Arbitrary Symmetry Research Articles

Enhanced Upconversion Photoluminescence Assisted by Flexoelectric Field in Oxide Nanomembranes

AbstractFlexoelectricity refers to the linear coupling between electric polarization and strain gradients, and exhibits in all materials with arbitrary crystal symmetries. Recent breakthroughs on synthesizing high‐quality freestanding perovskite oxides have provided new opportunities to couple this universal effect to various functionalities. In particular, the interplay between flexoelectricity and upconversion emission in lanthanide doped freestanding perovskite oxide SrTiO3:Er3+ nanomembranes is experimentally demonstrated. The tunable flexoelectricity leads to an over fourfold enhancement in upconversion photoluminescence (PL) through strain gradient engineering. The observed significant PL enhancement can be ascribed to the strain gradient induced polarization, or more fundamentally, inversion symmetry breaking. Furthermore, this behavior is reversible and exhibits excellent antifatigue characteristics even after 104 bending cycles. The showcased strong coupling between flexoelectricity and photoluminescence in nonpolar materials offers dramatically greater design freedom for various strain‐tunable optoelectronic devices, regardless of the lattice symmetry of the constituent materials.

Vibration of multi-stage systems with arbitrary symmetry of stages: A group theory approach

This work develops a group-theory-based method to identify the highly structured, symmetry related modal properties of multi-stage systems with symmetric component stages. The symmetry of each component stage is arbitrary and can differ among the stages. The full multi-stage system, however, is not symmetric. Without solving any eigenvalue problems, all modes are classified into mode types and the modal properties of each mode type are obtained. These mode types and properties are determined from the symmetry of the component stages and the coupling between the stages. In particular, full system mathematical models are unnecessary to determine the modal properties; they are needed only when numerical computation of modes is required. All vibration modes and natural frequencies are solved from multiple, smaller, decoupled eigenvalue problems associated with each mode type. These smaller problems are computationally efficient. Dynamic and static response are similarly analyzed using reduced problems with smaller matrices associated with each mode type. For general multi-stage systems with arbitrary stage symmetries, all vibration modes are categorized into single-stage substructure modes and overall modes. In single-stage substructure modes, the modal deflections occur in the substructures of one component stage, while all the central components and the substructures in the other stages are non-vibrating. In overall modes, all stage substructures and central components vibrate. More detailed conclusions are possible for specific stage symmetries.

Nonlinear elastic analysis of 2D materials of arbitrary symmetries with application to black phosphorus

Murnaghan’s polynomial based nonlinear elastic constitutive model has been previously applied to 2D materials of hexagonal symmetry. We present a general approach for determining the nonlinear elastic constants of 2D materials of arbitrary symmetries and any constitutive polynomial order. The methodology, which is based on ray sampling of the strain energy density in strain space, is independent of the energy calculation method. The ray based methodology is verified by evaluating the elastic constants of graphene which is a hexagonally symmetric 2D material previously considered in the literature. The methodology is then applied to determine the elastic constants of black phosphorus, an orthorhombic 2D material whose comprehensive nonlinear elastic behavior has not been previously considered in the literature. The energy calculations are carried out using plane-wave density functional theory. Detailed convergence analyses are performed to assess the accuracy of the nonlinear elastic constants. The linearized mechanical properties of black phosphorus are obtained from the elastic constants for comparison with the results published in the literature.

A displacement correlation method for stress intensity factor extraction from 3D fractures in anisotropic materials

A numerical method to extract stress intensity factors (SIFs) from 3D fractures in anisotropic materials is presented. The formulation of a displacement correlation method that is valid for linear elastic materials with arbitrary symmetry in their elastic properties is given in detail. An algorithm for the numerical implementation of the method is also given. The methodology can take an approximate displacement field from any numerical method as input to the extraction process. However, to return accurate stress intensity factors an accurate numerical displacement field is required. In this work, this is provided by a Generalized Finite Element Method. Several verification problems show that the anisotropic displacement correlation method is robust and can extract accurate SIFs. The methodology is used in a parametric study of crack–crack interactions in a high-strength aluminum alloy to demonstrate a practical application. More than 200 simulations are run using the Generalized Finite Element Method, which are largely able to be scripted and ran without user intervention after one simulation is set up.

Edge theories of two-dimensional fermionic symmetry protected topological phases protected by unitary Abelian symmetries

Abelian Chern-Simons theory, characterized by the so-called $K$ matrix, has been quite successful in characterizing and classifying Abelian fractional quantum hall effect (FQHE) as well as symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases, especially for bosonic SPT phases. However, there are still some puzzles in dealing with fermionic SPT(fSPT) phases. In this paper, we utilize the Abelian Chern-Simons theory to study the fSPT phases protected by arbitrary Abelian total symmetry $G_f$. Comparing to the bosonic SPT phases, fSPT phases with Abelian total symmetry $G_f$ has three new features: (1) it may support gapless majorana fermion edge modes, (2) some nontrivial bosonic SPT phases may be trivialized if $G_f$ is a nontrivial extention of bosonic symmetry $G_b$ over $\mathbb{Z}_2^f$, (3) certain intrinsic fSPT phases can only be realized in interacting fermionic system. We obtain edge theories for various fSPT phases, which can also be regarded as conformal field theories (CFT) with proper symmetry anomaly. In particular, we discover the construction of Luttinger liquid edge theories with central charge $n-1$ for Type-III bosonic SPT phases protected by $(\mathbb{Z}_n)^3$ symmetry and the Luttinger liquid edge theories for intrinsically interacting fSPT protected by unitary Abelian symmetry. The ideas and methods used here might be generalized to derive the edge theories of fSPT phases with arbitrary unitary finite Abelian total symmetry $G_f$.

Lattice-symmetries: A package for working with quantum many-body bases

Exact diagonalization (ED) is one of the most reliable and established numerical methods of quantum many-body theory. The main limiting factor of the method is the exponential scaling of Hilbert space dimension with system size. Fortunately, by symmetry considerations the effective dimension can be reduced by multiple orders of magnitude. Here, we present lattice-symmetries, a package for working with such symmetry-adapted quantum many-body bases and operators. It supports bases for spin-1/2 particles with arbitrary user-defined symmetries and generic 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-point operators. As an example application we discuss SpinED program which allows to easily diagonalize clusters of at least 42 sites on a single node thus making large-scale ED easily accessible to people with no background in numerical methods and computational physics.

Exactly solvable model of a slightly fluctuating ratchet.

We consider the motion of a Brownian particle in a sawtooth potential dichotomously modulated by a spatially harmonic perturbation. An explicit expression for the Laplace transform of the Green function of an extremely asymmetric sawtooth potential is obtained. With this result, within the approximation of small potential-energy fluctuations, the integration of the relations for the average particle velocity is performed in elementary terms. The obtained analytical result, its high-temperature, low-frequency, and high-frequency asymptotics, as well as numerical calculations performed for a sawtooth potential of an arbitrary symmetry, indicate that in such a system, the frequency-temperature controlling the magnitude and direction of the ratchet velocity becomes possible. We clarify the mechanism of the appearance of additional regions of nonmonotonicity in the frequency dependence of the average velocity, which leads to the appearance of additional ratchet stopping points. This mechanism is a consequence of the competition between the sliding time along the steep slope of the highly asymmetric sawtooth potential and the correlation time of the dichotomous noise.

Generalized chromatic aberrations in non-rotationally symmetric optical systems–Part I: mathematical approach

In non-rotationally symmetric optical systems, chromatic aberrations must be defined in a generalized way with reference to the optical axis ray and optimal tilted parabasal image plane of the central wavelength. In this paper, the definition of generalized chromatic aberrations is clarified. The mathematical calculation in optical systems with arbitrary symmetry and surface shape is realized by ray- and wavefront-based methods, respectively, that are originally identical. The additivity of wavefront after each surface ensures the surface decomposition of chromatic aberrations. In the end, the influence of pupil aberration, which is of a higher order, is discussed. The consistency of our methods with Seidel aberrations in the lowest aberration order of the rotationally symmetric system and the application of our methods in diverse non-rotationally symmetric refractive systems will be addressed in detail in Part II.

Weak-anisotropy approximation of P-wave geometric spreading in horizontally layered anisotropic media of arbitrary symmetry: Tilted transversely isotropic specification

Understanding the role of geometric spreading and estimating its effects on seismic wave propagation play an important role in several techniques used in seismic exploration. The spreading can be estimated through dynamic ray tracing or determined from reflection traveltime derivatives. In the latter case, derivatives of nonhyperbolic moveout approximations are often used. We offer an alternative approach based on the weak-anisotropy approximation. The resulting formula is applicable to P-waves reflected from the bottom of a stack of horizontal layers, in which each layer can be of arbitrary anisotropy. At an arbitrary surface point, the formula depends, in each layer, on the thickness of the layer, on the P-wave reference velocity used for the construction of reference rays, and on nine P-wave weak-anisotropy (WA) parameters specifying the layer anisotropy. Along an arbitrary surface profile, the number of WA parameters reduces to five parameters related to the profile. WA parameters represent an alternative to the elastic moduli and, as such, can be used for the description of any anisotropy. The relative error of the approximate formula for a multilayered structure consisting of layers of anisotropy between 8% and 20% is, at most, 10%. For models including layers of anisotropy stronger than 20%, the relative errors may reach, locally, even 30%. For any offset, relative errors remain under a finite limit, which varies with the anisotropy strength.

Unification of topological invariants in Dirac models

Topological phases of materials are characterized by topological invariants that are conventionally calculated by different means according to the dimension and symmetry class of the system. For topological materials described by Dirac models, we introduce a wrapping number as a unified approach to obtain the topological invariants in arbitrary dimensions and symmetry classes. Given a unit vector that parametrizes the momentum-dependence of the Dirac model, the wrapping number describes the degree of the map from the Brillouin zone torus to the sphere formed by the unit vector that we call Dirac sphere. This method is gauge-invariant and originates from the intrinsic features of the Dirac model, and moreover places all known topological invariants, such as Chern number, winding number, Pfaffian, etc, on equal footing.

A k · p Effective Hamiltonian GeneratorSupported by National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFA0302400), and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB33000000).

A k · p effective Hamiltonian is important for theoretical analysis in condensed matter physics. Based on the kdotp-symmetry package, we develop an upgraded package named as kdotp-generator. This generator takes in arbitrary magnetic symmetries with their representations and returns symmetry-allowed k · p Hamiltonians. Using this package, we calculate k · p Hamiltonians for irreducible co-representations in 1651 magnetic space groups up to the third order, and their linear coupling to external fields including the electromagnetic field and the strain tensor. We hope that the package will facilitate related research in the future.

Asymptotic Analysis of Nonlinear Resonance Interaction of Capillary Waves of Arbitrary Symmetry on Moving Charged Jet at Multimode Initial Deformation

The problem of research of a nonlinear resonance between capillary waves on a surface of the charged jet at multimode initial deformation moving regarding the material environment is considered. It is shown in analytical asymptotic calculations of the second order on the dimensionless amplitude of oscillations that on a surface of a jet an internal nonlinear resonant interaction of capillary waves of any symmetry, both degenerate and secondary combinational, takes place. Positions of resonances depend on physical parameters of the system: the values of the coefficient of a surface tension and of the radial electric field at a surface of a jet, the velocity of its movement regarding the material environment, the values of the wave and azimuthal numbers of the interacting waves, a range of the waves defining initial deformation.

Non-Abelian three-loop braiding statistics for 3D fermionic topological phases

Fractional statistics is one of the most intriguing features of topological phases in 2D. In particular, the so-called non-Abelian statistics plays a crucial role towards realizing topological quantum computation. Recently, the study of topological phases has been extended to 3D and it has been proposed that loop-like extensive objects can also carry fractional statistics. In this work, we systematically study the so-called three-loop braiding statistics for 3D interacting fermion systems. Most surprisingly, we discover new types of non-Abelian three-loop braiding statistics that can only be realized in fermionic systems (or equivalently bosonic systems with emergent fermionic particles). On the other hand, due to the correspondence between gauge theories with fermionic particles and classifying fermionic symmetry-protected topological (FSPT) phases with unitary symmetries, our study also gives rise to an alternative way to classify FSPT phases. We further compare the classification results for FSPT phases with arbitrary Abelian unitary total symmetry Gf and find systematical agreement with previous studies.

Designing locally maximally entangled quantum states with arbitrary local symmetries

One of the key ingredients of many LOCC protocols in quantum information is a multiparticle (locally) maximally entangled quantum state, aka a critical state, that possesses local symmetries. We show how to design critical states with arbitrarily large local unitary symmetry. We explain that such states can be realised in a quantum system of distinguishable traps with bosons or fermions occupying a finite number of modes. Then, local symmetries of the designed quantum state are equal to the unitary group of local mode operations acting diagonally on all traps. Therefore, such a group of symmetries is naturally protected against errors that occur in a physical realisation of mode operators. We also link our results with the existence of so-called strictly semistable states with particular asymptotic diagonal symmetries. Our main technical result states that the Nth tensor power of any irreducible representation of SU(N) contains a copy of the trivial representation. This is established via a direct combinatorial analysis of Littlewood-Richardson rules utilising certain combinatorial objects which we call telescopes.

C n -symmetric Chern insulators

Chern insulators (CIs) have attracted great interests for the realization of quantum Hall states without external magnetic field. Recently, CIs have been studied on various curved lattices, such as the cone-like lattices and the fullerenes. However, few works were reported how to identify curved-CIs and explore their topological phase transitions (TPTs). In this paper, we systemically investigate the curved-CIs with arbitrary n-fold rotational symmetry on cone-like and saddle-like lattices (also dubbed as C n -symmetric CIs), by ‘cutting and gluing’ unit sectors with a disk geometry. These C n -symmetric CIs can be identified based on the chiral edge states, the real-space Chern number and the quantized conductance. Here, we propose two ways to calculate the real-space Chern number, the Kitaev’s formula and the local Chern marker. Furthermore, the TPTs of curved CIs are explored by tuning staggered flux and on-site mass.

A general solution for accelerating screw dislocations in arbitrary slip systems with reflection symmetry

Solutions to the differential equations of linear elasticity in the continuum limit in arbitrary crystal symmetry are known only for steady-state dislocations of arbitrary character, i.e. line defects moving at constant velocity. Troubled by singularities at certain ‘critical’ velocities (typically close to certain sound speeds), these dislocation fields are thought to be too idealized, and divergences are usually attributed to neglecting the finite size of the core and to the restriction to constant velocity. In the isotropic limit, accelerating pure screw and edge dislocations were studied some time ago. A generalization to anisotropic crystals has been attempted for pure screw and edge dislocations only for some special cases. This work aims to fill the gap of deriving a general anisotropic solution for pure screw dislocations applicable to slip systems featuring a reflection symmetry, a prerequisite to studying pure screw dislocations without mixing with edge dislocations. Further generalizations to arbitrary mixed dislocations as well as regularizations of the dislocation core are beyond the scope of this paper and are left for future work.

Longitudinal wave attenuation in polycrystals with elongated grains: 3D numerical and analytical modeling.

This work develops a second-order approximation (SOA) model and a three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model to calculate scattering-induced attenuation for elastic wave propagation in polycrystals with elongated grains of arbitrary crystal symmetry. The SOA model accounts for some degree of multiple scattering, whereas the 3D FE model includes all scattering possibilities. The SOA model incorporates the accurate geometric two-point correlation function obtained from the FE material systems to enable comparative studies between the two models. Also, the analytical Rayleigh and stochastic asymptotes are presented to provide explicit insights into propagation behaviors. Quantitative agreement is found between the FE and analytical models for all evaluated cases. In particular, the FE simulations support the SOA model prediction that grain shape does not exert influence on attenuation in the Rayleigh regime and its effect emerges as frequency increases to the stochastic regime showing anisotropy in attenuation. This attenuation anisotropy intensifies with the increase in frequency, but it exhibits a complicated behavior as frequency transits into the geometric regime. Wavefield fluctuations captured from the FE simulations are provided to help observe these complex scattering behaviors. The proportionality of attenuation to elastic scattering factors is also quantitatively evaluated.

Lorentz- and permutation-invariants of particles

Two theorems of Weyl tell us that the algebra of Lorentz- (and parity-) invariant polynomials in the momenta of n particles are generated by the dot products and that the redundancies which arise when n exceeds the spacetime dimension d are generated by the (d + 1)-minors of the n × n matrix of dot products. We extend the first theorem to include the action of an arbitrary permutation group P ⊂ S n on the particles, to take account of the quantum-field-theoretic fact that particles can be indistinguishable. Doing so provides a convenient set of variables for describing scattering processes involving identical particles, such as pp → jjj, for which we provide an explicit minimal set of Lorentz- and permutation-invariant generators. Additionally, we use the Cohen–Macaulay structure of the Lorentz-invariant algebra to provide a more direct characterisation in terms of a Hironaka decomposition. Among the benefits of this approach is that it can be generalized straightforwardly to when parity is not a symmetry and to cases where a permutation group acts on the particles. In the first non-trivial case, n = d + 1, we give a homogeneous system of parameters that is valid for the action of an arbitrary permutation symmetry and make a conjecture for the full Hironaka decomposition in the case without permutation symmetry. An appendix gives formulæ for the computation of the relevant Hilbert series for d ⩽ 4.

Inverse Hooke's law and complementary strain energy in coupled strain gradient elasticity

AbstractThe inverse Hooke's law and complementary strain energy density has been examined in the context of the theory of coupled gradient elasticity for second gradient materials. To this end, it was assumed that the potential energy density is a quadratic form of the strain and of the second gradient of displacement. Existence of the coupling term significantly complicates the problem. To avoid this complication the equation for the potential energy density was transformed in order to present it as an uncoupled quadratic form of a modified strain and the second gradient of displacement or of the strain and a modified second gradient of displacement. These transformations, which is in essence a block matrix diagonalization, lead to a decoupling of strains and strain gradient in the potential energy density and makes it possible to determine tensorial relations for the compliance tensors of fourth‐, fifth‐ , and sixth‐rank. Both modifications result in the same compliance tensors and are valid for an arbitrary material symmetry class. In the case of hemitropic materials, the compliance tensors have the same symmetry and the same form as the stiffness tensors and are characterized by eight independent constants, namely the two classical isotropic constants, five constants in the strain gradient part and one constant in the coupling term. Explicit expressions for these eight parameters are obtained from the tensorial relations for the compliance tensors and are compared with the direct solution of a linear system for the compliance's. All three solutions are identical, what we consider as a verification of the presented results.

Stability of Capillary Waves of an Arbitrary Symmetry on a Jet in a Uniform Electrostatic Field

The dispersion relation for capillary waves of an arbitrary azimuthal symmetry on an elliptic cross-section jet in a uniform electrostatic field which is perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the jet is derived. The stability of the first three azimuthal modes is investigated. It is shown that the stability of capillary waves on the jet reduces with increase in the external electrostatic field strength and the related eccentricity of transverse jet cross-section, as well as with increase in the polarization charge on the jet surface. Comparison with a jet in a radial electrostatic field is carried out. In the case of the transverse electrostatic field the instability growth rates of the capillary waves of any symmetry on the jet surface are turned out to be significantly higher than those in the case of the radial electrostatic field.