Low-energy Properties Research Articles

Low-energy electrodynamics of Dirac semimetal phases in the doped Mott insulator Sr2IrO4

Correlated Dirac semimetal phases emerge in lightly doped (Tb- or La-doped) Mott insulator Sr$_2$IrO$_4$, where a d-wave symmetry-breaking order underlying a pseudogap plays a crucial role in determining the nature of Dirac degeneracy, i.e., whether it is a Dirac line node or Dirac point node. Here, using a realistic five-orbital tight-binding model with a Hubbard U and a semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory, we systematically study the low-energy electrodynamic properties of the Dirac semimetal phases in the paramagnetic lightly doped Sr$_2$IrO$_4$. We investigate the effects of the d-wave electronic order and electron doping concentration on the electronic band structures and optical properties of various Dirac semimetal phases. We calculate the intraband optical conductivity and obtain electrodynamic parameters of dc conductivity, scattering rate, and Drude weight for three Dirac semimetal phases: two are Dirac point-node states observed in the 3% Tb-doped and 5% La-doped Sr$_2$IrO$_4$, and the other is a Dirac line-node state. Our results show that the temperature dependence of the electrodynamic parameters is strong in the Tb-doped system while weak in the La-doped and Dirac line-node systems, which are consistent with available experimental data. Moreover, using the low-energy effective theory, we also compare the temperature-dependent screening effect in the Tb- and La-doped systems using graphene as a reference. Our paper provides valuable insight for understanding the transport and optical properties of correlated Dirac semimetal phases in the doped Sr$_2$IrO$_4$.

Entanglement renormalization for gauge invariant quantum fields

The continuous multiscale entaglement renormalization ansatz (cMERA) [Haegeman et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 110, 100402 (2013)] is a variational wavefunctional for ground states of quantum field theories. So far, only scalar bosons and fermions have been considered. In this paper we explain how to generalize the cMERA framework to gauge invariant quantum fields. The fundamental difficulty to be addressed is how to make the gauge constraints (local linear constraints in the Hilbert space) compatible with the UV structure of the cMERA wavefunctional (which is generated by a quasi-local entangler). For simplicity, we consider $U(1)$ gauge theory in $d+1$ spacetime dimensions, a non-interacting theory with massless Hamiltonian $H_{U(1)}$ and Gaussian scale invariant ground state $|\Psi_{U(1)}\rangle$. We propose a gauge invariant cMERA wavefunctional $|\Psi^{\Lambda}_{U(1)}\rangle$ that, by construction, accurately reproduces the long distance properties of $|\Psi_{U(1)}\rangle$ while remaining somewhat unentangled at short distances. Moreover, $|\Psi^{\Lambda}_{U(1)}\rangle$ is the exact ground state of a gauge invariant, local Hamiltonian $H^{\Lambda}_{U(1)}$ whose low energy properties coincide with those of $H_{U(1)}$. Our construction also extends the cMERA formalism to massive (non-gauge invariant) vector boson quantum fields.

Compact U^{k}(1) Chern-Simons Theory as a Local Bosonic Lattice Model with Exact Discrete 1-Symmetries.

We propose a bosonic U^{κ}(1) rotor model on a three dimensional spacetime lattice. With the inclusion of a Maxwell term, we show that the low-energy properties of our model can be obtained reliably via a semiclassical approach. Those properties are the same as that of the Chern-Simons field theory, S=∫d^{3}x(K_{IJ}/4π)A_{I}dA_{J}. We require the lattice variables on each link to be compact (i.e., take values on circles), which enforces the quantization of the K matrix as a symmetric integer matrix with even diagonals. Our lattice model also has exact 1-symmetries, which gives rise to the 1-form symmetry in the Chern-Simons field theory. In particular, some of those 1-symmetries are anomalous (i.e., non-on-site) in the expected way. The anomaly can be probed via the breaking of those lattice 1-symmetries by the boundaries.

A review of coating materials for ionic polymer metal compounds for Nafion-117

The actuators based on ionic polymer metal composites or smart material are popular among many fields as robotic applications, biomedical applications and biometric applications due to their low actuation energy and high bending property on the application of voltage less than 4 V voltage. The Nafion-117 is being used as base material coated with the noble material for the same purpose. The coating is implemented to increase the thermal stability and water resistance property. The high cost of noble material coating increased the cost of IPMC 50% making its use limited in the industrial applications. The noble material used for this purpose is platinum, gold and silver. This paper emphases on reducing the cost of coating materials for Nafion-117 based IPMC. The various materials such as palladium, manganese oxide, titanium, lithium group materials and para-xylene group were compared for the purpose. The focused is done on reducing the coating cost by not compromising the efficiency to some extent. The sandwiched layer of IPMC that is nafion or flemion between the layers of noble material are most popular among fuel cells, artificial muscles and other robotic applications.The present comparative study has been done to develop a cheap smart material for industrial purpose and in biological applications like artificial muscles and coating of various elements.

Band Structure of Tungsten Oxide W20O58 with Ideal Octahedra

The band structure, density of states, and the Fermi surface of a tungsten oxide WO$_{2.9}$ with idealized crystal structure (ideal octahedra WO$_6$ creating a "square lattice") is obtained within the density functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation. Because of the oxygen vacancies ordering this system is equivalent to the compound W$_{20}$O$_{58}$ (Magn\'{e}li phase), which has 78 atoms in unit cell. We show that 5$d$-orbitals of tungsten atoms located immediately around the voids in the zigzag chains of edge-sharing octahedra give the dominant contribution near the Fermi level. These particular tungsten atoms are responsible of a low-energy properties of the system.

Normal State of Nd1−xSrxNiO2 from Self-Consistent GW+EDMFT

The recent discovery of superconductivity in hole-doped NdNiO$_2$ thin films has captivated the condensed matter physics community. Such compounds with a formal Ni$^+$ valence have been theoretically proposed as possible analogues of the cuprates, and the exploration of their electronic structure and pairing mechanism may provide important insights into the phenomenon of unconventional superconductivity. At the modeling level, there are however fundamental issues that need to be resolved. While it is generally agreed that the low-energy properties of cuprates can to a large extent be captured by a single-band model, there has been a controversy in the recent literature about the importance of a multi-band description of the nickelates. The origin of this controversy is that studies based entirely on density functional theory (DFT) calculations miss important correlation and multi-orbital effects induced by Hund coupling, while model calculations or simulations based on the combination of DFT and (extended) dynamical mean field theory ((E)DMFT) involve ad-hoc parameters and double counting corrections that substantially affect the results. Here we use a multi-site extension of the recently developed $GW$+EDMFT method, which is free of adjustable parameters, to self-consistently compute the interaction parameters and electronic structure of hole-doped NdNiO$_2$. This full ab-initio simulation demonstrates the importance of a multi-orbital description, even for the undoped compound, and produces results for the resistivity and Hall conductance in qualitative agreement with experiment.

Gaussian characterization of the unitary window for N=3 : Bound, scattering, and virtual states

The three-body system inside the unitary window is studied for three equal bosons and three equal fermions having $1/2$ spin-isospin symmetry. We perform a Gaussian characterization of the window using a Gaussian potential to define trajectories for low-energy quantities as binding energies and phase shifts. On top of this trajectories experimental values are placed or, when not available, quantities calculated using realistic potentials that are known to reproduce experimental values. The intention is to show that the Gaussian characterization of the window, thought as a contact interaction plus range corrections, captures the main low-energy properties of real systems as for example three helium atoms or three nucleons. The mapping of real systems on the Gaussian trajectories is taken as indication of universal behavior. The trajectories continuously link the physical points to the unitary limit allowing for the explanation of strong correlations between observables appearing in real systems and which are known to exist in that limit. In the present study we focus on low-energy bound, scattering, and virtual states.

Nature of native atomic defects in ZrTe5 and their impact on the low-energy electronic structure

Over the past decades, investigations of the anomalous low-energy electronic properties of $\mathrm{Zr}{\mathrm{Te}}_{5}$ have reached a wide array of conclusions. An open question is the growth method's impact on the stoichiometry of $\mathrm{Zr}{\mathrm{Te}}_{5}$ samples, especially given the very small density of states near its chemical potential. Here we report on high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy measurements performed on samples grown via different methods. Using density functional theory calculations, we identify the most prevalent types of atomic defects on the surface of $\mathrm{Zr}{\mathrm{Te}}_{5}$, namely, Te vacancies and intercalated Zr atoms. Finally, we precisely quantify their density and outline their role as ionized defects in the anomalous resistivity of this material.

Odd fracton theories, proximate orders, and parton constructions

The Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorem implies that gapped phases of matter must satisfy non-trivial conditions on their low-energy properties when a combination of lattice translation and $U(1)$ symmetry are imposed. We describe a framework to characterize the action of symmetry on fractons and other sub-dimensional fractional excitations, and use this together with the LSM theorem to establish that X-cube fracton order can occur only at integer or half-odd-integer filling. Using explicit parton constructions, we demonstrate that "odd" versions of X-cube fracton order can occur in systems at half-odd-integer filling, generalizing the notion of odd $Z_2$ gauge theory to the fracton setting. At half-odd-integer filling, exiting the X-cube phase by condensing fractional quasiparticles leads to symmetry-breaking, thereby allowing us to identify a class of conventional ordered phases proximate to phases with fracton order. We leverage a dual description of one of these ordered phases to show that its topological defects naturally have restricted mobility. Condensing pairs of these defects then leads to a fracton phase, whose excitations inherit these mobility restrictions.

Metallic states beyond the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid in one dimension

In this paper, we propose some new strongly correlated gapless states (or critical states) of spin-1/2 electrons in 1+1-dimensions, such as doped anti-ferromagnetic spin-1/2 Ising chain. We find doped anti-ferromagnetic Ising chain to be a different metallic phase from the doped ferromagnetic Ising chain, despite the two have identical symmetry. The doped anti-ferromagnetic Ising chain has a finite energy gap for all charge-1 fermionic excitations even without pairing caused by attractive interactions, resembling the pseudo-gap phase of underdoped high Tc superconductors. Applying a transverse field to the ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic metallic phases can restore the $Z_2$ symmetry, which gives rise to two distinct critical points despite that the two transitions have exactly the same symmetry breaking pattern. We also propose new chiral metallic states. All those new gapless states are strongly correlated in the sense that they do not belong to the usual Tomonaga-Luttinger phase of fermions, i.e., they cannot be smoothly deformed into the non-interacting fermion systems of the same symmetry. Our non-perturbative results are obtained by noticing that gapless quantum systems have emergent categorical symmetries, i.e., non-invertible gravitational anomalies), which are described by multi-component partition functions that are modular covariant. This allows us to calculate the scaling dimensions and quantum numbers of all the low energy operators for those strongly correlated gapless states. This demonstrates an application of emergent categorical symmetries in determining low energy properties of strongly correlated gapless states, which are hard to obtain otherwise.

Universal Minimum Conductivity in Disordered Double-Weyl Semimetal* *Supported by the the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11874337).

We report an exact numerical study on disorder effect in double-Weyl semimetals, and compare exact numerical solutions for the quasiparticle behavior with the Born approximation and renormalization group results. It is revealed that the low-energy quasiparticle properties are renormalized by multiple-impurity scattering processes, leading to apparent power-law behavior of the self-energy. Therefore, the quasiparticle residue surrounding nodal points is considerably reduced and vanishes as Z E ∞ Er with nonuniversal exponent r. We show that such unusual behavior of the quasiparticle leads to strong temperature dependence of diffusive conductivity. Remarkably, we also find a universal minimum conductivity along the direction of linear dispersion at the nodal point, which can be directly observed by experimentalist.

Computational design of f -electron Kitaev magnets: Honeycomb and hyperhoneycomb compounds A2PrO3 ( A= alkali metals)

The Kitaev spin model offers an exact quantum spin liquid in the ground state, which has stimulated exploration of its material realization over the last decade. Thus far, most of the candidates are found in $4d$- and $5d$-electron compounds, in which the low-spin $d^5$ electron configuration subject to strong spin-orbit coupling comprises a Kramers doublet with the effective angular momentum $j_{\rm eff}=1/2$ and gives rise to the bond-dependent anisotropic interactions in the Kitaev model. Here we theoretically investigate other candidates in $4f$-electron compounds with the $f^1$ electron configuration on both quasi-two-dimensional honeycomb and three-dimensional hyperhoneycomb structures, $A_2$PrO$_3$ with $A$=Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs. Based on {\it ab initio} calculations, we show that the electronic structures of these compounds host a spin-orbital entangled Kramers doublet with $j_{\rm eff}=1/2$ in the $\Gamma_7$ state. By constructing the tight-binding Hamiltonian and performing a perturbation expansion, we find that the low-energy magnetic properties of $A_2$PrO$_3$ are well described by an effective spin model with the $J$-$K$-$\Gamma'$ model. The most remarkable feature is that the Kitaev interaction $K$ is antiferromagnetic, in contrast to the ferromagnetic one in the $d^5$ candidates at hand. The exchange interactions are systematically modulated by changing the $A$-site cations. As a consequence, the compounds with $A$=Li and Na may have a dominant antiferromagnetic $K$, but $J$ dominates $K$ and $\Gamma'$ in the cases with $A$=Rb and Cs. Also, by computing the ground states of the $J$-$K$-$\Gamma'$ model by using the exact diagonalization, we map out the systematic evolution of the model parameters in the phase diagram. Our results will stimulate material exploration of the antiferromagnetic Kitaev interaction in $f$-electron compounds.

Anomalous proximity effect of planar topological Josephson junctions

The anomalous proximity effect in dirty superconducting junctions is one of most striking phenomena highlighting the profound nature of Majorana bound states and odd-frequency Cooper pairs in topological superconductors. Motivated by the recent experimental realization of planar topological Josephson junctions, we describe the anomalous proximity effect in a superconductor/semiconductor hybrid, where an additional dirty normal-metal segment is extended from a topological Josephson junction. The topological phase transition in the topological Josephson junction is accompanied by a drastic change in the low-energy transport properties of the attached dirty normal-metal. The quantization of the zero-bias differential conductance, which appears only in the topologically nontrivial phase, is caused by the penetration of the Majorana bound states and odd-frequency Cooper pairs into a dirty normal-metal segment. As a consequence, we propose a practical experiment for observing the anomalous proximity effect.

Interactions in the 8-orbital model for twisted bilayer graphene

We calculate the interactions between the Wannier functions of the 8-orbital model for twisted bilayer graphene (TBG). In this model, two orbitals per valley centered at the AA regions, the AA-p orbitals, account for the most part of the spectral weight of the flats bands. Exchange and assisted-hopping terms between these orbitals are found to be small. Therefore, the low energy properties of TBG will be determined by the density-density interactions. These interactions decay with the distance much faster than in the two orbital model, following a 1/r law in the absence of gates. The magnitude of the largest interaction in the model, the onsite term between the flat band orbitals, is controlled by the size of the AA regions and is estimated to be ~ 40 meV. To screen this interaction, the metallic gates have to be placed at a distance smaller than 5 nm. For larger distances only the long-range part of the interaction is substantially screened. The model reproduces the band deformation induced by doping found in other approaches within the Hartree approximation. Such deformation reveals the presence of other orbitals in the flat bands and is sensitive to the inclusion of the interactions involving them.

Structural relaxation and low-energy properties of twisted bilayer graphene

The structural and electronic properties of twisted bilayer graphene are investigated from first principles and tight binding approach as a function of the twist angle (ranging from the first "magic" angle $\theta=1.08^\circ$ to $\theta=3.89^\circ$, with the former corresponding to the largest unit cell, comprising 11164 carbon atoms). By properly taking into account the long-range van der Waals interaction, we provide the patterns for the atomic displacements (with respect to the ideal twisted bilayer). The out-of-plane relaxation shows an oscillating ("buckling") behavior, very evident for the smallest angles, with the atoms around the AA stacking regions interested by the largest displacements. The out-of-plane displacements are accompanied by a significant in-plane relaxation, showing a vortex-like pattern, where the vorticity (intended as curl of the displacement field) is reverted when moving from the top to the bottom plane and viceversa. Overall, the atomic relaxation results in the shrinking of the AA stacking regions in favor of the more energetically favorable AB/BA stacking domains. The measured flat bands emerging at the first magic angle can be accurately described only if the atomic relaxations are taken into account. Quite importantly, the experimental gaps separating the flat band manifold from the higher and lower energy bands cannot be reproduced if only in-plane or only out-of-plane relaxations are considered. The stability of the relaxed bilayer at the first magic angle is estimated to be of the order of 0.5-0.9 meV per atom (or 7-10 K). Our calculations shed light on the importance of an accurate description of the vdW interaction and of the resulting atomic relaxation to envisage the electronic structure of this really peculiar kind of vdW bilayers.

Interaction induced hybridization of Majorana zero modes in a coupled quantum-dot–superconducting-nanowire hybrid system

We study the low-energy transport properties of a hybrid device composed by a native quantum dot coupled to both ends of a topological superconducting nanowire section hosting Majorana zero-modes. The account of the coupling between the dot and the farthest Majorana zero-mode allows to introduce the topological quality factor, characterizing the level of topological protection in the system. We demonstrate that Coulomb interaction between the dot and the topological superconducting section leads to the onset of the additional overlap of the wavefunctions describing the Majorana zero-modes, leading to the formation of trivial Andreev bound states even for spatially well-separated Majoranas. This leads to the spoiling of the quality factor and introduces a constraint for the braiding process required to perform topological quantum computing operations.

Strong connection between single-particle and density excitations in Bose–Einstein condensates

Strong connection between the single-particle excitation and the collective excitation stands out as one of the features of Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs). We discuss theoretically these single-particle and density excitations of BECs focusing on the exact properties of the one-body and two-body Green’s functions developed by Gavoret and Nozières. We also investigate these excitations by using the many-body approximation theory at nonzero temperatures. First, we revisited the earlier study presented by Gavoret and Nozières, involving the subsequent results given by Nepomnyashchii and Nepomnyashchii, in terms of the matrix formalism representation. This matrix formalism is an extension of the Nambu representation for the single-particle Green’s function of BECs to discuss the density and current response functions efficiently. We describe the exact low-energy properties of the correlation functions and the vertex functions, and discuss the correspondence of the spectra between the single-particle excitation and the density excitation in the low-energy and low-momentum limits at T = 0. After deriving the exact low-energy structures of the one-body and two-body Green’s functions, we develop a many-body approximation theory of BECs with making the use of the matrix formalism for describing the single-particle Green’s function and the density response function at nonzero temperatures. We show how the peaks of the single-particle spectral function and the density response function behave with an increasing temperature. Many-body effect on the single-particle spectral function and the density response function is included within a random phase approximation, where satellite structures emerge because of beyond-mean-field effects. Criticisms are also made on recent theories casting doubt upon the conventional wisdom of the BEC: the equivalence of the dispersion relations between the single-particle excitation and the collective excitation in the low-energy and low-momentum regime.

Symmetry-protected topological phases in the SU(N) Heisenberg spin chain: A Majorana fermion approach

The nature of symmetry-protected topological phases of Heisenberg spin chains in totally symmetric representations of rank N of the SU(N) group is investigated through a Majorana fermion study starting from an integrable point. The latter approach generalizes the one pioneered by Tsvelik [A. M. Tsvelik, Phys. Rev. B 42, 10 499 (1990)] to describe the low-energy properties of the Haldane phase of the spin-1 Heisenberg chain from three massive Majorana fermions. We find for all N the emergence of a non-degenerate gapped phase with edge states whose topological protection depends on the parity of N. While for N odd there is no such protection, the phase with even N is shown to be topologically protected. We find that the phase belongs to the same topological class as the phase with edge states living in self-conjugate fully antisymmetric representation of the SU(N) group.

Fluctuation-induced higher-derivative couplings and infrared dynamics of the quark-meson-diquark model

In a qualitative study, the low-energy properties of the $\text{SO}\!\left(6\right)$-symmetric Quark-Meson-Diquark Model as an effective model for two-color Quantum Chromodynamics are investigated within the Functional Renormalization Group (FRG) approach. In particular, we compute the infrared scaling behavior of fluctuation-induced higher-derivative couplings of the linear Quark-Meson-Diquark Model and map the resulting renormalized effective action onto its nonlinear counterpart. The higher-derivative couplings of the nonlinear model, which we identify as the low-energy couplings of the Quark-Meson-Diquark Model, are therefore entirely determined by the FRG flow of their linear equivalents. This grants full access to their scaling behavior and provides insights into conceptual aspects of purely bosonic effective models, as they are treated within the FRG. In this way, the presented work is understood as an immediate extension of our recent advances in the $\text{SO}\!\left(4\right)$-symmetric Quark-Meson Model beyond common FRG approximations.

Enhancement of magnetization plateaus in low-dimensional spin systems

We study the low-energy properties and, in particular, the magnetization process of a spin-1/2 Heisenberg $J_1-J_2$ sawtooth and frustrated chain (also known as zig-zag ladder) with a spatially anisotropic $g$-factor. We treat the problem both analytically and numerically while keeping the $J_2/J_1$ ratio generic. Numerically, we use complete and Lanczos diagonalization as well as the infinite time-evolving block decimation (iTEBD) method. Analytically we employ (non-)Abelian bosonization. Additionally for the sawtooth chain, we provide an analytical description in terms of flat bands and localized magnons. By considering a specific pattern for the $g$-factor anisotropy for both models, we show that a small anisotropy significantly enhances a magnetization plateau at half saturation. For the magnetization of the frustrated chain, we show the destruction of the $1/3$ of the full saturation plateau in favor of the creation of a plateau at half-saturation. For large anisotropies, the existence of an additional plateau at zero magnetization is possible. Here and at higher magnetic fields, the system is locked in the half-saturation plateau, never reaching full saturation.