Low-energy Spectrum Research Articles

Non-Hermitian phase-biased Josephson junctions

We study non-Hermitian Josephson junctions formed by superconductors with a finite phase difference under non-Hermiticity, which naturally appears due to coupling to normal reservoirs. Depending on the structure of non-Hermiticity, captured in terms of retarded self-energies, the low-energy spectrum hosts topologically stable exceptional points either at zero or finite real energies as a function of the superconducting phase difference. Interestingly, the corresponding phase-biased supercurrents may acquire divergent profiles at such exceptional points. This instance is a natural and unique non-Hermitian effect that signals a possible way to enhance the sensitivity of Josephson junctions. Our work opens a way for realizing unique non-Hermitian phenomena due to the interplay between non-Hermitian topology and the Josephson effect. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Low-Energy Magnetic States of Tb Adatom on Graphene.

Electronic structure and magnetic interactions of a Tb adatom on graphene are investigated from first principles using combination of density functional theory and multiconfigurational quantum chemistry techniques including spin-orbit coupling. We determine that the six-fold symmetry hollow site is the preferred adsorption site and we investigate electronic spectrum for different adatom oxidation states including Tb3+, Tb2+,Tb1+, and Tb0. For all charge states, the Tb 4f8configuration is retained with other adatom valence electrons being distributed over 5dxy, 5dx2+y2, and 6s/5d0single-electron orbitals. We find strong intra-site adatom exchange coupling that ensures that the 5d6sspins are parallel to the 4fspin. For Tb3+, the energy levels can be described by theJ= 6 multiplet split by the graphene crystal field. For other oxidation states, the interaction of 4felectrons with spin and orbital degrees of freedom of 6s5delectrons in the presence of spin-orbit coupling results in the low-energy spectrum composed closely lying effective multiplets that are split by the graphene crystal field. Stable magnetic moment is predicted for Tb3+and Tb2+adatoms due to uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and effective anisotropy barrier around 440 cm-1controlled by the temperature assisted quantum tunneling of magnetization through the third excited doublet. On the other hand, in-plane magnetic anisotropy is found for Tb1+and Tb0adatoms. Our results indicate that the occupation of the 6s5dorbitals can dramatically affect the magnetic anisotropy and magnetic moment stability of rare earth adatoms.

Continuum Excitations in a Spin Supersolid on a Triangular Lattice.

Magnetic, thermodynamic, neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering are used to study spin correlations in the easy-axis XXZ triangular lattice magnet K_{2}Co(SeO_{3})_{2}. Despite the presence of quasi-2D "supersolid" magnetic order, the low-energy excitation spectrum contains no sharp modes and is instead a broad and structured multiparticle continuum. Applying a weak magnetic field drives the system into an m=1/3 fractional magnetization plateau phase and restores sharp spin wave modes. To some extent, the behavior at zero field can be understood in terms of spin wave decay. However, the presence of clear excitation minima at the M points of the Brillouin zone suggest that the spinon language may provide a more adequate description, and signals a possible proximity to a Dirac spin liquid state.

Contributions of cosmic-ray components to the HPGe gamma spectrometer background spectrum within the 0°–45° Zenith angle range

This study investigates the contributions of various cosmic-ray-induced components to the energy response of a High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometer within the 0°–45° zenith angle range. The analysis focuses on muons, neutrons, protons, electrons, positrons, and photons. It also examines the impact of particle showers induced by muons interacting with the lead chamber and reaching the HPGe detector. Utilizing the GEANT4 simulation toolkit, we provide a detailed examination of these components' influence on the spectrum. The results confirm that within this zenith angle range, muons account for approximately 91% of the recorded cosmic-ray induced energy spectrum and contribute 54.6% to the overall cosmic-ray-induced background spectrum. The study also highlights the significant role of showers, especially those resulting from muon interactions with the lead shielding, in shaping the low-energy spectrum below 3 MeV.

Deciphering competing interactions of Kitaev–Heisenberg-Γ system in clusters: I. Static properties

Recently, the Kitaev-Heisenberg-Γ system has been used to explore various aspects of Kitaev spin liquid physics. Here, we consider a few small clusters of up to twelve sites and study them in detail to unravel many interesting findings due to the competition between all possible signs and various magnitudes of these interactions under the influence of an external magnetic field. When Heisenberg interaction is taken anti-ferromagnetic, one obtains plateaus in correlation functions where, surprisingly, the exact groundstate reduces to the eigenstate of Heisenberg interaction as well. On the other hand, for ferromagnetic Heisenberg interaction, its competition with Kitaev interaction results in non-monotonicity in the correlation functions. We discuss, in detail, the competing effects on low energy spectrum, flux operator, magnetization, susceptibility, and specific heat. Finally, we discuss how our findings could be helpful to explain some of the recent experimental and theoretical findings in materials with Kitaev interactions.

Static or dynamic pear shapes in radioactive nucleus 224Rn?

We report a comprehensive study on low-lying parity doublet states of 224Rn by mixing both quadrupole- and octupole-shaped configurations in multireference covariant density functional theory, in which broken symmetries in configurations are restored using projection techniques. The low-lying energy spectrum is reasonably reproduced when the shape fluctuations in both the quadrupole and octupole shapes are considered. Electric octupole transition strength in 224Rn is found to be B(E3;31-→01+)=43\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B(E3; 3^-_1 \\rightarrow 0^+_1)=43$$\\end{document} W.u., comparable to that in 224Ra, whose data are 42(3) W.u.. Our results indicate that 224Rn shares similar low-energy structure with 224Ra despite the excitation energy of first 3-\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$3^-$$\\end{document} state of the former nucleus is higher than that of the latter. This study suggests 224Rn is a candidate for the search for permanent electric dipole moment.

“Quantum Geometric Nesting” and Solvable Model Flat-Band Systems

We introduce the concept of “quantum geometric nesting” (QGN) to characterize the idealized ordering tendencies of certain flat-band systems implicit in the geometric structure of the flat-band subspace. Perfect QGN implies the existence of an infinite class of local interactions that can be explicitly constructed and give rise to solvable ground states with various forms of possible fermion bilinear order, including flavor ferromagnetism, density waves, and superconductivity. For the ideal Hamiltonians constructed in this way, we show that certain aspects of the low-energy spectrum can also be exactly computed including, in the superconducting case, the phase stiffness. Examples of perfect QGN include flat bands with certain symmetries (e.g., chiral or time reversal) and non-symmetry-related cases exemplified with an engineered model for pair-density wave. Extending this approach, we obtain exact superconducting ground states with nontrivial pairing symmetry. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Development of a compact magnetic spectrometer for use at the OMEGA Laser Facility and the National Ignition Facility.

Measurement of proton spectra is an important diagnostic for a variety of high energy density physics experiments. Current diagnostics are either not designed to capture the spectrum of low-energy protons or are unsuitable for high debris experiments. To bridge the gap, a new CR-39 based compact magnetic spectrometer (MagSpec) has been developed to measure proton spectra in the 1-20MeV energy range, with a particular focus on the low-energy (1-6MeV) spectrum, for use in experiments at the OMEGA Laser Facility and the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In the MagSpec diagnostic, protons of different energies are dispersed as they pass through a magnetic field before impinging on a differentially filtered CR-39 surface, resulting in a spatial distribution of CR-39 tracks that corresponds to the energy spectrum. In this paper, we discuss details of the design and implementation of MagSpec on the NIF and OMEGA.

On the low-energy electromagnetic dipole modes in 151,153,155Sm Nuclei

The recently observed low-energy magnetic dipole (M1) and electric dipole (E1) excitations in deformed 151,153,155Sm are theoretically analysed. Rotational Invariant (RI-) and Translational-Galilean Invariant (TGI-) Quasiparticle Nuclear Model (QPNM) are used in the calculation of M1 and E1 properties, respectively. Both theories consider monopole pairing between nucleons, and the deformed Woods-Saxon potential is used as the mean-field potential. Pyatov's symmetry restoration procedure is applied in these models to eliminate the spurious modes from the intrinsic nuclear excitations. Model calculations show that although E1 transitions dominate the low-energy dipole spectra of 151,153,155Sm, many low-lying M1 transitions exist in these nuclei. It is shown that the most significant contribution to E1 and M1 excitation comes from ΔK=±1 transitions. The theory satisfactorily reproduces the gross features of low-lying dipole modes determined from the Oslo Method analysis of the experimental spectra.

Revisiting Artifacts of Kohn-Sham Density Functionals for Biosimulation.

We revisit the problem of unphysical charge density delocalization/fractionalization induced by the self-interaction error of common approximate Kohn-Sham (KS) density functional theory functionals on simulation of small to medium-sized proteins in a vacuum. Aside from producing unphysical electron densities and total energies, the vanishing of the HOMO-LUMO gap associated with the unphysical charge delocalization leads to an unphysical low-energy spectrum and catastrophic failure of most popular solvers for the KS self-consistent field (SCF) problem. We apply a robust quasi-Newton SCF solver [ Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2024, 26, 6557] to obtain solutions for some of these difficult cases. The anatomy of the charge delocalization is revealed by the natural deformation orbitals obtained from the density matrix difference between the Hartree-Fock and KS solutions; the charge delocalization not only can occur between charged fragments (such as in zwitterionic polypeptides) but also involves neutral fragments. The vanishing-gap phenomenon and troublesome SCF convergence are both attributed to the unphysical KS Fock operator eigenspectra of molecular fragments (e.g., amino acids or their side chains). Analysis of amino acid pairs suggests that the unphysical charge delocalization can be partially ameliorated by the use of some range-separated hybrid functionals but not by semilocal or standard hybrid functionals. Last, we demonstrate that solutions without the unphysical charge delocalization can be located even for semilocal KS functionals highly prone to such defects, but such solutions have non-Aufbau character and are unstable with respect to mixing of the non-overlapping "frontier" orbitals. Caution should be exercised when unexpectedly small (or vanishing) HOMO-LUMO gaps and atypical SCF convergence patterns (e.g., oscillatory) are observed in KS DFT simulations in any context (bio or otherwise).

Vacuum structure of an eight-dimensional SU(3) gauge theory on a magnetized torus

We analyze the vacuum structure of an eight-dimensional non-Abelian gauge theory with a compactified four-dimensional torus as the extra dimensions. As a nontrivial background configuration of the gauge field of an SU(n) gauge group, we suppose a magnetic flux in two extra dimensions, and continuous Wilson line phases are also involved. We introduce matter fields and calculate the mass spectrum of low-energy modes appearing in a four-dimensional effective theory in an SU(3) model as an explicit example. As expected, potentially tachyonic states in four-dimensional modes appear from extra-dimensional gauge fields that couple to the flux background since the gauge group is simply connected. The Wilson line phases give a nonvanishing contribution to their masses, and we have a low-energy mass spectrum without tachyonic states, given that these phases take an appropriate value. To verify the validity of the values of the Wilson line phases, we examine the one-loop effective potential for these phases and explicitly show the contribution from each type of field present in our model. It is clarified that, although there seems to be no local minimum in the potential for the Wilson line phases in the pure Yang-Mills case, by including matter fields, we could find a vacuum configuration where tachyonic states disappear. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Lattice realizations of topological defects in the critical (1+1)-d three-state Potts model

Topological/perfectly-transmissive defects play a fundamental role in the analysis of the symmetries of two dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs). In the present work, spin chain regularizations for these defects are proposed and analyzed in the case of the three-state Potts CFT. In particular, lattice versions for all the primitive defects are presented, with the remaining defects obtained from the fusion of the primitive ones. The defects are obtained by introducing modified interactions around two given sites of an otherwise homogeneous spin chain with periodic boundary condition. The various primitive defects are topological on the lattice except for one, which is topological only in the scaling limit. The lattice models are analyzed using a combination of exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group techniques. Low-lying energy spectra for different defect Hamiltonians as well as entanglement entropy of blocks located symmetrically around the defects are computed. The latter provides a convenient way to compute the g-function which characterizes various defects. Finally, the eigenvalues of the line operators in the “crossed channel” and fusion of different defect lines are also analyzed. The results are all in agreement with expectations from conformal field theory.

Improved Dielectric Response of Solids: Combining the Bethe-Salpeter Equation with the Random Phase Approximation.

The Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) can provide an accurate description of low-energy optical spectra of insulating crystals-even when excitonic effects are important. However, due to high computational costs it is only possible to include a few bands in the BSE Hamiltonian. As a consequence, the dielectric screening given by the real part of the dielectric function can be significantly underestimated by the BSE. Here, we show that universally accurate optical response functions can be obtained by combining a four-point BSE-like equation for the irreducible polarizability with a two-point Dyson equation that includes the higher-lying transitions within the random phase approximation. The new method is referred to as BSE+. It has a computational cost comparable to the BSE but a much faster convergence with respect to the size of the electron-hole basis. We use the method to calculate refractive indices and electron energy loss spectra for a test set of semiconductors and insulators. In all cases the BSE+ yields excellent agreement with experimental data across a wide frequency range and outperforms both the BSE and the random phase approximation.

Successful Freeze-Out of Strongly Interacting Dark Matter with Even-Numbered Interactions.

Strongly interacting massive particles π have been advocated as prominent dark matter candidates when they regulate their relic abundance through odd-numbered 3π→2π annihilation. We show that successful freeze-out may also be achieved through even-numbered interactions XX→ππ once bound states X among the particles of the low-energy spectrum exist. In addition, X-formation hosts the potential of also catalyzing odd-numbered 3π→2π annihilation processes, turning them into effective two-body processes πX→ππ. Bound states are often a natural consequence of strongly interacting theories. We calculate the dark matter freeze-out and comment on the cosmic viability and possible extensions. Candidate theories can encompass confining sectors without a mass gap, glueball dark matter, or ϕ^{3} and ϕ^{4} theories with strong Yukawa or self-interactions.

Evolution of High-energy Electron Distribution in Pulsar Wind Nebulae

In this paper, we analyze the spectral energy distributions of 17 powerful (with a spin-down luminosity greater than 1035 erg s−1) young (with an age less than 15,000 yr) pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) using a simple time-independent one-zone emission model. Our aim is to investigate correlations between model parameters and the ages of the corresponding PWNe, thereby revealing the evolution of high-energy electron distributions within PWNe. Our findings are as follows: (1) The electron distributions in PWNe can be characterized by a double power-law with a super-exponential cutoff. (2) As PWNe evolve, the high-energy end of the electron distribution spectrum becomes harder with the index decreasing from approximately 3.5 to 2.5, while the low-energy end spectrum index remains constant near 1.5. (3) There is no apparent correlation between the break energy or cutoff energy and the age of PWNe. (4) The average magnetic field within PWNe decreases with age, leading to a positive correlation between the energy loss timescale of electrons at the break energy or the high-energy cutoff, and the age of the PWN. (5) The total electron energy within PWNe remains constant near 2 × 1048 erg, while the total magnetic energy decreases with age.

Shell-model study of 58Ni using quantum computing algorithm

This study presents a simulated quantum computing approach for the investigation into the shell-model energy levels of 58Ni through the application of the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) method in combination with a problem-specific ansatz. The primary objective is to achieve a fully accurate low-lying energy spectrum of 58Ni. The chosen isotope, 58Ni is particularly interesting in nuclear physics through its role in astrophysical reactions while also being a simple but non-trivial nucleus for shell-model study, it being two particles outside a closed shell. Our ansatz, along with the VQE method are shown to be able to reproduce exact energy values for the ground state and first and second excited states. We compare a classical shell model code, the values obtained by diagonalization of the Hamiltonian after qubit mapping, and a noiseless simulated ansatz+VQE simulation. The exact agreement between classical and qubit-mapped diagonalization shows the correctness of our method, and the high accuracy of the simulation means that the ansatz is suitable to allow a full reconstruction of the full nuclear wave function.

Clinical boundary conditions for propagation-based X-ray phase contrast imaging: from bio-sample models targeting to clinical applications.

Typical propagation-based X-ray phase contrast imaging (PB-PCI) experiments using polyenergetic sources are tested in very ideal conditions: low-energy spectrum (mainly characteristic X-rays), small thickness and homogeneous materials considered weakly absorbing objects, large object-to-detector distance, long exposure times and non-clinical detector. Explore PB-PCI features using boundary conditions imposed by a low power polychromatic X-ray source (X-ray spectrum without characteristic X-rays), thick and heterogenous materials and a small area imaging detector with high low-detection radiation threshold, elements commonly found in a clinical scenario. A PB-PCI setup implemented using a microfocus X-ray source and a dental imaging detector was characterized in terms of different spectra and geometric parameters on the acquired images. Test phantoms containing fibers and homogeneous materials with close attenuation characteristics and animal bone and mixed soft tissues (bio-sample models) were analyzed. Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR), system spatial resolution and Kerma values were obtained for all images. Phase contrast images showed CNR up to 15% higher than conventional contact images. Moreover, it is better seen when large magnifications (>3) and object-to-detector distances (>13 cm) were used. The influence of the spectrum was not appreciable due to the low efficiency of the detector (thin scintillator screen) at high energies. Despite the clinical boundary condition used in this work, regarding the X-ray spectrum, thick samples, and detection system, it was possible to acquire phase contrast images of biological samples.

Quantum features of low-energy photoluminescence of aluminum nitride films

Photoluminescence of aluminum nitride films at the below bandgap excitation has been studied. It has been found that low-energy (up to 2.02 eV) photoluminescence spectra of the AlN films contain a series of equidistant maxima, the intensities of which decrease with energy. Theoretical analysis has shown that the observed photoluminescence features may be caused by strong electron-phonon interaction (long-range interaction of electrons in the band gap with Al3+ ions in the lattice sites). This interaction presumably leads to appearance of quasi-particles in the band gap of AlN, which are a bound state of an electron with an ion in a crystal lattice site. Such quasi-particles have been called “elions”. The energy of an elion is quantized. An elion quantum is equal to the longitudinal optical phonon energy. The low-energy photoluminescence is based on the elion generation and subsequent annihilation mechanism.

Spin wave excitations in low dimensional systems with large magnetic anisotropy

The low-energy excitation spectrum of a two-dimensional ferromagnetic material is dominated by single-magnon excitations that show a gapless parabolic dispersion relation with the spin wave vector. This occurs as long as magnetic anisotropy and anisotropic exchange are negligible compared to isotropic exchange. However, to maintain magnetic order at finite temperatures in extended systems, it is necessary to have sizable anisotropy to open a gap in the spin wave excitation spectrum. We consider four real two-dimensional systems for which ferromagnetic order at finite temperature has been observed or predicted. Density functional theory calculations of the total energy differences for different spin configurations permit us to extract the relevant parameters and connect them with a spin Hamiltonian. The corresponding values of the Curie temperature are estimated using a simple model and found to be mostly determined by the value of the isotropic exchange. The exchange and anisotropy parameters are used in a toy model of finite-size periodic chains to study the low-energy excitation spectrum, including single-magnon and two-magnon excitations. At low energies, we find that single-magnon excitations appear in the spectrum together with two-magnon excitations. These excitations present a gap that grows particularly for large values of the magnetic anisotropy or anisotropic exchange, relative to the isotropic exchange.

Europium Ions Self‐Reduction Benefiting from AlO4/Si(Al)O4 Network Structure for Multimode Optical Thermometry Manometry

AbstractMixed‐valence europium ions‐activated phosphors have distinct advantages in color modulation, dynamic anti‐counterfeiting, and optical sensors. Nevertheless, it is still a challenge to obtain mixed‐valence europium ions in single compounds by facile self‐reduction. Herein, the crystal structure of a 3D hexagonal network formed by SiO4/AlO4 tetrahedra is demonstrated to play a significant role in the spontaneous reduction of Eu3+ to Eu2+ based on SrAl2Si2O8, Sr2SiO4, SrAl2O4 hosts. The crystal field theory and Judd‐Ofelt theory provide a deeper understanding of Eu2+ and Eu3+ luminescence behavior, namely, the low energy spectra of Eu2+ are more easily observed in crystal structure with high polarizability and octahedral coordination, whereas the spectra properties of Eu3+ are affected by the symmetry of local environment and crystal rigidity. For SrAl2Si2O8: 0.02Eu2+/Eu3+, multi‐mode thermometry is explored in terms of the luminescence intensity ratio (LIR) of Eu2+/Eu3+, luminescence intensity (LI) and full‐width at half maximum (FWHM) of Eu2+ with maximal relative sensitivity reaching 3.83% K−1. This study presents the first exploration of optical manometry based on the LIR mode of Eu2+/Eu3+ with excellent sensitivity (Sr = 18.13% GPa−1). This work not only provides a novel strategy for the design of mixed‐valence ions‐activated materials but also constructs promising optical thermometry, and manometry candidates.