Quantum Metric Research Articles

Identifying non-Hermitian critical points with the quantum metric

Identifying non-Hermitian critical points with the quantum metric

Topological dynamics of adiabatic cat states

We consider a quantum topological frequency converter, realized by coupling a qubit to two slow harmonic modes. The dynamics of such a system is the quantum analog of topological pumping. Our quantum mechanical description shows that an initial state generically evolves into a superposition of two adiabatic states. The topological nature of the coupling between the qubit and the modes splits these two components apart in energy: for each component, an energy transfer at a quantized rate occurs between the two quantum modes, in opposite directions for the two components, reminiscent of the topological pumping. We denote such a superposition of two quantum adiabatic states distinguishable through measures of the modes’ energy an adiabatic cat state. We show that the topological coupling enhances the entanglement between the qubit and the modes, and we unveil the role of the quantum or Fubini-Study metric in the characterization of this entanglement.

Quantum Geometry and Stabilization of Fractional Chern Insulators Far from the Ideal Limit.

In the presence of strong electronic interactions, a partially filled Chern band may stabilize a fractional Chern insulator (FCI) state, the zero-field analog of the fractional quantum Hall phase. While FCIs have long been hypothesized, feasible solid-state realizations only recently emerged, largely due to the rise of moiré materials. In these systems, the quantum geometry of the electronic bands plays a critical role in stabilizing the FCI in the presence of competing correlated phases. In the limit of "ideal" quantum geometry, where the quantum geometry is identical to that of Landau levels, this role is well understood. However, in more realistic scenarios only empiric numerical evidence exists, accentuating the need for a clear understanding of the mechanism by which the FCI deteriorates, moving further away from these ideal conditions. We introduce and analyze an anisotropic model of a |C|=1 Chern insulator, whereupon partial filling of its bands, an FCI phase is stabilized over a certain parameter regime. We incorporate strong electronic interaction analytically by employing a coupled-wires approach, studying the FCI stability and its relation to the quantum metric. We identify an unusual anti-FCI phase benefiting from nonideal geometry, generically subdominant to the FCI. However, its presence hinders the formation of FCI in favor of other competitive phases at fractional fillings, such as the charge density wave. Though quite peculiar, this anti-FCI phase may have already been observed in experiments at high magnetic fields. This establishes a direct link between quantum geometry and FCI stability in a tractable model far from any ideal band conditions, and illuminates a unique mechanism of FCI deterioration.

Accessing bands with extended quantum metric in kagome Cs 2 Ni 3 S 4 through soft chemical processing

Flat bands that do not merely arise from weak interactions can produce exotic physical properties, such as superconductivity or correlated many-body effects. The quantum metric can differentiate whether flat bands will result in correlated physics or are merely dangling bonds. A potential avenue for achieving correlated flat bands involves leveraging geometrical constraints within specific lattice structures, such as the kagome lattice; however, materials are often more complex. In these cases, quantum geometry becomes a powerful indicator of the nature of bands with small dispersions. We present a simple, soft-chemical processing route to access a flat band with an extended quantum metric below the Fermi level. By oxidizing Ni-kagome material Cs 2 Ni 3 S 4 to CsNi 3 S 4 , we see a two orders of magnitude drop in the room temperature resistance. However, CsNi 3 S 4 is still insulating, with no evidence of a phase transition. Using experimental data, density functional theory calculations, and symmetry analysis, our results suggest the emergence of a correlated insulating state of unknown origin.

Quantum geometry in condensed matter

Abstract One of the most celebrated accomplishments of modern physics is the description of fundamental principles of nature in the language of geometry. As the motion of celestial bodies is governed by the geometry of spacetime, the motion of electrons in condensed matter can be characterized by the geometry of the Hilbert space of their wave functions. Such quantum geometry, comprising of Berry curvature and quantum metric, can thus exert profound influences on various properties of materials. The dipoles of both Berry curvature and quantum metric produce nonlinear transport. The quantum metric plays an important role in flat-band superconductors by enhancing the transition temperature. The uniformly distributed momentum-space quantum geometry stabilizes the fractional Chern insulators and results in the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect. We here review in detail quantum geometry in condensed matter, paying close attention to its effects on nonlinear transport, superconductivity, and topological properties. Possible future research directions in this field are also envisaged.

Quantum-metric-induced quantum Hall conductance inversion and reentrant transition in fractional Chern insulators

The quantum metric of single-particle wave functions in topological flat bands plays a crucial role in determining the stability of fractional Chern insulating (FCI) states. Here, we unravel that the quantum metric causes the many-body Chern number of the FCI states to deviate sharply from the expected value associated with partial filling of the single-particle topological flat band. Furthermore, the variation of the quantum metric in momentum space induces band dispersion through interactions, affecting the stability of the FCI states. This causes a reentrant transition into the Fermi liquid from the FCI phase as the interaction strength increases. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Quantum geometry quadrupole-induced third-order nonlinear transport in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4

The study of quantum geometry effects in materials has been one of the most important research directions in recent decades. The quantum geometry of a material is characterized by the quantum geometric tensor of the Bloch states. The imaginary part of the quantum geometry tensor gives rise to the Berry curvature while the real part gives rise to the quantum metric. While Berry curvature has been well studied in the past decades, the experimental investigation on the quantum metric effects is only at its infancy stage. In this work, we measure the nonlinear transport of bulk MnBi2Te4, which is a topological anti-ferromagnet. We found that the second order nonlinear responses are negligible as required by inversion symmetry, the third-order nonlinear responses are finite. The measured third-harmonic longitudinal (Vxx3ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${V}_{{xx}}^{3\\omega }$$\\end{document}) and transverse (Vxy3ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${V}_{{xy}}^{3\\omega }$$\\end{document}) voltages with frequency 3ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\omega$$\\end{document}, driven by an a.c. current with frequency ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\omega$$\\end{document}, show an intimate connection with magnetic transitions of MnBi2Te4 flakes. Their magnitudes change abruptly as MnBi2Te4 flakes go through magnetic transitions from an antiferromagnetic state to a canted antiferromagnetic state and to a ferromagnetic state. In addition, the measured Vxx3ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${V}_{{xx}}^{3\\omega }$$\\end{document} is an even function of the applied magnetic field B while Vxy3ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${V}_{{xy}}^{3\\omega }$$\\end{document} is odd in B. Amazingly, the field dependence of the third-order responses as a function of the magnetic field suggests that Vxx3ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${V}_{{xx}}^{3\\omega }$$\\end{document} is induced by the quantum metric quadrupole and Vxy3ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${V}_{{xy}}^{3\\omega }$$\\end{document} is induced by the Berry curvature quadrupole. Therefore, the quadrupoles of both the real and the imaginary part of the quantum geometry tensor of bulk MnBi2Te4 are revealed through the third order nonlinear transport measurements. This work greatly advanced our understanding on the connections between the higher order moments of quantum geometry and nonlinear transport.

Manifestation of the quantum metric in chiral lattice systems

Recent years have seen a surge in research on the role of quantum geometry in condensed matter physics. For instance, the Aharonov-Bohm effect is a physical phenomenon where the vector potential induces a phase shift of electron wavepackets in regions with zero magnetic fields due to an obstruction in space associated with a magnetic flux. A similar effect can be observed in solid-state systems, where the topology of the Berry connection can influence electron dynamics. These are paradigmatic examples of how the dynamics can be affected by the system’s geometry. Here, we show that in chiral-symmetric processes the quantum metric has a measurable effect on the mean chiral displacement of delocalized wavefunctions. This finding is supported by a photonic experiment realizing a topological quantum walk and demonstrates an effect that can be attributed directly to the geometry of the state space.

Fast topological pumps via quantum metric engineering on photonic chips.

Topological pumps have garnered substantial attention in physics. However, the requirement for slow evolution speed to satisfy adiabaticity greatly restricts their application in on-chip devices. Here, we discover a direct link between adiabaticity and quantum metric, the real part of quantum geometry that has been relatively less explored compared to its imaginary counterpart, the Berry curvature. We demonstrate that the evolution speed of topological pumps between nontrivial edge states can be increased by reducing the quantum metric via introduction of long-range coupling to the celebrated Rice-Mele model. This fast topological pump can occur without affecting the bulk state evolution, which challenges the common understanding. We experimentally confirm our findings by using a platform consisting of bilayer integrated silicon waveguides operating at telecommunication wavelengths. Our work provides possibilities for lifting topological pumps from the constraints of slow evolution and paves the way toward compact photonic integration.

Quantum-gravitational null Raychaudhuri equation

We consider a congruence of null geodesics in the presence of a quantized spacetime metric. The coupling to a quantum metric induces fluctuations in the congruence; we calculate the change in the area of a pencil of geodesics induced by such fluctuations. For the gravitational field in its vacuum state, we find that quantum gravity contributes a correction to the null Raychaudhuri equation which is of the same sign as the classical terms. We thus derive a quantum-gravitational focusing theorem valid for linearized quantum gravity.

Enhanced Quantum Metric due to Vacancies in Graphene.

Random vacancies in a graphene monolayer induce defect states that are known to form a narrow impurity band centered around zero energy at half filling. We use a space-resolved formulation of the quantum metric and establish a strong enhancement of the electronic correlations in this impurity band. The enhancement is primarily due to strong correlations between pairs of vacancies situated on different sublattices at anomalously large spatial distances. We trace the strong enhancement to both the multifractal vacancy wave functions, which ties the system exactly at the Anderson insulator transition for all defect concentrations, and preserving the chiral symmetry.

Interlayer Electric Multipoles Induced by In-Plane Field from Quantum Geometric Origins.

We show that interlayer charge transfer in 2D materials can be driven by an in-plane electric field, giving rise to electrical multipole generation in linear and second order in-plane field. The linear and nonlinear effects have quantum geometric origins in the Berry curvature and quantum metric, respectively, defined in extended parameter spaces characteristic of layered materials. We elucidate their symmetry characters and demonstrate sizable dipole and quadrupole polarizations, respectively, in twisted bilayers and trilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides. Furthermore, we show that this effect is strongly enhanced during the topological phase transition tuned by interlayer translation. The effects point to a new electric control on the layer quantum degree of freedom.

Disorder-Induced Singularity of the Quantum Metric

The quantum weight is a new concept to describe gap electronic states of matter. This quantity is obtained by integrating the quantum metric (the real part of the quantum metric tensor) in the same way as the Berry phase is obtained by integrating the Berry curvature (the imaginary part of the quantum metric tensor). The quantum weight determines a number of kinetic quantities such as the nonlinear anomalous Hall effect, optical conductivity, and photovoltaic effect. In this work, it is shown that nonmagnetic disorder in topological insulators can induce a singularity in the quantum metric and quantum weight.

The quantum geometric origin of capacitance in insulators

In band insulators, without a Fermi surface, adiabatic transport can exist due to the geometry of the ground state wavefunction. Here we show that for systems driven at a small but finite frequency ω, transport likewise depends sensitively on quantum geometry. We make this statement precise by expressing the Kubo formula for conductivity as the variation of the time-dependent polarization with respect to the applied field. We find that at linear order in frequency, the longitudinal conductivity results from an intrinsic capacitance determined by the ratio of the quantum metric and the spectral gap, establishing a fundamental link between the dielectric response and the quantum metric of insulators. We demonstrate that quantum geometry is responsible for the electronic contribution to the dielectric constant in a wide range of insulators, including the free electron gas in a quantizing magnetic field, for which we show the capacitance is quantized. We also study gapped bands of hBN-aligned twisted bilayer graphene and obstructed atomic insulators such as diamond. In the latter, we find its abnormally large refractive index to have a topological origin.

Observation of quantum metric and non-Hermitian Berry curvature in a plasmonic lattice

We experimentally observe the quantum geometric tensor, namely, the quantum metric and the Berry curvature, for a square lattice of radiatively coupled plasmonic nanoparticles. We observe a nonzero Berry curvature and show that it arises solely from non-Hermitian effects. The quantum metric is found to originate from a pseudospin-orbit coupling. The long-range nature of the radiative interaction renders the behavior distinct from tight-binding systems: Berry curvature and quantum metric are centered around high-symmetry lines of the Brillouin zone instead of high-symmetry points. Our results inspire pathways in the design of topological systems by tailoring losses or gain. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Dirac operator associated to a quantum metric

We construct a canonical geometrically realised Connes spectral triple or ‘Dirac operator’ D \mathllap{/\,} from the data of a quantum metric g\in \Omega^{1}\otimes_{A}\Omega^{1} and a bimodule connection on \Omega^{1} , at the pre-Hilbert space level. Here A is a possibly noncommutative coordinate algebra, \Omega^{1} a bimodule of 1 -forms and the spinor bundle is \mathcal{S}=A\oplus\Omega^{1} . When applied to graphs or lattices, we essentially recover a previously proposed Dirac operator but now as a geometrically realised spectral triple. We also apply the construction to the fuzzy sphere and to 2\times 2 matrices with their standard quantum Riemannian geometries. We propose how D \mathllap{/\,} can be extended to an external bundle with bimodule connection.

Berry curvature and quantum metric in copper-substituted lead phosphate apatite

The recent discovery of copper-substituted lead phosphate apatite, also known as LK-99, has caught much attention owing to certain experimental evidence of room-temperature superconductivity, although this claim is currently under intensive debate. Be it superconducting or not, we show that the normal state of this material has peculiar quantum geometrical properties that may be related to the magnetism and the mechanism for flat band superconductivity. Based on a recently proposed spinless two-band tight-binding model for the Pb–Cu hexagonal lattice subset of the crystalline structure, which qualitatively captures the two flat bands in the band structure, we elaborate the highly anisotropic Berry curvature and quantum metric in the regions of Brillouin zone where one flat band is above and the other below the Fermi surface. In these regions, the Berry curvature has a pattern in the planar momentum that remains unchanged along the out-of-plane momentum. Moreover, the net orbital magnetization contributed from the Berry curvature is zero, signifying that the magnetism in this material should come from other sources. The quantum metric has a similar momentum dependence, and its two planar components are found to be roughly the same but the out-of-plane component vanishes, hinting that the superfluid stiffness of the flat band superconductivity, shall it occur, may be quite anisotropic.

Linear displacement current solely driven by the quantum metric

Linear displacement current solely driven by the quantum metric

Geometry-independent superfluid weight in multiorbital lattices from the generalized random phase approximation

The superfluid weight of a generic lattice model with attractive Hubbard interaction is computed analytically in the isolated band limit within the generalized random phase approximation. Time-reversal symmetry, spin rotational symmetry, and the uniform pairing condition are assumed. It is found that the relation obtained in Huhtinen [] between the superfluid weight in the flat band limit and the so-called minimal quantum metric is valid even at the level of the generalized random phase approximation. For an isolated, but not necessarily flat, band it is found that the correction to the superfluid weight obtained from the generalized random phase approximation Ds(1)=Ds,c(1)+Ds,g(1) is also the sum of a conventional contribution Ds,c(1) and a geometric contribution Ds,g(1), as in the case of the known mean-field result Ds(0)=Ds,c(0)+Ds,g(0), in which the geometric term Ds,g(0) is a weighted average of the quantum metric. The conventional contribution is geometry independent, that is, independent of the orbital positions, while it is possible to find a preferred, or natural, set of orbital positions such that Ds,g(1)=0. Useful analytic expressions are derived for both the natural orbital positions and the minimal quantum metric, including its extension to bands that are not necessarily flat. Finally, using some simple examples, it is argued that the natural orbital positions may lead to a more refined classification of the topological properties of the band structure. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Band topology and symmetry in pseudo-Hermitian systems

Pseudo-Hermiticity ramifies novel symmetries and enriches unique topological phases distinct from existing non-Hermitian frameworks. Here, we introduce new types of pseudo-Hermitian models across various spatial dimensions, constructed based on the q-deformed Clifford algebra. Each model preserves specific symmetries, and we characterize their band topology via (Abelian and non-Abelian) quantum metric and tensor Berry connections. Concrete relations between quantum metric, Berry curvature, and simple connections between topological invariants and quantum volume are established. Interestingly, these pseudo-Hermitian systems have different geometries and symmetries compared to their Hermitian counterparts, while maintaining the same band topology. We show that the emergence of the non-Hermitian skin effect in these models is a consequence of pseudo-Hermiticity breakdown. Finally, we modify their phase diagram using non-Bloch band theory when various open boundary conditions are imposed. Moreover, we propose a practical scheme for implementing these pseudo-Hermitian models in the dilated Hermitian Hamiltonian. Our work provides a systematic theoretical framework for a comprehensive and essential understanding of the concept of topology and symmetry in such systems.