Non-local Quantities Research Articles

Exact Correlations in Topological Quantum Chains

Although free-fermion systems are considered exactly solvable, they generically do not admit closed expressions for nonlocal quantities such as topological string correlations or entanglement measures. We derive closed expressions for such quantities for a dense subclass of certain classes of topological fermionic wires (classes BDI and AIII). Our results also apply to spin chains called generalised cluster models. While there is a bijection between general models in these classes and Laurent polynomials, restricting to polynomials with degenerate zeros leads to a plethora of exact results: (1) we derive closed expressions for the string correlation functions - the order parameters for the topological phases in these classes; (2) we obtain an exact formula for the characteristic polynomial of the correlation matrix, giving insight into ground state entanglement; (3) the latter implies that the ground state can be described by a matrix product state (MPS) with a finite bond dimension in the thermodynamic limit - an independent and explicit construction for the BDI class is given in a concurrent work [Phys. Rev. Res. 3 (2021), 033265, 26 pages, arXiv:2105.12143]; (4) for BDI models with even integer topological invariant, all non-zero eigenvalues of the transfer matrix are identified as products of zeros and inverse zeros of the aforementioned polynomial. General models in these classes can be obtained by taking limits of the models we analyse, giving a further application of our results. To the best of our knowledge, these results constitute the first application of Day's formula and Gorodetsky's formula for Toeplitz determinants to many-body quantum physics.

Sweeny dynamics for the random-cluster model with small Q.

The Sweeny algorithm for the Q-state random-cluster model in two dimensions is shown to exhibit a rich mixture of critical dynamical scaling behaviors. As Q decreases, the so-called critical speeding-up for nonlocal quantities becomes more and more pronounced. However, for some quantity of a specific local pattern, e.g., the number of half faces on the square lattice, we observe that, as Q→0, the integrated autocorrelation time τ diverges as Q^{-ζ}, with ζ≃1/2, leading to the nonergodicity of the Sweeny method for Q→0. Such Q-dependent critical slowing-down, attributed to the peculiar form of the critical bond weight v=sqrt[Q], can be eliminated by a combination of the Sweeny and the Kawasaki algorithm. Moreover, by classifying the occupied bonds into bridge bonds and backbone bonds, and the empty bonds into internal-perimeter bonds and external-perimeter bonds, one can formulate an improved version of the Sweeny-Kawasaki method such that the autocorrelation time for any quantity is of order O(1).

Critical thresholds in the Euler-Poisson-alignment system

This paper is concerned with the global wellposedness of the Euler-Poisson-alignment (EPA) system. This system arises from collective dynamics, and features two types of nonlocal interactions: the repulsive electric force and the alignment force. It is known that the repulsive electric force generates oscillatory solutions, which is difficult to be controlled by the nonlocal alignment force using conventional comparison principles. We construct invariant regions such that the solution trajectories cannot exit, and therefore obtain global wellposedness for subcritical initial data that lie in the invariant regions. Supercritical regions of initial data are also derived which leads to finite-time singularity formations. To handle the oscillation and the nonlocality, we introduce a new way to construct invariant regions piece by piece in the phase plane of a reformulation of the EPA system. Our result is extended to the case when the alignment force is weakly singular. The singularity leads to the loss of a priori bounds crucial in our analysis. With the help of improved estimates on the nonlocal quantities, we design non-trivial invariant regions that guarantee global wellposedness of the EPA system with weakly singular alignment interactions.

Nonlocal estimates for the volume preserving mean curvature flow and applications

We obtain estimates on nonlocal quantities appearing in the volume preserving mean curvature flow (VPMCF) in the closed, Euclidean setting. As a result we demonstrate that blowups of finite time type I singularities of VPMCF are ancient solutions to mean curvature flow (MCF), prove that monotonicity methods may always be applied at these finite times and obtain information on the asymptotics of the flow. In the case of type II singularities, asymptotic flows corresponding to ’Hamilton’s rescaling procedures’ are eternal solutions of the MCF.

Classical Simulation of Short-Time Quantum Dynamics

Recent progress in the development of quantum technologies has enabled the direct investigation of the dynamics of increasingly complex quantum many-body systems. This motivates the study of the complexity of classical algorithms for this problem in order to benchmark quantum simulators and to delineate the regime of quantum advantage. Here, we present classical algorithms for approximating the dynamics of local observables and nonlocal quantities such as the Loschmidt echo, where the evolution is governed by a local Hamiltonian. For short times, their computational cost scales polynomially with the system size and the inverse of the approximation error. In the case of local observables, the proposed algorithm has a better dependence on the approximation error than algorithms based on the Lieb-Robinson bound. Our results use cluster-expansion techniques adapted to the dynamical setting, for which we give a novel proof of their convergence. This has important physical consequences besides our efficient algorithms. In particular, we establish a novel quantum speed limit, a bound on dynamical phase transitions, and a concentration bound for product states evolved for short times.Received 2 November 2022Accepted 25 April 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXQuantum.4.020340Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasQuantum information theoryQuantum statistical mechanicsPhysical SystemsLattice models in statistical physicsQuantum spin modelsTechniquesApproximation methods for many-body systemsComputational complexitySeries expansions & exact enumerationQuantum InformationStatistical Physics

Expressions of nonlocal quantities and application to Stoneley waves in weakly nonlocal orthotropic elastic half-spaces

In this paper, we introduce a novel model of nonlocal elasticity, called the weakly nonlocal elasticity, and provide explicit expressions of nonlocal quantities for harmonic plane waves propagating in the weakly nonlocal elastic solids. Then, we apply these expressions to investigate the propagation of Stoneley waves along the interface between two weakly nonlocal orthotropic elastic half-spaces. The half-spaces may be compressible or incompressible, and they are in welded contact. Our main aim is to derive explicit dispersion equations of Stoneley waves. First, we derive the explicit dispersion equation for the compressible case (when two half-spaces are compressible) using the surface impedance matrices of half-spaces. Then, the explicit dispersion equations for the incompressible cases (at least one half-space is incompressible) are obtained using the incompressible limit method. The simple and immediate derivation of these equations proves the convenience of the incompressible limit method. Some numerical examples are carried out to examine the effect of nonlocality and incompressibility on the Stoneley wave velocity.

Existence results for a class of local and nonlocal nonlinear elliptic problems

In this paper, we study the $p$-Laplacian problems in the case where $p$ depends on the solution itself. We consider two situations, when $p$ is a local and nonlocal quantity. By using a singular perturbation technique, we prove the existence of weak solutions for the problem associated to the following equation $$ \begin{cases} -\mathrm{d}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{v}(|\nabla u|^{p(u)-2}\nabla u)+|u|^{p(u)-2}u=f & \mbox{in}\; \Omega\\ u=0& \mbox{on}\; \partial\Omega , \end{cases}$$ and also for its nonlocal version. The main goal of this paper is to extend the results established by M. Chipot and H. B. de Oliveira (Math. Ann., 2019, 375, 283-306).

Evolving microstructures in relaxed continuum damage mechanics for the modeling of strain softening

A new relaxation approach is proposed which allows for the description of stress- and strain-softening at finite strains. The model is based on the construction of a convex hull replacing the originally non-convex incremental stress potential which in turn represents damage in terms of the classical (1−D) approach. This convex hull is given as the linear convex combination of weakly and strongly damaged phases and thus, it represents the homogenization of a microstructure bifurcated in the two phases. As a result thereof, damage evolves in the convexified regime mainly by an increasing volume fraction of the strongly damaged phase. In contrast to previous relaxed incremental formulations in Gürses and Miehe (2011) and Balzani and Ortiz (2012), where the convex hull has been kept fixated after construction, here, the strongly damaged phase is allowed to elastically unload upon further loading. At the same time, its volume fraction increases nonlinearly within the convexified regime. Thus, strain-softening in the sense of a decreasing stress with increasing strain can be modeled. The major advantage of the proposed approach is that it ensures mesh-independent structural simulations without the requirement of additional length-scale related parameters or nonlocal quantities, which simplifies an implementation using classical material subroutine interfaces. In this paper, focus is on the relaxation of one-dimensional models for fiber damage which are combined with a microsphere approach to allow for the description of three-dimensional fiber dispersions appearing in fibrous materials such as soft biological tissues. Several numerical examples are analyzed to show the overall response of the model and the mesh-independence of resulting structural calculations.

Information content and minimum-length metric: A drop of light

In the vast amount of results linking gravity with thermodynamics, statistics, information, a path is described which tries to explore this connection from the point of view of (non)locality of the gravitational field. First the emphasis is put on that well-known thermodynamic results related to null hypersurfaces (i.e. to lightsheets and to generalized covariant entropy bound) can be interpreted as implying an irreducible intrinsic nonlocality of gravity. This nonlocality even if possibly concealed at ordinary scales(depending on which matter is source of the gravitational field, and which matter we use to probe the latter) unavoidably shows up at the smallest scales, read the Planck length $l_p$, whichever are the circumstances we are considering. Some consequences are then explored of this nonlocality when embodied in the fabric itself of spacetime by endowing the latter with a minimum length $L$, in particular the well-known and intriguing fact that this brings to get the field equations, and all of gravity with it, as a statistical-mechanical result. This is done here probing the neighborhood of a would-be (in ordinary spacetime) generic event through lightsheets (instead of spacelike or timelike geodesic congruences as in other accounts) from it. The tools for these derivations are nonlocal quantities, and among them the minimum-length Ricci scalar stands out both for providing micro degrees of freedom for gravity in the statistical account and for the fact that intriguingly the ordinary, or `classical', Ricci scalar can not be recovered from it in the $L\to 0$ limit. Emphasis is put on that classical gravity is generically obtained this way for $\hbar\ne 0$, but not in the $\hbar\to 0$ limit (the statistically derived field equations become singular in this limit), adding to previous results in this sense. (truncated Abstract; see the paper for full Abstract)

Accurate parameterization of the kinetic energy functional.

The absence of a reliable formulation of the kinetic energy density functional has hindered the development of orbital free density functional theory. Using the data-aided learning paradigm, we propose a simple prescription to accurately model the kinetic energy density of any system. Our method relies on a dictionary of functional forms for local and nonlocal contributions, which have been proposed in the literature, and the appropriate coefficients are calculated via a linear regression framework. To model the nonlocal contributions, we explore two new nonlocal functionals-a functional that captures fluctuations in electronic density and a functional that incorporates gradient information. Since the analytical functional forms of the kernels present in these nonlocal terms are not known from theory, we propose a basis function expansion to model these seemingly difficult nonlocal quantities. This allows us to easily reconstruct kernels for any system using only a few structures. The proposed method is able to learn kinetic energy densities and total kinetic energies of molecular and periodic systems, such as H2, LiH, LiF, and a one-dimensional chain of eight hydrogens using data from Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculations for only a few structures.

A Perturbation Approach for Lateral Excited Vibrations of a Beam-like Viscoelastic Microstructure Using the Nonlocal Theory

In this paper, we investigate the lateral vibration of fully clamped beam-like microstructures subjected to an external transverse harmonic excitation. Eringen’s nonlocal theory is applied, and the viscoelasticity of materials is considered. Hence, the small-scale effect and viscoelastic properties are adopted in the higher-order mathematical model. The classical stress and classical bending moments in mechanics of materials are unavailable when modeling a microstructure, and, accordingly, they are substituted for the corresponding effective nonlocal quantities proposed in the nonlocal stress theory. Owing to an axial elongation, the nonlinear partial differential equation that governs the lateral motion of beam-like viscoelastic microstructures is derived using a geometric, kinematical, and dynamic analysis. In the next step, the ordinary differential equations are obtained, and the time-dependent lateral displacement is determined via a perturbation method. The effects of external excitation amplitude on excited vibration are presented, and the relations between the nonlocal parameter, viscoelastic damping, detuning parameter, and the forced amplitude are discussed. Some dynamic phenomena in the excited vibration are revealed, and these have reference significance to the dynamic design and optimization of beam-like viscoelastic microstructures.

Electromagnetic port boundary conditions: Topological and variational perspective

AbstractWe present a comprehensive and variational approach to the coupling of electromagnetic field models with circuit‐type models. That coupling relies on integral nonlocal quantities like voltage and current for electric ports, magnetomotive force, and magnetic flux for magnetic ports, and linked currents and fluxes for “tunnels” in the field domain. These quantities are closely linked to nonbounding cycles studied in algebraic topology and they respect electromagnetic power balance laws. We obtain two dual variational formulations, called E‐based and H‐based, which provide a foundation for finite‐element Galerkin discretization.

Investigation of the Hall-Petch Relationship Using Strain Gradient Plasticity Model for Finite Deformation Framework

The Hall-Petch relationship in metals is investigated using the strain gradient plasticity theory within the finite deformation framework. For this purpose, the thermodynamically consistent constitutive formulation for the coupled thermomechanical gradient-enhanced plasticity model is developed. The corresponding finite element method is performed to investigate the characteristics of the Hall-Petch relationship in metals. The proposed model is established based on an extra Helmholtz-type partial differential equation, and the nonlocal quantity is calculated in a coupled method based on the equilibrium conditions. An excellent agreement between the simulation results and the test data is resulted in the Hall-Petch graph. Furthermore, it is observed that the Hall-Petch constants do not remain unchanged but vary with the strain level.

Self-averaging in many-body quantum systems out of equilibrium: Approach to the localized phase

The self-averaging behavior of interacting many-body quantum systems has been mostly studied at equilibrium. The present work addresses what happens out of equilibrium, as the increase of the strength of onsite disorder takes the system to the localized phase. We consider two local and two non-local quantities of great experimental and theoretical interest. In the delocalized phase, self-averaging depends on the observable and on the time scale, but the picture simplifies substantially when localization is reached. In the localized phase, the local observables become self-averaging at all times, while the non-local quantities are throughout non-self-averaging. These behaviors are explained and scaling analysis are provided using the $\ell$-bits model and a toy model.

Optimal distributed sensing in noisy environments

We consider distributed sensing of non-local quantities. We introduce quantum enhanced protocols to directly measure any (scalar) field with a specific spatial dependence by placing sensors at appropriate positions and preparing a spatially distributed entangled quantum state. Our scheme has optimal Heisenberg scaling and is completely unaffected by noise on other processes with different spatial dependence than the signal. We consider both Fisher and Bayesian scenarios, and design states and settings to achieve optimal scaling. We explicitly demonstrate how to measure coefficients of spatial Taylor and Fourier series, and show that our approach can offer an exponential advantage as compared to strategies that do not make use of entanglement between different sites.

Strain gradient finite element model for finite deformation theory: size effects and shear bands

In this work, a thermodynamically consistent constitutive formulation for the coupled thermomechanical strain gradient plasticity theory is developed in the context of the finite deformation framework. A corresponding finite element solution is presented to investigate the microstructural features of metallic volumes. The developed model is established based on an extra Helmholtz-type partial differential equation, and the nonlocal quantity is calculated in a coupled method based on the equilibrium conditions. This approach is well known for its computational strength, however, it is also commonly accepted that it cannot capture the size effect phenomenon observed in the micro-/nanoscale experiments during hardening. In order to resolve this issue, a modified strain gradient approach which can capture the size effects under the finite deformation is constructed in this work. The shear problem is then solved to carry out the feasibility study of the developed model on the size effect phenomenon. Lastly, a plane strain problem under uniaxial tensile loading with shear bands is examined to perform the mesh sensitivity tests of the model during softening.

A gradient-enhanced damage model motivated by engineering approaches to ductile failure of steels

Material models for ductile damage, crack initiation, and crack growth are of high interest, e.g. for metal forming simulations. Empirical engineering approaches are often applied, but the numerical results are sensitive to the discretization if no method is utilized to prevent ill-posedness of the underlying boundary value problem due to strain softening. In order to face this issue, an empirical damage model is equipped with a gradient-enhancement which introduces an additional length scale parameter. Until the initiation of damage, the material is modeled with standard von Mises plasticity. Damage initiation is taken into account by an uncoupled failure indicator. After damage initiation, material degradation is assumed to be driven by a non-local quantity, which depends on plastic deformation and stress triaxiality. During damage evolution, the macroscopic material behavior becomes dependent on hydrostatic stress, which is motivated by well known void growth and coalescence mechanisms. A calibration strategy is developed to determine the parameters of strain hardening, damage initiation, and damage evolution as well as the internal length step-by-step. The proposed model is calibrated to experimental data of a pressure vessel steel. Reasonable predictions of smooth and notched tensile tests as well as a small punch test show the validity of the model for loadings from moderate to high stress triaxialities.

Deciphering the origin of nonlocal resistance in multiterminal graphene on hexagonal-boron-nitride with ab initio quantum transport: Fermi surface edge currents rather than Fermi sea topological valley currents

The recent observation (Gorbachev et al 2014 Science 346 448) of nonlocal resistance RNL near the Dirac point (DP) of multiterminal graphene on aligned hexagonal-boron nitride (G/hBN) has been interpreted as the consequence of topological valley Hall currents carried by the Fermi sea states just beneath the bulk gap Eg induced by inversion symmetry breaking. However, the corresponding valley Hall conductivity , quantized inside Eg, is not directly measurable. Conversely, the Landauer–Büttiker formula, as a numerically exact approach to observable nonlocal transport quantities, yields RNL ≡ 0 for the same simplistic Hamiltonian of gapped graphene that generates via the Kubo formula. We combine ab initio with quantum transport calculations to demonstrate that G/hBN wires with zigzag edges host dispersive edge states near the DP that are absent in theories based on the simplistic Hamiltonian. Although such edge states exist also in isolated zigzag graphene wires, aligned hBN is required to modify their energy–momentum dispersion and generate near the DP. The Fermi surface-determined edge currents carrying the nonlocal signal persist also in the presence of edge disorder and over long distances. Concurrently, they resolve the long-standing puzzle of why the highly insulating state of G/hBN is rarely observed. Thus, we conclude that the observed RNL is unrelated to Fermi sea topological valley currents conjectured for gapped Dirac spectra.

Nonlocal Gilbert damping tensor within the torque-torque correlation model

An essential property of magnetic devices is the relaxation rate in magnetic switching which depends strongly on the damping in the magnetisation dynamics. It was recently measured that damping depends on the magnetic texture and, consequently, is a non-local quantity. The damping enters the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation as the phenomenological Gilbert damping parameter $\alpha$, that does not, in a straight forward formulation, account for non-locality. Efforts were spent recently to obtain Gilbert damping from first principles for magnons of wave vector $\mathbf{q}$. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no report about real space non-local Gilbert damping $\alpha_{ij}$. Here, a torque-torque correlation model based on a tight binding approach is applied to the bulk elemental itinerant magnets and it predicts significant off-site Gilbert damping contributions, that could be also negative. Supported by atomistic magnetisation dynamics simulations we reveal the importance of the non-local Gilbert damping in atomistic magnetisation dynamics. This study gives a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the magnetic moments and dissipation processes in real magnetic materials. Ways of manipulating non-local damping are explored, either by temperature, material's doping or strain.

Locality and nonlocality in the interaction-free measurement

We present a paradox involving a particle and a mirror. They exchange a nonlocal quantity, modular angular momentum Lz mod 2ћ, but there seems to be no local interaction between them that allows such an exchange. We demonstrate that the particle and mirror do interact locally via a weak local current 〈Lz mod 2ћ〉w. In this sense, we transform the “interaction-free measurement” of Elitzur and Vaidman, in which two local quantities (the positions of a photon and a bomb in the two arms of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer) interact nonlocally, into a thought experiment in which two nonlocal quantities (the weak modular angular momentum of the particle and of the mirror) interact locally.