arXiv subjects

Victor Galitski

Publications and source records attributed to Victor Galitski.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Non-perturbative Quantum Dynamics of the Order Parameter in the Pairing Model

We consider quantum dynamics of the order parameter in the discrete pairing model (Richardson model) in thermodynamic equilibrium. The integrable Richardson Hamiltonian is represented as a direct sum of Hamiltonians acting in different Hilbert spaces of single-particle and paired/empty states. This allows us to factorize the full thermodynamic partition function into a combination of simple terms associated with real spins on singly-occupied states and the partition function of the quantum XY-model for Anderson pseudospins associated with the paired/empty states. Using coherent-state path-integral, we calculate the effects of superconducting phase fluctuations exactly. The contribution of superconducting amplitude fluctuations to the partition function in the broken-symmetry phase is shown to follow from the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations in imaginary time. These equations in turn allow several interesting mappings, e.g., they are shown to be in a one-to-one correspondence with the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation in supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics. However, the most practically useful approach to calculate functional determinants is found to be via an analytical continuation of the quantum order parameter to real time, Δ(τ-> it), such that the problem maps onto that of a driven two-level system. The contribution of a particular dynamic order parameter to the partition function is shown to correspond to the sum of the Berry phase and dynamic phase accumulated by the pseudospin. We also examine a family of exact solutions for two-level-system dynamics on a class of elliptic functions and suggest a compact expression to estimate the functional determinants on such trajectories. The possibility of having quantum soliton solutions co-existing with classical BCS mean-field is discussed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Topological states in two-dimensional optical lattices

We present a general analysis of two-dimensional optical lattice models that give rise to topologically non-trivial insulating states. We identify the main ingredients of the lattice models that are responsible for the non-trivial topological character and argue that such states can be realized within a large family of realistic optical lattice Hamiltonians with cold atoms. We focus our quantitative analysis on the properties of topological states with broken time-reversal symmetry specific to cold-atom settings. In particular, we analyze finite-size effects, multi-orbital phenomena that give rise to a variety of distinct topological states and transitions between them, the dependence on the trap geometry, and most importantly, the behavior of the edge states for different types of soft and hard boundaries. Furthermore, we demonstrate the possibility of experimentally detecting the topological states through light Bragg scattering of the edge and bulk states.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Exact solution for quantum dynamics of a periodically-driven two-level-system

We present a family of exact analytic solutions for non-linear quantum dynamics of a two-level system (TLS) subject to a periodic-in-time external field. In constructing the exactly solvable models, we use a "reverse engineering" approach where the form of external perturbation is chosen to preserve an integrability constraint, which yields a single non-linear differential equation for the ac-field. A solution to this equation is expressed in terms of Jacobi elliptic functions with three independent parameters that allows one to choose the frequency, average value, and amplitude of the time-dependent field at will. This form of the ac-drive is especially relevant to the problem of dynamics of TLS charge defects that cause dielectric losses in superconducting qubits. We apply our exact results to analyze non-linear dielectric response of such TLSs and show that the position of the resonance peak in the spectrum of the relevant correlation function is determined by the quantum-mechanical phase accumulated by the TLS wave-function over a time evolution cycle. It is shown that in the non-linear regime, this resonance frequency may be shifted strongly from the value predicted by the canonical TLS model. We also analyze the "spin" survival probability in the regime of strong external drive and recover a coherent destruction of tunneling phenomenon within our family of exact solutions, which manifests itself as a strong suppression of "spin-flip" processes and suggests that such non-linear dynamics in LC-resonators may lead to lower losses.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Fermionization Transform for Certain Higher-Dimensional Quantum Spin Models

Proposed is a generalization of Jordan-Wigner transform that allows to exactly fermionize a large family of quantum spin Hamiltonians in dimensions higher than one. The key new steps are to enlarge the Hilbert space of the original model by adding to it a collection of stand-alone free spins and to use a combination of these auxiliary operators and the lattice spins to construct a proper fermion representation of the physical Hamiltonian. The transform is especially useful for lattice spin Hamiltonians, where two-spin interactions of XY-type are either absent or exist only within one-dimensional chains and where the chains are coupled via two-spin interactions of Ising type, ring-exchange terms, or more general multi-spin interactions that involve an even number of spin operators from each chain. Using the proposed fermionization method we provide a simple argument suggesting that a spin Hamiltonian closely-related to the ring-exchange model proposed by Paramekanti, Balents, and Fisher [Phys. Rev. B 66, 054526 (2002)] indeed realizes a spin-liquid state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Non-equilibrium Enhancement of Cooper Pairing in Cold Fermion Systems

Non-equilibrium stimulation of superfluidity in trapped Fermi gases is discussed by analogy to the work of Eliashberg [G. M. Eliashberg, in "Nonequilibrium Superconductivity," edited by D. N. Langenberg and A. I. Larkin (North-Holland, New York, 1986)] on the microwave enhancement of superconductivity. Optical excitation of the fermions balanced by heat loss due to thermal contact with a boson bath and/or evaporative cooling enables stationary non-equilibrium states to exist. Such a state manifests as a shift of the quasiparticle spectrum to higher energies and this effect effectively raises the pairing transition temperature. As an illustration, we calculate the effective enhancement of Cooper pairing and superfluidity in both the normal and superfluid phases for a mixture of Rb and Li in the limit of small departure from equilibrium. It is argued that in experiment the desirable effect is not limited to such small perturbations and the effective enhancement of the pairing temperature may be quite large.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2009

Topological Kondo Insulators

Kondo insulators are particularly simple type of heavy electron material, where a filled band of heavy quasiparticles gives rise to a narrow band insulator. Starting with the Anderson lattice Hamiltonian, we develop a topological classification of emergent band structures for Kondo insulators and show that these materials may host three-dimensional topological insulating phases. We propose a general and practical prescription of calculating the Z_2 strong and weak topological insulator indices for various lattice structures. Experimental implications of the topological Kondo insulating behavior are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Stable topological phases in a family of two-dimensional fermion models

We show that a large class of two-dimensional spinless fermion models exhibit topological superconducting phases characterized by a non-zero Chern number. More specifically, we consider a generic one-band Hamiltonian of spinless fermions that is invariant under both time-reversal, $\mathbb{T}$, and a group of rotations and reflections, $\mathbb{G}$, which is either the dihedral point-symmetry group of an underlying lattice, $\mathbb{G}=D_n$, or the orthogonal group of rotations in continuum, $\mathbb{G}={\rm O}(2)$. Pairing symmetries are classified according to the irreducible representations of $ \mathbb{T} \otimes \mathbb{G}$. We prove a theorem that for any two-dimensional representation of this group, a time-reversal symmetry breaking paired state is energetically favorable. This implies that the ground state of any spinless fermion Hamiltonian in continuum or on a square lattice with a singly-connected Fermi surface is always a topological superconductor in the presence of attraction in at least one channel. Motivated by this discovery, we examine phase diagrams of two specific lattice models with nearest-neighbor hopping and attraction on a square lattice and a triangular lattice. In accordance with the general theorem, the former model exhibits only a topological $(p + ip)$-wave state, while the latter shows a doping-tuned quantum phase transition from such state to a non-topological, but still exotic $f$-wave superconductor.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Splitting of Majorana modes due to intervortex tunneling in a p + ip superconductor

We consider a two-dimensional px+i py superconductor in the presence of multiple vortices, which support zero-energy Majorana fermion states in their cores. Intervortex tunnelings of the Majorana fermions lift the topological state degeneracy. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation, we calculate splitting of the zero-energy modes due to these tunneling events. We also discuss superconducting fluctuations and, in particular, their effect on the energy splitting.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Bulk Spin-Hall Effect

We show that a two-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled system in the presence of a charge/spin-density wave with a wave-vector perpendicular to an applied electric field supports bulk manifestations of the direct/inverse spin-Hall effect. We develop a theory of this phenomenon in the framework of the spin diffusion equation formalism and show that, due to the inhomogeneity created by a spin-grating, an anomalous bulk charge-density wave is induced away from sample boundaries. The optimal conditions for the observation of the effect are determined. The main experimental manifestation of the bulk spin-Hall effect, the induced charge/spin-density-wave, is characterized by a pi/2-phase shift relative to the initial non-homogeneous spin/charge-polarization profile and has a non-monotonic time-varying amplitude.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Paired electron pockets in the hole-doped cuprates

We propose a theory for the underdoped hole-doped cuprates, focusing on the "nodal-anti-nodal dichotomy" observed in recent experiments. Our theory begins with an ordered antiferromagnetic Fermi liquid with electron and hole pockets. We argue that it is useful to consider a quantum transition at which the loss of antiferromagnetic order leads to a hypothetical metallic "algebraic charge liquid" (ACL) with pockets of charge -e and +e fermions, and an emergent U(1) gauge field; the instabilities of the ACL lead to the low temperature phases of the underdoped cuprates. The pairing instability leads to a superconductor with the strongest pairing within the -e Fermi pockets, a d-wave pairing signature for electrons, and very weak nodal-point pairing of the +e fermions near the Brillouin zone diagonals. The influence of an applied magnetic field is discussed using a proposed phase diagram as a function of field strength and doping. We describe the influence of gauge field and pairing fluctuations on the quantum Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the normal states induced by the field. For the finite temperature pseudogap region, our theory has some similarities to the phenomenological two-fluid model of -2e bosons and +e fermions proposed by Geshkenbein, Ioffe, and Larkin [cond-mat/9609209], which describes anomalous aspects of transverse transport in a magnetic field.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Topological Insulators and Metals in Atomic Optical Lattices

We propose the realization of topological quantum states with cold atoms trapped in an optical lattice. We discuss an experimental setup that generates a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice in the presence of a light-induced periodic vector potential, which represents a realization of the Haldane model with cold atoms. We determine theoretically the conditions necessary for observing the topological states and show that two of the key conditions are: 1) the realization of sharp boundaries and 2) the minimization of any smoothly varying component of the confining potential. We argue that, unlike their condensed matter counterparts, cold atom topological quantum states can be i) "seen", by mapping out the characteristic chiral edge states, and ii) controlled, by controlling the periodic vector potential and the properties of the confining potential.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Orbital fluctuation mechanism for superconductivity in iron-based compounds

We propose orbital fluctuations in a multi-band ground state as the superconducting pairing mechanism in the new iron-based materials. We develop a general SU(4) theoretical framework for studying a two-orbital model and discuss a number of scenarios that may be operational within this orbital fluctuation paradigm. The orbital and spin symmetry of the superconducting order parameter is argued to be highly non-universal and dependent on the details of the underlying band structure. We introduce a minimal two-orbital model for the Fe-pnictides characterized by non-degenerate orbitals that strongly mix with each other. They correspond to the iron "d_xy" orbital and to an effective combination of "d_zx" and "d_zy", respectively. Using this effective model we perform RPA calculations of susceptibilities and effective pairing interactions. We find that spin and orbital fluctuations are, generally, strongly coupled and we identify the parameters that control this coupling as well as the relative strength of various channels.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

We consider a many-body system of pseudo-spin-1/2 bosons with spin-orbit interactions, which couple the momentum and the internal pseudo-spin degree of freedom created by spatially varying laser fields. The corresponding single- particle spectrum is generally anisotropic and contains two degenerate minima at finite momenta. At low temperatures, the many-body system condenses into these minima generating a new type of entangled Bose-Einstein condensate. We show that in the presence of weak density-density interactions the many-body ground state is characterized by a twofold degeneracy. The corresponding many-body wave function describes a condensate of ``left-'' and ``right-moving'' bosons. By fine-tuning the parameters of the laser field, one can obtain a bosonic version of the spin-orbit coupled Rashba model. In this symmetric case, the degeneracy of the ground state is very large, which may lead to phases with nontrivial topological properties. We argue that the predicted new type of Bose-Einstein condensates can be observed experimentally via time-of-flight imaging, which will show characteristic multipeak structures in momentum distribution.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2008

Giant Nernst Effect due to Fluctuating Cooper Pairs in Superconductors

A theory of the fluctuation-induced Nernst effect is developed for arbitrary magnetic fields and temperatures beyond the upper critical field line in a two-dimensional superconductor. First, we derive a simple phenomenological formula for the Nernst coefficient, which naturally explains the giant Nernst signal due to fluctuating Cooper pairs. The latter is shown to be large even far from the transition and may exceed by orders of magnitude the Fermi liquid terms. We also present a complete microscopic calculation (which includes quantum fluctuations) of the Nernst coefficient and give its asymptotic dependencies in various regions on the phase diagram. It is argued that the magnitude and the behavior of the Nernst signal observed experimentally in disordered superconducting films can be well-understood on the basis of the superconducting fluctuation theory.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Dissipation-driven quantum phase transition in superconductor-graphene systems

We show that a system of Josephson junctions coupled via low-resistance tunneling contacts to graphene substrate(s) may effectively operate as a current switching device. The effect is based on the dissipation-driven superconductor-to-insulator quantum phase transition, which happens due to the interplay of the Josephson effect and Coulomb blockade. Coupling to a graphene substrate with gapless excitations further enhances charge fluctuations favoring superconductivity. The effect is shown to scale exponentially with the Fermi energy in graphene, which can be controlled by the gate voltage. We develop a theory, which quantitatively describes the quantum phase transition in a two-dimensional Josephson junction array, but it is expected to provide a reliable qualitative description for one-dimensional systems as well. We argue that the local effect of dissipation-induced enhancement of superconductivity is very robust and a similar sharp crossover should be present in finite Josephson junction chains.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Effective masses in a strongly anisotropic Fermi liquid

Motivated by the recent experimental observation of quantum oscillations in the underdoped cuprates, we study the cyclotron and infrared Hall effective masses in an anisotropic Fermi liquid characterized by an angle-dependent quasiparticle residue Z_q, which models an arc-shaped Fermi surface. Our primary motivation is to explain the relatively large value of the cyclotron effective mass observed experimentally and its relation with the effective Hall mass. In the framework of a phenomenological model of an anisotropic Fermi liquid, we find that the cyclotron mass is enhanced by a factor <1/Z_q>, while the effective Hall mass is proportional to / , where <...> implies an averaging over the Fermi surface. We conclude that if the Z-factor becomes small in some part of the Fermi surface (e.g., in the case of a Fermi arc), the cyclotron mass is enhanced sharply while the infrared Hall mass may remain small. Possible future experiments are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Mesoscopic gap fluctuations in an unconventional superconductor

We study mesoscopic disorder fluctuations in an anisotropic gap superconductor, which lead to the spatial variations of the local pairing temperature and formation of superconducting islands above the mean-field transition. We derive the probability distribution function of the pairing temperatures and superconducting gaps. It is shown that above the mean-field transition, a disordered BCS superconductor with an unusual pairing symmetry is described by a network of superconducting islands and metallic regions with a strongly suppressed density of states due to superconducting fluctuations. We argue that the phenomena associated with mesoscopic disorder fluctuations may also be relevant to the high-temperature superconductors, in particular, to recent STM experiments, where gap inhomogeneities have been explicitly observed. It is suggested that the gap fluctuations in the pseudogap phase should be directly related to the corresponding fluctuations of the pairing temperature.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Non-equilibrium spin dynamics in a trapped Fermi gas with effective spin-orbit interaction

We consider a trapped atomic system in the presence of spatially varying laser fields. The laser-atom interaction generates a pseudospin degree of freedom (referred to simply as spin) and leads to an effective spin-orbit coupling for the fermions in the trap. Reflections of the fermions from the trap boundaries provide a physical mechanism for effective momentum relaxation and non-trivial spin dynamics due to the emergent spin-orbit coupling. We explicitly consider evolution of an initially spin-polarized Fermi gas in a two-dimensional harmonic trap and derive non-equilibrium behavior of the spin polarization. It shows periodic echoes with a frequency equal to the harmonic trapping frequency. Perturbations, such as an asymmetry of the trap, lead to the suppression of the spin echo amplitudes. We discuss a possible experimental setup to observe spin dynamics and provide numerical estimates of relevant parameters.

cond-mat.other↗