sufficiently far from analogue black holes. We finally comment on the Berry curvature-driven transverse motion and relate the latter to spin precession physics.

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arXiv2023

Supercurrent-enabled Andreev reflection in a chiral quantum Hall edge state

A chiral quantum Hall (QH) edge state placed in proximity to an s-wave superconductor experiences induced superconducting correlations. Recent experiments have observed the effect of proximity-coupling in QH edge states through signatures of the mediating process of Andreev reflection. We present the microscopic theory behind this effect by modeling the system with a many-body Hamiltonian, consisting of an s-wave superconductor, subject to spin-orbit coupling and a magnetic field, which is coupled by electron tunneling to a QH edge state. By integrating out the superconductor we obtain an effective pairing Hamiltonian in the QH edge state. We clarify the qualitative appearance of nonlocal superconducting correlations in a chiral edge state and analytically predict the suppression of electron-hole conversion at low energies (Pauli blocking) and negative resistance as experimental signatures of Andreev reflection in this setup. In particular, we show how two surface phenomena of the superconductor, namely Rashba spin-orbit coupling and a supercurrent due to the Meissner effect, are essential for the Andreev reflection. Our work provides a promising pathway to the realization of Majorana zero-modes and their parafermionic generalizations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Quantum Skyrmion Lattices in Heisenberg Ferromagnets

Skyrmions are topological magnetic textures that can arise in non-centrosymmetric ferromagnetic materials. In most systems experimentally investigated to date, skyrmions emerge as classical objects. However, the discovery of skyrmions with nanometer length scales has sparked interest in their quantum properties. Here, we simulate the ground states of two-dimensional spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg lattices with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and discover a broad region in the zero-temperature phase diagram which hosts quantum skyrmion lattices. We argue that the quantum skyrmion lattice phase can be detected experimentally in the magnetization profile via local magnetic polarization measurements as well as in the spin structure factor measurable via neutron scattering experiments. Finally, we explore the resulting quantum skyrmion state, analyze its real-space polarization profile and show that it is a non-classical state featuring entanglement between quasiparticle and environment mainly localized near the boundary spins of the skyrmion.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Overlap of parafermionic zero modes at a finite distance

Parafermion bound states (PBSs) are generalizations of Majorana bound states (MBSs) and have been predicted to exist as zero-energy eigenstates in proximitized fractional quantum Hall edge states. Similarly to MBSs, a finite distance between the PBS can split the ground state degeneracy. However, parafermionic modes have a richer exchange statistics than MBSs, so several interaction terms are allowed by the underlying $\mathbb{Z}_{2n}$ symmetry, rendering the effective Hamiltonian governing a pair of PBSs at a finite distance nontrivial. Here, we use a combination of analytical techniques (semiclassical instanton approximation) and numerical techniques (quantum Monte Carlo simulations) to determine the effective coupling Hamiltonian. For this purpose, we go beyond the dilute one-instanton gas approximation and show how finite-size effects can give rise to higher-order parafermion interactions. We find excellent agreement between the analytical results and Monte Carlo simulations. We estimate that these finite-size corrections should be observable in some of the recently proposed experiments to observe PBSs in strongly correlated systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Coulomb drag of viscous electron fluids: drag viscosity and negative drag conductivity

We show that Coulomb drag in hydrodynamic bilayer systems leads to additional viscosity terms in the hydrodynamic equations, i.e., the drag and drag-Hall viscosities, besides the well-known kinematic and Hall viscosities. These new viscosity terms arise from a change of the stress tensor due to the interlayer Coulomb interactions. All four viscosity terms are tunable by varying the applied magnetic field and the electron densities in the two layers. At certain ratios between the electron densities in the two layers, the drag viscosity dramatically changes the longitudinal transport resulting in a negative drag conductivity.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Current cross-correlations in a quantum Hall collider at filling factor two

We use the non-equilibrium bosonization technique to study the effects of Coulomb interactions in mesoscopic electron colliders based on quantum Hall (QH) edge states at filing factor $ν= 2$. The current cross-correlations and Fano factor, which carry the information about the exclusion statistics, are calculated. It is shown that both these quantities have a non-analytical dependence on the source transparency, which scales as $\log(1/T_s)$ at small $T_s \ll 1$. This is the consequence of electron-electron interactions in the outgoing non-equilibrium states of the collider.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

In-plane magnetic field-driven symmetry breaking in topological insulator-based three-terminal junctions

Topological surface states of three-dimensional topological insulator nanoribbons and their distinct magnetoconductance properties are promising for topoelectronic applications and topological quantum computation. A crucial building block for nanoribbon-based circuits are three-terminal junctions. While the transport of topological surface states on a planar boundary is not directly affected by an in-plane magnetic field, the orbital effect cannot be neglected when the surface states are confined to the boundary of a nanoribbon geometry. Here, we report on the magnetotransport properties of such three-terminal junctions. We observe a dependence of the current on the in-plane magnetic field, with a distinct steering pattern of the surface state current towards a preferred output terminal for different magnetic field orientations. We demonstrate that this steering effect originates from the orbital effect, trapping the phase-coherent surface states in the different legs of the junction on opposite sides of the nanoribbon and breaking the left-right symmetry of the transmission across the junction. The reported magnetotransport properties demonstrate that an in-plane magnetic field is not only relevant but also very useful for the characterization and manipulation of transport in three-dimensional topological insulator nanoribbon-based junctions and circuits, acting as a topoelectric current switch.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Artificial event horizons in Weyl semimetal heterostructures and their non-equilibrium signatures

We investigate transport in type-I/type-II Weyl semi\-metal heterostructures that realize effective black- or white-hole event horizons. We provide an exact solution to the scattering problem at normal incidence and low energies, both for a sharp and a slowly-varying Weyl cone tilt profile. In the latter case, we find two channels with transmission amplitudes analog to those of Hawking radiation. Whereas the Hawking-like signatures of these two channels cancel in equilibrium, we demonstrate that one can favor the contribution of either channel using a non-equilibrium state, either by irradiating the type-II region or by coupling it to a magnetic lead. This in turn gives rise to a peak in the two-terminal differential conductance which can serve as an experimental indicator of the artificial event horizon.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Kerr and Faraday rotations in topological flat and dispersive band structures

Integer quantum Hall (IQH) states and quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) states show the same static (dc) response but distinct dynamical (ac) response. In particular, the ac anomalous Hall conductivity profile $σ_{yx}(ω)$ is sensitive to the band shape of QAH states. For example, dispersive QAH bands shows resonance profile without a sign change at the band gap while the IQH states shows the sign change resonance at the cyclotron energy. We argue by flattening the dispersive QAH bands, $σ_{yx}(ω)$ should recover to that of flat Landau bands in IQH, thus it is necessary to know the origin of the sign change. Taking a topological lattice model with tunable bandwidth, we found that the origin of the sign change is not the band gap but the Van Hove singularity energy of the QAH bands. In the limit of small bandwidth, the flat QAH bands recovers $σ_{yx}(ω)$ of the IQH Landau bands. Because of the Hall response, these topological bands exhibit giant polarization rotation and ellipticity in the reflected waves (Kerr effect) and rotation in the order of fine structure constant in the transmitted waves (Faraday effect) with profile resembles $σ_{yx}(ω)$. Our results serve as a simple guide to optical characterization for topological flat bands.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Kerr effect in tilted nodal loop semimetals

We investigate the optical activity of tilted nodal loop semimetals. We calculate the full conductivity matrix for a band structure containing a nodal loop with possible tilt in the $x-y$ plane, which allows us to study the Kerr rotation and ellipticity both for a thin film and a bulk material. We find signatures in the Kerr signal that give direct information about the tilt velocity and direction, the radius of the nodal loop and the internal chemical potential of the system. These findings should serve as guide to understanding optical measurements of nodal loop semimetals and as an additional tool to characterize them.

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