arXiv subjects

Zezhu Wei

Publications and source records attributed to Zezhu Wei.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Haldane-Holstein model at fractional filling: Route to bosonic fractional Chern insulator and quantum anomalous Hall crystal

Electron-phonon coupling is generally expected to suppress band topology, driving a topological band insulator into a trivial phase. Here we show that, using the prototypical Haldane-Holstein model at partial filling of a topological band, strong electron-phonon coupling can instead stabilize topological phases of matter. The electron-phonon coupling plays a double role: it generates the longer-range interactions that correlate the carriers and, in the attractive channel, also binds them into bosonic pairs. For spinful electrons, it pairs opposite spins into charge-$2e$ bipolarons that form a bosonic fractional Chern insulator (FCI) at filling $ν=1/2$ with charge-$e$ semionic excitations. Tuning the band topology and the coupling strength maps out a rich phase diagram containing this bosonic FCI, superconductors condensed at the $M$ and $K$ points, and several charge-ordered solids. For spin-polarized electrons, strong coupling instead stabilizes a $C=2$ quantum anomalous Hall crystal (QAHC) at $ν=1/3$. Electron-phonon coupling thus emerges as a route to, rather than an obstruction against, topology in partially filled Chern bands.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Anyonic analogue of optical Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Anyonic interferometry is a direct probe of fractional statistics. We propose an interferometry geometry that parallels an optical Mach-Zehnder interferometer and offers several advantages over existing interferometry schemes. In contrast to the currently studied electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer, our setup has no drain inside the device so that the trapped topological charge is time-independent. In contrast to electronic Fabry-Pérot interferometry, anyons cannot go around the device more than once. Thus, the interference signal has a straightforward interpretation in terms of anyonic statistical phases. The proposed geometry suppresses the undesirable effects of bulk-edge coupling. Moreover, the setup allows for simple exact solutions for the electric current and noise for an arbitrary quasiparticle tunneling strength in a broad range of conditions. The structure of the solutions is similar to that for non-interacting electrons but reflects fractional charge and statistics. We present results for electric current and noise in Jain states and address thermal interferometry at zero voltage bias.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Edge-driven transition between extended quantum anomalous Hall crystal and fractional Chern insulator in rhombohedral graphene multilayers

Fractional Chern insulators (FCI) with fractionally quantized Hall conductance at fractional fillings and an extended quantum anomalous Hall (EQAH) crystal with an integer quantized Hall conductance over an extended region of doping were recently observed in pentalayer graphene. One particularly puzzling observation is the transition between the EQAH and FCI regimes, driven either by temperature or electrical current. Here we propose a scenario to understand these transitions based on the topologically protected gapless edge modes that are present in both the FCI and EQAH phases and should be most relevant at temperature scales below the energy gap. Our consideration is based on the simple assumption that the edge velocity in FCI is smaller than that in EQAHE and thus contributes to a higher entropy. We further argue that domains with opposite fractionally quantized Hall conductance are ubiquitous in the devices due to disorder, which gives rise to a network of edge modes. The velocity of the edge modes between domains is further reduced due to edge reconstruction. The edge velocity can also be reduced by current when the occupation of the edge mode approaches the gap edge. The edge entropy therefore drives the transition from EQAH to FCI either by temperature or current at a nonzero temperature.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Quantum Hall interferometry at finite bias with multiple edge channels

In a quantum Hall interferometer, the dependence of the signal on source-drain voltage is controlled by details of the edge physics, such as the velocities of edge modes and the interaction between them and with screening layers. Such dependence of the signal has been seen in recent experiments at various integer and fractional filling factors, including $ν=2$ and $ν=2/5$, where two edge modes are present. Here we study theoretically the current-voltage curves for various values of the relative edge velocities, interaction strength, and the temperature, in a model containing two edge modes. We consider separate cases in which the inner mode or the outer mode is weakly backscattered at the tunneling contacts. When the inner mode is completely reflected and the outer mode is partially transmitted, we find striking features at very low temperatures related to resonance of excitations of the closed inner channel. Fluctuations in the charge of the closed inner mode, caused by sparse tunneling events, lead to an exponential suppression of the interference visibility at high voltages, in agreement with experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Strongly coupled edge states in a graphene quantum Hall interferometer

Electronic interferometers using the chiral, one-dimensional (1D) edge channels of the quantum Hall effect (QHE) can demonstrate a wealth of fundamental phenomena. The recent observation of phase jumps in a Fabry-Pérot (FP) interferometer revealed anyonic quasiparticle exchange statistics in the fractional QHE. When multiple integer edge channels are involved, FP interferometers have exhibited anomalous Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interference frequency doubling, suggesting putative pairing of electrons into 2e quasiparticles. Here, we use a highly tunable graphene-based QHE FP interferometer to observe the connection between interference phase jumps and AB frequency doubling, unveiling how strong repulsive interaction between edge channels leads to the apparent pairing phenomena. By tuning electron density in-situ from filling factor ν<2 to ν>7, we tune the interaction strength and observe periodic interference phase jumps leading to AB frequency doubling. Our observations demonstrate that the combination of repulsive interaction between the spin-split ν=2 edge channels and charge quantization is sufficient to explain the frequency doubling, through a near-perfect charge screening between the localized and extended edge channels. Our results show that interferometers are sensitive probes of microscopic interactions and enable future experiments studying correlated electrons in 1D channels using our highly tunable platform.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Anyonic Mach-Zehnder interferometer on a single edge of a 2D electron gas

Anyonic Fabry-Pérot and Mach-Zehnder interferometers have been proposed theoretically and implemented experimentally as tools to probe electric charges and statistics of anyons. The experimentally observed visibility of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations is maximal at a high transmission through an interferometer but simple theoretical expressions for the electric currents and noises are only available at low visibility. We consider an alternative version of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, in which anyons tunnel between co-propagating chiral channels on the edges of quantum Hall liquids at the filling factors $n/(2n+1)$. We find simple exact solutions for any transmission. The solutions allow a straight-forward interpretation in terms of fractional charges and statistics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Thermal interferometry of anyons

Anyonic interferometry probes the braiding phases of excitations in topologically ordered matter. This technique is well established for charged quasiparticles in the fractional quantum Hall effect. We propose to extend it to neutral anyons, such as Ising anyons in Kitaev magnets and quasiparticles in other neutral spin liquids. We find that the thermal current through an interferometer is sensitive to the statistics of tunneling quasiparticles. We present a systematic investigation of signatures of various Abelian and non-Abelian topological orders in Fabry-Pérot and Mach-Zehnder interferometers. The heat current through a Fabry-Pérot device is different for different topological orders and depends on the topological charge inside the interferometer. A Mach-Zehnder device shows interference in topologically trivial systems only. For a non-trivial statistics, the heat current reduces to the sum of the contributions from two constrictions in the interferometer. Furthermore, we identify another probe of topological order that involves the scaling of the thermal current through a single tunneling contact at low temperatures. The current shows a universal temperature dependence, sensitive to the topological order in the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Thermal interferometry of anyons in spin liquids

Aharonov-Bohm interferometry is the most direct probe of anyonic statistics in the quantum Hall effect. The technique involves oscillations of the electric current as a function of the magnetic field and is not applicable to Kitaev spin liquids and other systems without charged quasiparticles. Here, we establish a novel protocol, involving heat transport, for revealing fractional statistics even in the absence of charged excitations, as is the case in quantum spin liquids. Specifically, we demonstrate that heat transport in Kitaev spin liquids through two distinct interferometer geometries, Fabry-Perot and Mach-Zehnder, exhibits drastically different behaviors. Therefore, we propose the use of heat transport interferometry as a probe of anyonic statistics in charge insulators.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

When does reinforcement learning stand out in quantum control? A comparative study on state preparation

Reinforcement learning has been widely used in many problems, including quantum control of qubits. However, such problems can, at the same time, be solved by traditional, non-machine-learning methods, such as stochastic gradient descent and Krotov algorithms, and it remains unclear which one is most suitable when the control has specific constraints. In this work, we perform a comparative study on the efficacy of three reinforcement learning algorithms: tabular Q-learning, deep Q-learning, and policy gradient, as well as two non-machine-learning methods: stochastic gradient descent and Krotov algorithms, in the problem of preparing a desired quantum state. We found that overall, the deep Q-learning and policy gradient algorithms outperform others when the problem is discretized, e.g. allowing discrete values of control, and when the problem scales up. The reinforcement learning algorithms can also adaptively reduce the complexity of the control sequences, shortening the operation time and improving the fidelity. Our comparison provides insights into the suitability of reinforcement learning in quantum control problems.

quant-ph↗