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Zhanpeng Fu

Publications and source records attributed to Zhanpeng Fu.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

How Long-Range Tails Reshape Non-Hermitian Spectra

Exponentially decaying long-range hoppings are ubiquitous in realistic tight-binding models and are often truncated to obtain a finite-range description. We show that this approximation can fail dramatically in non-Hermitian systems under open boundary conditions: an infinitesimal long-range hopping can nonperturbatively reconstruct the spectrum and eigenstates of a short-range non-Hermitian system. The mechanism is controlled by a competition between the decay length of infinitesimal long-range hoppings and the localization length of non-Hermitian skin modes, leading to a sharp transition as the decay rate is tuned. In one dimension, we show that a squeezed generalized Brillouin zone (GBZ) replaces the original GBZ of the short-ranged Hamiltonian, yielding the reconstructed open-boundary spectrum. In two or higher dimensions, we formulate a squeezed amoeba formulation describing the reconstructed spectral density. We further show that long-range hoppings can qualitatively reshape Green's function, which can be readily detected in experiments.

quant-ph

Nonreciprocity-enriched steady phases in open quantum systems

Nonreciprocity can profoundly alter the spectra and dynamics of open quantum systems, yet its impact on the long-time steady-state phases of matter has remained largely unexplored. Here we show that the interplay of nonreciprocity, symmetry defects, and spatial boundaries can generate phases beyond the standard spontaneous-symmetry-breaking paradigm. We demonstrate this mechanism by showing that sufficiently strong nonreciprocity turns boundaries into sources and drains of symmetry defects, while simultaneously endowing these defects with chiral dynamics in the bulk. As a result, the conventional uniform symmetry-broken state gives way to a domain-wall traveling-wave phase, in which symmetry defects form a persistent chiral wave. We showcase this mechanism in a bosonic model with \(Z_{2}\) symmetry, where periodic boundary conditions support only the conventional symmetric and symmetry-broken phases, whereas open boundary conditions allow the traveling-wave phase. We further show that even in the absence of symmetry breaking, the steady state can exhibit anomalous chiral relaxation: owing to the non-Hermitian skin effect in the stability matrix, local fluctuations are chirally amplified as they approach a boundary, where they eventually decay. Combining mean-field theory with truncated Wigner simulations, we characterize these phases, analyze the order parameter and Goldstone-mode fluctuations of the traveling-wave phase, and confirm its existence in three spatial dimensions.

quant-ph

Protecting Quantum Simulations of Lattice Gauge Theories through Engineered Emergent Hierarchical Symmetries

We present a strategy for the quantum simulation of many-body lattice models with constrained Hilbert spaces. We focus on lattice gauge theories (LGTs), which underlie a wide range of phenomena in particle physics, condensed matter, and quantum information. In present-day quantum computing platforms, perfect restrictions of the Hilbert space to the desired gauge sectors are beyond reach: for LGTs, violations of the local constraint are unavoidable, posing a formidable challenge for the emulation of the underlying physics. Here, we develop a Floquet-engineering framework that restructures departures from a target sector such that a series of emergent local symmetries occurs hierarchically in time and in a controllable way. This leads to a set of approximate dynamical selection rules that strongly restrict inter-sector couplings, resulting in a pronounced, symmetry-controlled hierarchy of lifetimes for the state population to spread among sectors. Concretely, this protects $U(1)$ LGTs against violations of the {defining} local symmetry. While some sectors remain very long-lived, others are destabilized on shorter timescales. We numerically verify our theory for the one-dimensional $U(1)$ quantum link model. In addition, we reveal that `defects', whose movement accounts for violations of the gauge constraint, are kinetically constrained, becoming mobile only through the assistance of intra-sector dynamics, which we describe using an effective quantum marble model. Our results can thus be used to extend the lifetime, in the spirit of passive error correction, of quantum simulations of complex many-body problems when emergent or desired local symmetries are only implemented approximately.

quant-ph

Floquet-engineered Emergent Massive Nambu-Goldstone Modes

We present a general framework to implement massive Nambu-Goldstone quasi-particles in driven many-body systems. The underlying mechanism leverages an explicit Lie group structure imprinted into an effective Hamiltonian that governs the dynamics of slow degrees of freedom; the resulting emergent continuous symmetry is weakly explicitly broken, giving rise to a massive Nambu-Goldstone mode, with a spectral mass gap scaling linearly with the drive period. We discuss explicit and experimentally implementable realizations, such as Heisenberg-like spin models that support gapped spin-wave excitations. We provide a protocol to certify the existence of the massive Nambu-Goldstone mode from the dynamics of specific observables, and analyse the dispersion spectrum and their lifetime in the presence of weak explicit symmetry breaking.

quant-ph

Engineering Hierarchical Symmetries

The capacity to custom tailor the properties of quantum matter and materials is a central requirement for enlarging their range of possible functionalities. A particularly promising route is the use of driving protocols to engineer specific desired properties with a high degree of control and flexibility. Here, we present such a program for the tunable generation of sequences of symmetries on controllable timescales. Concretely, our general driving protocol for many-body systems generates a sequence of prethermal regimes, each exhibiting a lower symmetry than the preceding one. We provide an explicit construction of effective Hamiltonians exhibiting these symmetries, which imprints emergent quasiconservation laws hierarchically, enabling us to engineer the respective symmetries and concomitant orders in nonequilibrium matter. We provide explicit examples, including spatiotemporal and topological phenomena, as well as a spin chain realizing the symmetry ladder $\text{SU(2)}{\rightarrow}\text{U(1)} {\rightarrow} \mathbb{Z}_2{\rightarrow} E$. Our results have direct applications in experiments with quantum simulators.

quant-ph