Condensed Matter

In this paper, we investigate the finite connectivity spin-glass problem. Our work is focused on the expansion around the point of infinite connectivity of the free energy of a spin glass on a graph with Poissonian distributed connectivity: we are interested to study the first-order correction to the infinite connectivity result for large values or the connectivity z . The same calculations for one and two replica symmetry breakings were done in previous works; the result for the first-order correction was divergent in the limit of zero temperature and it was suggested that it was an artifact for having a finite number of replica symmetry breakings. In this paper we are able to calculate the expansion for an infinite number of replica symmetry breakings: in the zero-temperature limit, we obtain a well defined free energy. We have shown that cancellations of divergent terms occur in the case of an infinite number of replica symmetry breakings and that the pathological behavior of the expansion was due only to the finite number of replica symmetry breakings.

The article reviews the physics of Anderson localization on random regular graphs (RRG) and its connections to many-body localization (MBL) in disordered interacting systems. Properties of eigenstate and energy level correlations in delocalized and localized phases, as well at criticality, are discussed. In the many-body part, models with short-range and power-law interactions are considered, as well as the quantum-dot model representing the limit of the "most long-range" interaction. Central themes -- which are common to the RRG and MBL problems -- include ergodicity of the delocalized phase, localized character of the critical point, strong finite-size effects, and fractal scaling of eigenstate correlations in the localized phase.

Controlling interfaces is highly relevant from a technological point of view. However, their rich and complex behavior makes them very difficult to describe theoretically, and hence to predict. In this work, we establish a procedure to connect two levels of descriptions of interfaces: for a bulk description, we consider a two-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau model evolving with a Langevin equation, and boundary conditions imposing the formation of a rectilinear domain wall. At this level of description no assumptions need to be done over the interface, but analytical calculations are almost impossible to handle. On a different level of description, we consider a one-dimensional elastic line model evolving according to the Edwards-Wilkinson equation, which only allows one to study continuous and univalued interfaces, but which was up to now one of the most successful tools to treat interfaces analytically. To establish the connection between the bulk description and the interface description, we propose a simple method that applies both to clean and disordered systems. We probe the connection by numerical simulations at both levels, and our simulations, in addition to making contact with experiments, allow us to test and provide insight to develop new analytical approaches to treat interfaces.

Trap models describe glassy dynamics as a stochastic process on a network of configurations representing local energy minima. We study within this class the paradigmatic Barrat-Mézard model, which has Glauber transition rates. Our focus is on the effects of the network connectivity, where we go beyond the usual mean field (fully connected) approximation and consider sparse networks, specifically random regular graphs. We obtain the spectral density of relaxation rates of the master operator using the cavity method, revealing very rich behaviour as a function of network connectivity c and temperature T . We trace this back to a crossover from initially entropic barriers, resulting from a paucity of downhill directions, to energy barriers that govern the escape from local minima at long times. The insights gained are used to rationalize the relaxation of the energy after a quench from high T , as well as the corresponding correlation and persistence functions.

We introduce a complex generalization of Wigner time delay ? for sub-unitary scattering systems. Theoretical expressions for complex time delay as a function of excitation energy, uniform and non-uniform loss, and coupling, are given. We find very good agreement between theory and experimental data taken on microwave graphs containing an electronically variable lumped-loss element. We find that time delay and the determinant of the scattering matrix share a common feature in that the resonant behavior in Re[?] and Im[?] serves as a reliable indicator of the condition for Coherent Perfect Absorption (CPA). This work opens a new window on time delay in lossy systems and provides a means to identify the poles and zeros of the scattering matrix from experimental data. The results also enable a new approach to achieving CPA at an arbitrary energy/frequency in complex scattering systems.

The restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) is used to investigate short-range order in binary alloys. The network is trained on the data collected by Monte Carlo simulations for a simple Ising-like binary alloy model and used to calculate the Warren--Cowley short-range order parameter and other thermodynamic properties. We demonstrate that RBM not only reproduces the order parameters for the alloy concentration at which it was trained, but can also predict them for any other concentrations.

We demonstrate the existence of generalized Aubry-André self-duality in a class of non-Hermitian quasi-periodic lattices with complex potentials. From the self-duality relations, the analytical expression of mobility edges is derived. Compared to Hermitian systems, mobility edges in non-Hermitian ones not only separate localized from extended states, but also indicate the coexistence of complex and real eigenenergies, making it possible a topological characterization of mobility edges. An experimental scheme, based on optical pulse propagation in synthetic photonic mesh lattices, is suggested to implement a non-Hermitian quasi-crystal displaying mobility edges.

We explore a self-learning Markov chain Monte Carlo method based on the Adversarial Non-linear Independent Components Estimation Monte Carlo, which utilizes generative models and artificial neural networks. We apply this method to the scalar φ 4 lattice field theory in the weak-coupling regime and, in doing so, greatly increase the system sizes explored to date with this self-learning technique. Our approach does not rely on a pre-existing training set of samples, as the agent systematically improves its performance by bootstrapping samples collected by the model itself. We evaluate the performance of the trained model by examining its mixing time and study the ergodicity of generated samples. When compared to methods such as Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, this approach provides unique advantages such as the speed of inference and a compressed representation of Monte Carlo proposals for potential use in downstream tasks.

In the context of the Integer Quantum Hall plateau transitions, we formulate a specific map from random landscape potentials onto 2D discrete random surfaces. Critical points of the potential, namely maxima, minima and saddle points uniquely define a discrete surface S and its dual S ∗ made of quadrangular and n− gonal faces, respectively, thereby linking the geometry of the potential with the geometry of discrete surfaces. The map is parameter-dependent on the Fermi level. Edge states of Fermi lakes moving along equipotential contours between neighbour saddle points form a network of scatterings, which define the geometric basis, in the fermionic model, for the plateau transitions. The replacement probability characterizing the network model with geometric disorder recently proposed by Gruzberg, Klümper, Nuding and Sedrakyan, is physically interpreted within the current framework as a parameter connected with the Fermi level.

The binary Voronoi mixture is a fluid model whose interactions are local and many-body. Here we perform molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations of an equimolar mixture that is weakly polydisperse and additive. For the first time we study the structural relaxation of this mixture in the supercooled-liquid regime. From the simulations we determine the time- and temperature-dependent scattering functions for a large range of wave vectors, as well as the mean-square displacements of both particle species. We perform a detailed analysis of the dynamics by comparing the MD results with the first-principles-based idealized mode-coupling theory (MCT). To this end, we employ two approaches: fits to the asymptotic predictions of the theory, and fit-parameter-free binary MCT calculations based on static-structure-factor input from the simulations. We find that many-body interactions of the Voronoi mixture do not lead to strong qualitative differences relative to similar analyses carried out for simple liquids with pair-wise interactions. For instance, the fits give an exponent parameter λ≈0.746 comparable to typical values found for simple liquids, the wavevector dependence of the Kohlrausch relaxation time is in good agreement with literature results for polydisperse hard spheres, and the MCT calculations based on static input overestimate the critical temperature, albeit only by a factor of about 1.2. This overestimation appears to be weak relative to other well-studied supercooled-liquid models such as the binary Kob--Andersen Lennard-Jones mixture. Overall, the agreement between MCT and simulation suggests that it is possible to predict several microscopic dynamic properties with qualitative, and in some cases near-quantitative, accuracy based solely on static two-point structural correlations, even though the system itself is inherently governed by many-body interactions.