arXiv subjects

Yuval Gefen

Publications and source records attributed to Yuval Gefen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Emergence of Neutral Modes in Laughlin-like Fractional Quantum Hall Phases

Chiral gapless boundary modes are characteristic of quantum Hall (QH) states. For hole-conjugate fractional QH phases counterpropagating edge modes (upstream and downstream) are expected. In the presence of electrostatic interactions and disorder these modes may renormalize into charge and upstream neutral modes. Orthodox models of Laughlin phases anticipate only a downstream charge mode. Here we show that in the latter case, in the presence of a smooth confining potential, edge reconstruction leads to the emergence of pairs of counterpropagating modes, which, by way of mode renormalization, may give rise to nontopological upstream neutral modes, possessing nontrivial statistics. This may explain the experimental observation of ubiquitous neutral modes, and the overwhelming suppression of anyonic interference in Mach-Zehnder interferometry platforms. We also point out other signatures of such edge reconstruction.

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arXiv2022

Observing a Topological Transition in Weak-Measurement-Induced Geometric Phases

Measurement plays a quintessential role in the control of quantum systems. Beyond initialization and readout which pertain to projective measurements, weak measurements in particular, through their back-action on the system, may enable various levels of coherent control. The latter ranges from observing quantum trajectories to state dragging and steering. Furthermore, just like the adiabatic evolution of quantum states that is known to induce the Berry phase, sequential weak measurements may lead to path-dependent geometric phases. Here we measure the geometric phases induced by sequences of weak measurements and demonstrate a topological transition in the geometric phase controlled by measurement strength. This connection between weak measurement induced quantum dynamics and topological transitions reveals subtle topological features in measurement-based manipulation of quantum systems. Our protocol could be implemented for classes of operations (e.g. braiding) which are topological in nature. Furthermore, our results open new horizons for measurement-enabled quantum control of many-body topological states.

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arXiv2022

Edge Reconstruction of a Time-Reversal Invariant Insulator: Compressible-Incompressible Stripes

Two-dimensional (2D) topological electronic insulators are known to give rise to gapless edge modes, which underlie low energy dynamics, including electrical and thermal transport. This has been thoroughly investigated in the context of quantum Hall phases, and time-reversal invariant topological insulators. Here we study the edge of a 2D, topologically trivial insulating phase, as a function of the strength of the electronic interactions and the steepness of the confining potential. For sufficiently smooth confining potentials, alternating compressible and incompressible stripes appear at the edge. Our findings signal the emergence of gapless edge modes which may give rise to finite conductance at the edge. This would suggest a novel scenario of a nontopological metal-insulator transition in clean 2D systems. The incompressible stripes appear at commensurate fillings and may exhibit broken translational invariance along the edge in the form of charge density wave ordering. These are separated by structureless compressible stripes.

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arXiv2022

Generalized quantum measurements with matrix product states: Entanglement phase transition and clusterization

We propose a method, based on matrix product states, for studying the time evolution of many-body quantum lattice systems under continuous and site-resolved measurement. Both the frequency and the strength of generalized measurements can be varied within our scheme, thus allowing us to explore the corresponding two-dimensional phase diagram. The method is applied to one-dimensional chains of nearest-neighbor interacting hard-core bosons. A transition from an entangling to a disentangling (area-law) phase is found. However, by resolving time-dependent density correlations in the monitored system, we find important differences between different regions at the phase boundary. In particular, we observe a peculiar phenomenon of measurement-induced particle clusterization that takes place only for frequent moderately strong measurements, but not for strong infrequent measurements.

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arXiv2022

Parafermions in a multilegged geometry: Towards a scalable parafermionic network

Parafermionic zero modes are non-Abelian excitations which have been predicted to emerge at the boundary of topological phases of matter. Contrary to earlier proposals, here we show that such zero modes may also exist in multilegged star junctions of quantum Hall states. We demonstrate that the quantum states spanning the degenerate parafermionic Hilbert space may be detected and manipulated through protocols employing quantum antidots and fractional edge modes. Such star-shaped setups may be the building blocks of two-dimensional parafermionic networks.

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arXiv2022

Dc Electrical Current Generated by Upstream Neutral Modes

Quantum Hall phases are gapped in the bulk but support chiral edge modes, both charged and neutral. Here we consider a circuit where the path from the source of electric current to the drain necessarily passes through a segment consisting solely of neutral modes. We find that upon biasing the source, a dc electric current is detected at the drain, provided there is backscattering between counter-propagating modes under the contacts placed in certain locations. Thus, neutral modes carry information that can be used to nonlocally reconstruct a dc charge current. Our protocol can be used to detect any neutral mode that counterpropagates with respect to all charge modes. Our protocol applies not only to the edge modes of a quantum Hall system, but also to systems that have neutral modes of non-quantum Hall origin. We conclude with a possible experimental realization of this phenomenon.

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arXiv2022

Determination of topological edge quantum numbers of fractional quantum Hall phases

To determine the topological quantum numbers of fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states hosting counter-propagating (CP) downstream ($N_d$) and upstream ($N_u$) edge modes, it is pivotal to study quantized transport both in the presence and absence of edge mode equilibration. While reaching the non-equilibrated regime is challenging for charge transport, we target here the thermal Hall conductance $G_{Q}$, which is purely governed by edge quantum numbers $N_d$ and $N_u$. Our experimental setup is realized with a hBN encapsulated graphite gated monolayer graphene device. For temperatures up to $35mK$, our measured $G_{Q}$ at $ν= $ 2/3 and 3/5 (with CP modes) match the quantized values of non-equilibrated regime $(N_d + N_u)κ_{0}T$, where $κ_{0}T$ is a quanta of $G_{Q}$. With increasing temperature, $G_{Q}$ decreases and eventually takes the value of equilibrated regime $|N_d - N_u|κ_{0}T$. By contrast, at $ν= $1/3 and 2/5 (without CP modes), $G_Q$ remains robustly quantized at $N_dκ_{0}T$ independent of the temperature. Thus, measuring the quantized values of $G_{Q}$ at two regimes, we determine the edge quantum numbers, which opens a new route for finding the topological order of exotic non-Abelian FQH states.

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arXiv2022

Near-frozen non-equilibrium state at high energy in an integrable system

Ergodic many-body systems are expected to reach quasi-thermal equilibrium. Here we demonstrate that, surprisingly, high-energy electrons, which are injected into a quantum Hall edge mode with finite range interactions, stabilize at a far-from-thermalized state over a long time scale. To detect this non-equilibrium state, one positions an energy-resolved detector downstream of the point of injection. So far, non-equilibrium distributions in integrable systems were either found not to display relaxation at all, or generically relax to near-thermal asymptotic states. In stark contrast, the here-obtained many-body state comprises fast-decaying transient components, followed by a nearly frozen distribution with a peak near the injection energy.

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arXiv2022

Metal-insulator transition in a boundary three chain model

We study the boundary physics of bulk insulators by considering three coupled Hubbard chains in a linear confining potential. In the Hartree-Fock approximation, the ground state at and slightly off the particle-hole symmetric point remains insulating even at large slopes of the confining potential. By contrast, accounting for quantum fluctuations and correlations through a combination of bosonization and RG methods, we find that there is always a gapless dipole mode, but it does not contribute to a finite compressibility. Moreover, when increasing the slope of the confining potential at half filling, we find a quantum phase transition between an insulating and a metallic state, indicating the formation of a soft edge state of non-topological origin. Away from half filling, a similar transition takes place.

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arXiv2022

Edge Reconstruction and Emergent Neutral Modes in Integer and Fractional Quantum Hall Phases

This paper comprises a review of our recent works on fractional chiral modes that emerge due to edge reconstruction in integer and fractional quantum Hall (QH) phases. The new part added is an analysis of edge reconstruction of the $ν= 2/5$ phase. QH states are topological phases of matter featuring chiral gapless modes at the edge. These edge modes may propagate downstream or upstream, and may support either charge or charge-neutral excitations. From topological considerations, particle-like QH states are expected to support only downstream charge modes. However the interplay between the electronic repulsion and the boundary confining potential may drive certain quantum phase transitions (called reconstructions) at the edge, which are associated to the nucleation of additional pairs of counter-propagating modes. Employing variational methods, here we study edge reconstruction in the prototypical particle-like phases at $ν= 1, 1/3$ and $2/5$ as a function of the slope of the confining potential. Our analysis shows that subsequent renormalization of the edge modes, driven by disorder-induced tunnelling and intermode interactions, may lead to the emergence of upstream neutral modes. These predictions may be tested in suitably designed transport experiments. Our results are also consistent with previous observations of upstream neutral modes in these QH phases, and could explain the absence of anyonic interference in electronic Mach-Zehnder setups.

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arXiv2022

Optimized Steering: Quantum State Engineering and Exceptional Points

The state of a quantum system may be steered towards a predesignated target state, employing a sequence of weak $\textit{blind}$ measurements (where the detector's readouts are traced out). Here we analyze the steering of a two-level system using the interplay of a system Hamiltonian and weak measurements, and show that $\textit{any}$ pure or mixed state can be targeted. We show that the optimization of such a steering protocol is underlain by the presence of Liouvillian exceptional points. More specifically, for high purity target states, optimal steering implies purely relaxational dynamics marked by a second-order exceptional point, while for low purity target states, it implies an oscillatory approach to the target state. The dynamical phase transition between these two regimes is characterized by a third-order exceptional point.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Near-unit efficiency of chiral state conversion via hybrid-Liouvillian dynamics

Following the evolution under a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian (nHH) involves significant probability loss. This makes various nHH effects impractical in the quantum realm. In contrast, Lindbladian evolution conserves probability, facilitating observation and application of exotic effects characteristic of open quantum systems. Here we are concerned with the effect of chiral state conversion: encircling an exceptional point, multiple system states are converted into a single system eigenmode. While for nHH the possible converted-into eigenmodes are pure states, for Lindbladians these are typically mixed states. We consider hybrid-Liouvillian evolution, which interpolates between a Lindbladian and a nHH and enables combining the best of the two worlds. We design adiabatic evolution protocols that give rise to chiral state conversion with $\textit{pure}$ final states, no probability loss, and high fidelity. Furthermore, extending beyond continuous adiabatic evolution, we design a protocol that facilitates conversion to pure states with fidelity 1 and, at the same time, no probability loss. Employing recently developed experimental techniques, our proposal can be implemented with superconducting qubit platforms.

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arXiv2021

Does shot noise always provide the quasiparticle charge?

The fractional charge of quasiparticles is a fundamental feature of quantum Hall effect (QHE) States. The charge has long been measured via shot-noise at moderate temperatures ($T$>30mK), with the Fano factor $F=e^*/e$ revealing the charge $e^*$ of the quasiparticles. However, at sufficiently low temperatures ($T\approx$10mK), we consistently find $F$ being equal to the bulk filling factor, $ν_b$. Surprisingly, noise with $F=ν_b$ is also observed on intermediate conductance plateaus in the transmission of the quantum point contact (QPC), where shot noise is not expected. We attribute the unexpected Fano factor to upstream neutral modes, which proliferate at the lowest spinless Landau level. The universality of the Fano factor is also confirmed when the edge modes do not conform to the bulk. For this, the ubiquitous edge modes at the periphery of the sample are replaced by artificially constructed 'interface modes', propagating at the interface between two adjoined QHE states: the tested state and a different state. We present a new theoretical paradigm based on an interplay between charge and neutral modes, explaining the origin of the universal Fano factor.

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arXiv2021

Superconductivity of neutral modes in quantum Hall edges

Edges of quantum Hall phases give rise to a multitude of exotic modes supporting quasiparticles of different values of charge and quantum statistics. Among these are neutralons (chargeless anyons with semion statistics), which were found to be ubiquitous in fractional quantum Hall matter. Studying and manipulating the neutral sector is an intriguing and interesting challenge, all the more so since these particles are accessible experimentally. Here we address the limit of strongly-interacting neutralons giving rise to neutralon superconductivity, where pairing is replaced by a quarteting mechanism. We discuss several manifestations of this effect, realizable in existing experimental platforms. Furthermore, this superconducting gapping mechanism may be exploited to facilitate the observation of interference of the accompanying charged anyons.

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arXiv2021

Weak-measurement-induced asymmetric dephasing: manifestation of intrinsic measurement chirality

Geometrical dephasing is distinct from dynamical dephasing in that it depends on the trajectory traversed, hence it reverses its sign upon flipping the direction in which the path is traced. Here we study sequences of generalized (weak) measurements that steer a system in a closed trajectory. The readout process is marked by fluctuations, giving rise to dephasing. Rather than classifying the latter as "dynamical" and "geometrical", we identify a contribution which is invariant under reversing the sequence ordering and, in analogy with geometrical dephasing, one which flips its sign upon the reversal of the winding direction, possibly resulting in partial suppression of dephasing (i.e., "coherency enhancement"). This dephasing asymmetry (under winding reversal) is a manifestation of intrinsic chirality, which weak measurements can (and generically do) possess. Furthermore, the dephasing diverges at certain protocol parameters, marking topological transitions in the measurement-induced phase factor.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Weak-measurement-induced phases and dephasing: broken symmetry of the geometric phase

Coherent steering of a quantum state, induced by a sequence of weak measurements, has become an active area of theoretical and experimental study. For a closed steered trajectory, the underlying phase factors involve both geometrical and dynamical terms. Furthermore, considering the reversal of the order of the measurement sequence, such a phase comprises a symmetric and an antisymmetric term. Superseding common wisdom, we show that the symmetric and the antisymmetric components do not correspond to the dynamical and geometrical parts respectively. Addressing a broad class of measurement protocols, we further investigate the dependence of the induced phases on the measurement parameters (e.g., the measurement strength). We find transitions between different topologically distinct sectors, defined by integer-valued winding numbers, and show that the transitions are accompanied by diverging dephasing. We propose experimental protocols to observe these effects.

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arXiv2021

Observation of ballistic upstream modes at fractional quantum Hall edges of graphene

The structure of edge modes at the boundary of quantum Hall (QH) phases forms the basis for understanding low energy transport properties. In particular, the presence of ``upstream'' modes, moving against the direction of charge current flow, is critical for the emergence of renormalized modes with exotic quantum statistics. Detection of excess noise at the edge is a smoking gun for the presence of upstream modes. Here we report on noise measurements at the edges of fractional QH (FQH) phases realized in dual graphite-gated bilayer graphene devices. A noiseless dc current is injected at one of the edge contacts, and the noise generated at contacts at $L= 4\,μ$m or $10\,μ$m away along the upstream direction is studied. For integer and particle-like FQH states, no detectable noise is measured. By contrast, for ``hole-conjugate'' FQH states, we detect a strong noise proportional to the injected current, unambiguously proving the existence of upstream modes. The noise magnitude remaining independent of length together with a remarkable agreement with our theoretical analysis demonstrates the ballistic nature of upstream energy transport, quite distinct from the diffusive propagation reported earlier in GaAs-based systems. Our investigation opens the door to the study of upstream transport in more complex geometries and in edges of non-Abelian phases in graphene.

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arXiv2021

Contacts, equilibration, and interactions in fractional quantum Hall edge transport

We study electron transport through a multichannel fractional quantum Hall edge in the presence of both interchannel interaction and random tunneling between channels, with emphasis on the role of contacts. The prime example in our discussion is the edge at filling factor 2/3 with two counterpropagating channels. Having established a general framework to describe contacts to a multichannel edge as thermal reservoirs, we particularly focus on the line-junction model for the contacts and investigate incoherent charge transport for an arbitrary strength of interchannel interaction beneath the contacts and, possibly different, outside them. We show that the conductance does not explicitly depend on the interaction strength either in or outside the contact regions (implicitly, it only depends through renormalization of the tunneling rates). Rather, a long line-junction contact is characterized by a single parameter which defines the modes that are at thermal equilibrium with the contact and is determined by the interplay of various types of scattering beneath the contact. This parameter -- playing the role of an effective interaction strength within an idealized model of thermal reservoirs -- is generically nonzero and affects the conductance. We formulate a framework of fractionalization-renormalized tunneling to describe the effect of disorder on transport in the presence of interchannel interaction. Within this framework, we give a detailed discussion of charge equilibration for arbitrarily strong interaction in the bulk of the edge and arbitrary effective interaction characterizing the line-junction contacts.

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