arXiv subjects

Zhenjiu Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Zhenjiu Wang.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Dissipation-induced bulk and boundary criticality in the Haldane chain

We study the Haldane chain coupled to a dissipative ohmic bath. Using large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we identify a second-order quantum phase transition into an antiferromagnetic state with spontaneously broken SO(3) symmetry that is governed by an interacting fixed point with dynamical exponent $z\approx 2$. We derive a generalized string order parameter which indicates that the symmetry-protected topological ground state of the Haldane chain is stable for weak dissipation and develops a nontrivial scaling dimension at criticality. In particular, its topological edge modes display nontrivial boundary criticality that is distinct from an equivalent transition out of a trivial state; for the latter, we perform an accurate $ε$ expansion of a dissipative $ϕ^4$ theory with ordinary boundary conditions. Our setup realizes a spin impurity in a critical yet nonconformal antiferromagnet and paves the way for continuously tunable boundary criticality controlled by dissipation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Observation of emergent scaling of spin-charge correlations at the onset of the pseudogap

In strongly correlated materials, interacting electrons are entangled and form collective quantum states, resulting in rich low-temperature phase diagrams. Notable examples include cuprate superconductors, in which superconductivity emerges at low doping out of an unusual "pseudogap" metallic state above the critical temperature. The Fermi-Hubbard model, describing a wide range of phenomena associated with strong electron correlations, still offers major computational challenges despite its simple formulation. In this context, ultracold atoms quantum simulators have provided invaluable insights into the microscopic nature of correlated quantum states. Here, we use a quantum gas microscope Fermi-Hubbard simulator to explore a wide range of dopings and temperatures in a regime where a pseudogap is known to develop. By measuring multi-point correlation functions up to fifth order, we uncover a novel universal scaling behaviour in magnetic and higher-order spin-charge correlations characterised by a doping-dependent temperature scale. Accurate comparisons with determinant Quantum Monte Carlo and Minimally Entangled Typical Thermal States simulations confirm that this temperature scale is comparable to the pseudogap temperature T*. Our quantitative findings reveal a novel qualitative behaviour of magnetic properties and spin-charge correlations in an emergent pseudogap and pave the way towards the exploration of charge pairing and collective phenomena expected at lower temperatures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Edge modes of topological Mott insulators and deconfined quantum critical points

Topology and anomalies lead to edge modes that can interact with critical bulk fluctuations. To study this setup, pertaining to boundary criticality, we consider a model exhibiting a deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP) between a dynamically generated quantum spin Hall state (i.e.a topological Mott insulator) and an s-wave superconductor. For the topological Mott insulator, the bulk Goldstone modes are shown to be irrelevant at the helical Luttinger liquid fixed points. The deconfined quantum critical point is an instance of an emergent anomaly, and we observe a sharp localized edge state at this point. The sharpness of the edge mode is consistent with an ordinary phase in which electronic edge modes decouple from critical edge bosonic fluctuations. At the DQCP, the scaling dimension of the edge electron shows a jump, a feature argued to be a signature of the emergent anomaly. Our results are based on large-scale auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo simulations.We also carry out calculations for the Kane-Mele-Hubbard model to confirm spectral features of the ordinary and extraordinary-log phases in the vicinity of the bulk critical point.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Alteration of Topology in Quantum Phase Transitions via Symmetry Enrichment

Topology plays a cardinal role in explaining phases and quantum phase transitions beyond the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm. In this study, we formulate a set of models of Dirac fermions in 2+1 dimensions with SU($N$)$\times$SU(2)$\times$U(1) symmetry that have the potential to host critical points described by field theories with topological terms. For $N=2$ it shows a rich phase diagram containing semimetallic, quantum spin Hall insulating, Kekulé valence bond solid and s-wave superconducting phases and features multiple Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson phase transitions driven by interaction strength. At $N=1$ a deconfined quantum critical point is observed. At $N=2$ one expects the critical theory to correspond to a level 2 Wess-Zumino-Witten theory in 2+1 dimensions. Here the numerical results however show a strong first order transition. Another transition can be governed by a topological $θ$-term which is rendered irrelevant for even values of $N$ thus leading to Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson behaviour.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Spectroscopy and complex-time correlations using minimally entangled typical thermal states

Tensor network states have enjoyed great success at capturing aspects of strong correlation physics. However, obtaining dynamical correlators at non-zero temperatures is generically hard even using these methods. Here, we introduce a practical approach to computing such correlators using minimally entangled typical thermal states (METTS). While our primary method directly computes dynamical correlators of physical operators in real time, we propose extensions where correlations are evaluated in the complex-time plane. The imaginary time component bounds the rate of entanglement growth and strongly alleviates the computational difficulty allowing the study of larger system sizes. To extract the physical correlator one must take the limit of purely real-time evolution. We present two routes to obtaining this information (i) via an analytic correlation function in complex time combined with a stochastic analytic continuation method to obtain the real-time limit and (ii) a hermitian correlation function that asymptotically captures the desired correlation function quantitatively without requiring effort of numerical analytic continuation. We show that these numerical techniques capture the finite-temperature dynamics of the Shastry-Sutherland model - a model of interacting spin one-half in two dimensions.

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arXiv2024

The renormalized classical spin liquid on the ruby lattice

The recent experimental detection of the onset of a dynamically prepared, gapped $Z_2$ quantum spin liquid on the ruby lattice brought the physics of frustrated magnetism and lattice gauge theory to Rydberg tweezer arrays (Semeghini et al, Science 374, 1242 (2021)). The thermodynamic properties of such models remain inadequately addressed, yet knowledge thereof is indispensable if one wants to prepare large, robust, and long-lived quantum spin liquids. Using large scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations we find in the PXP model a renormalized classical spin liquid with constant entropy density $S/N$ approaching $\ln(2)/6$ in the thermodynamic limit for all moderate and large values of the detuning $δ$ and starting from $T/Ω\sim 0.5$ (in units of the Rabi frequency $Ω$) down to the lowest temperatures we could simulate, $T/Ω\sim 0.01$. With Van der Waals interactions, constant entropy plateaus are still found but its value shifts with $δ$. We comment the adiabatic approximation to the dynamical ramps for the electric degrees of freedom.

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arXiv2024

Anomalous thermal broadening in the Shastry-Sutherland model and SrCu$_2($BO$_3)_2$

The quantum magnet SrCu$_2($BO$_3)_2$ and its remarkably accurate theoretical description, the spin-$1/2$ Shastry-Sutherland model, host a variety of intriguing phenomena such as a dimer ground state with a nearly flat band of triplon excitations, a series of magnetization plateaux, and a possible pressure-induced deconfined quantum critical point. One open puzzle originating from inelastic neutron scattering and Raman experiments is the anomalous broadening of the triplon modes at relatively low temperatures compared to the triplon gap $Δ$. We demonstrate that the experimentally observed broadening is captured by the Shastry-Sutherland model. To this end, we develop a numerical simulation method based on matrix-product states to simulate dynamical spectral functions at nonzero temperatures accurately. Perturbative calculations identify the origin of this phenomenon as a small energy scale compared to $Δ$ between single triplon and bound triplon states at the experimentally relevant model parameters.

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arXiv2023

Validity of SLAC fermions for the (1 + 1)-dimensional helical Luttinger liquid

The Nielson-Ninomiya theorem states that a chirally invariant free fermion lattice action, which is local, translation invariant, and real necessarily has fermion doubling. The SLAC approach gives up on locality and long range hopping leads to a linear dispersion with singularity at the zone boundary. We introduce a SLAC Hamiltonian formulation that is expected to realize a U(1) helical Luttinger liquid in a naive continuum limit. We argue that non-locality and concomitant singularity at the zone edge has important implications. Large momentum transfers yield spurious features already in the non-interacting case. Upon switching on interactions non-locality invalidates the Mermin-Wagner theorem and allows for long ranged magnetic ordering. In fact, in the strong coupling limit the model maps onto an XXZ-spin chain with $1/r^2$ exchange. Here, both spin-wave and DMRG calculations support long ranged order. While the long-ranged order opens a single particle gap the Dirac point, the singularity at the zone-boundary persists for any finite value of the interaction strength such that the ground state remains metallic. Hence, SLAC Hamiltonian does not flow to the $1$d helical Luttinger liquid fixed point. Aside from DMRG simulations, we have used auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo simulations to arrive to the above conclusions.

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arXiv2023

Effective model for superconductivity in magic-angle graphene

We carry out large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations of a candidate field theory for the onset of superconductivity in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. The correlated insulating state at charge neutrality spontaneously breaks U(1) Moiré valley symmetry. Owing to the topological nature of the bands, skyrmion defects of the order parameter carry charge $2e$ and condense upon doping. In our calculations we encode the U(1) symmetry by an internal degree of freedom such that it is not broken upon lattice regularization. Furthermore, the skyrmion carries the same charge. The nature of the doping-induced phase transitions depends on the strength of the easy-plane anisotropy that reduces the SU(2) valley symmetry to U(1) $\times \mathbb{Z}_2 $. For large anisotropy, we observe two distinct transitions separated by phase coexistence. While the insulator to superconducting transition is of mean-field character, the U(1) transition is consistent with three-dimensional XY criticality. Hence, the coupling between the gapless charge excitations of the superconducting phase and the XY order parameter is irrelevant. At small anisotropy, we observe a first-order transition characterized by phase separation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Bandwidth controlled quantum phase transition between an easy-plane quantum spin Hall state and an s-wave superconductor

The quantum spin Hall state can be understood in terms of spontaneous O(3) symmetry breaking. Topological skyrmion configurations of the O(3) order parameter vector carry a charge 2e, and as shown previously, when they condense, a superconducting state is generated. We show that this topological route to superconductivity survives easy-plane anisotropy. Upon reducing the O(3) symmetry to O(2)$\times$ Z$_2$, skyrmions give way to merons that carry a unit charge. On the basis of large-scale auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that at the particle-hole symmetric point, we can trigger a continuous and direct transition between the quantum spin Hall state and s-wave superconductor by condensing pairs of merons. This statement is valid in both strong and weak anisotropy limits. Our results can be interpreted in terms of an easy-plane deconfined quantum critical point. However, in contrast to the previous studies in quantum spin models, our realization of this quantum critical point conserves $U(1)$ charge, such that skyrmions are conserved.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Simulation of Fermionic and Bosonic Critical Points with Emergent SO(5) Symmetry

We introduce a model of Dirac fermions in 2+1 dimensions with a semimetallic, a quantum spin-Hall insulating (QSHI), and an s-wave superconducting (SSC) phase. The phase diagram features a multicritical point at which all three phases meet as well as a QSHI-SSC deconfined critical point. The QSHI and SSC orders correspond to mutually anti-commuting mass terms of the Dirac Hamiltonian. Based on this algebraic property, SO(5) symmetric field theories have been put forward to describe both types of critical points. Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we directly study the operator that rotates between QSHI and SSC states. The results suggest that it commutes with the low-energy effective Hamiltonian at criticality but has a gap in the ordered phases. This implies an emergent SO(5) symmetry at both the multicritical and the deconfined critical points.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Thermodynamic and Dynamical Signatures of a Quantum Spin-Hall Insulator to Superconductor Transition

Thermodynamic and dynamical properties of a model of Dirac fermions with a deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP) separating an interaction-generated quantum spin-Hall insulator from an s-wave superconductor [Nature Comm.~{\bf 10}, 2658 (2019)] are studied by quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Inside the deconfined quantum critical region bound by the single-particle gap, spinons and spinless charge-2e skyrmions emerge. Since the model conserves total spin and charge, and has a single length scale, these excitations lead to a characteristic linear temperature dependence of the uniform spin and charge susceptibilities. At the DQCP, the order parameter dynamic structure factors show remarkable similarities that support emergent Lorentz symmetry. Above a critical temperature, superconductivity is destroyed by the proliferation of spin-1/2 vortices.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Quantum Monte Carlo at the Graphene Quantum Hall Edge

We study a continuum model of the interface of graphene and vacuum in the quantum hall regime via sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo, allowing us to investigate the interplay of topology and strong interactions in a graphene quantum Hall edge for large system sizes. We focus on the topological phase transition from the spin polarized state with symmetry protected gapless helical edges to the fully charge gapped canted-antiferromagnet state with spontaneous symmetry breaking, driven by the Zeeman energy. Our large system size simulations allow us to detail the behaviour of various quantities across this transition that are amenable to be probed experimentally, such as the spatially and energy-resolved local density of states and the local compressibility. We find peculiar kinks in the branches of the edge dispersion, and also an unexpected large charge susceptibility in the bulk of the canted-antiferromagnet associated with its Goldstone mode.

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arXiv2021

Doping-induced quantum spin Hall insulator to superconductor transition

A unique property of a dynamically generated quantum spin Hall state are Goldstone modes that correspond to the long-wavelength fluctuations of the spin-orbit coupling order parameter whose topological Skyrmion excitations carry charge 2$e$. Within the model considered here, upon varying the chemical potential, we observe two transitions: An s-wave superconducting order parameter develops at a critical chemical potential $μ_{c1}$, corresponding to the excitation gap of pairs of fermions, and at $μ_{c2}$ the SO(3) order parameter of the quantum spin Hall state vanishes. Using negative-sign-free, large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that $μ_{c1}=μ_{c2}$ within our accuracy -- we can resolve dopings away from half filling down to $δ= 0.0017$. The length scale associated with the fluctuations of the quantum spin Hall order parameter grows down to our lowest doping, suggesting either a continuous or a weakly first-order transition. Contrary to mean-field expectations, the doping versus chemical potential curve is not linear, indicating a dynamical critical exponent $z > 2$ if the transition is continuous.

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arXiv2021

Gross-Neveu Heisenberg criticality: dynamical generation of quantum spin Hall masses

We consider fermions on a honeycomb lattice supplemented by a spin invariant interaction that dynamically generates a quantum spin Hall insulator. This lattice model provides an instance of Gross-Neveu Heisenberg criticality, as realized for example by the Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice. Using auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo simulations we show that we can compute with unprecedented precision susceptibilities of the order parameter. In O(N) Gross-Neveu transitions, the anomalous dimension of the bosonic mode grows as a function of N such that in the large-N limit it is of particular importance to consider susceptibilities rather than equal time correlations so as to minimize contributions from the background. For the N=3 case, we obtain $1/ν=1.11(4)$, $η_ϕ=0.80(9)$, and $η_ψ=0.29(2)$ for respectively the correlation length exponent, bosonic and fermionic anomalous dimensions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Phases of the (2+1) dimensional SO(5) non-linear sigma model with topological term

We use the half-filled zeroth Landau level in graphene as a regularization scheme to study the physics of the SO(5) non-linear sigma model subject to a Wess-Zumino-Witten topological term in 2+1 dimensions. As shown by Ippoliti et al. [PRB 98, 235108 (2019)], this approach allows for negative sign free auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The model has a single free parameter, $U_0$, that monitors the stiffness. Within the parameter range accessible to negative sign free simulations, we observe an ordered phase in the large $U_0$ or stiff limit. Remarkably, upon reducing $U_0$ the magnetization drops substantially, and the correlation length exceeds our biggest system sizes, accommodating 100 flux quanta. The implications of our results for deconfined quantum phase transitions between valence bond solids and anti-ferromagnets are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Superconductivity from the Condensation of Topological Defects in a Quantum Spin-Hall Insulator

The discovery that spin-orbit coupling can generate a new state of matter in the form of quantum spin-Hall (QSH) insulators has brought topology to the forefront of condensed matter physics. While QSH states from spin-orbit coupling can be fully understood in terms of band theory, fascinating many-body effects are expected if the state instead results from interaction-generated symmetry breaking. In particular, topological defects of the corresponding order parameter provide a route to exotic quantum phase transitions. Here, we introduce a model in which the condensation of skyrmion defects in an interaction-generated QSH insulator produces a superconducting (SC) phase. Because vortex excitations of the latter carry a spin-$1/2$ degree of freedom numbers, the SC order may be understood as emerging from a gapless spin liquid normal state. The QSH-SC transition is an example of a deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP), for which we provide an improved model with only a single length scale that is accessible to large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Finite-size effects in canonical and grand-canonical quantum Monte Carlo simulations for fermions

We introduce a quantum Monte Carlo method at finite temperature for interacting fermionic models in the canonical ensemble, where the conservation of the particle number is enforced. Although general thermodynamic arguments ensure the equivalence of the canonical and the grand-canonical ensembles in the thermodynamic limit, their approach to the infinite-volume limit is distinctively different. Observables computed in the canonical ensemble generically display a finite-size correction proportional to the inverse volume, whereas in the grand-canonical ensemble the approach is exponential in the ratio of the linear size over the correlation length. We verify these predictions by quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the Hubbard model in one and two dimensions in the grand-canonical and the canonical ensemble. We prove an exact formula for the finite-size part of the free energy density, energy density and other observables in the canonical ensemble and relate this correction to a susceptibility computed in the corresponding grand-canonical ensemble. This result is confirmed by an exact computation of the one-dimensional classical Ising model in the canonical ensemble, which for classical models corresponds to the so-called fixed-magnetization ensemble. Our method is useful for simulating finite systems which are not coupled to a particle bath, such as in nuclear or cold atom physics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗