Luis Filipe Oleiro Seabra

Real-time dynamics in the one-dimensional Hubbard model

We consider single-particle properties in the one-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model at commensurate fillings in the metallic phase. We determine the real-time evolution of the retarded Greens function by matrix-product state methods. We find that at sufficiently late times the numerical results are in good agreement with predictions of nonlinear Luttinger liquid theory. We argue that combining the two methods provides a way of determining the single-particle spectral function with very high frequency resolution.

From fractionally charged solitons to Majorana bound states in a one-dimensional interacting model

We consider one-dimensional topological insulators hosting fractionally charged midgap states in the presence and absence of induced superconductivity pairing. Under the protection of a discrete symmetry, relating positive and negative energy states, the solitonic midgap states remain pinned at zero energy when superconducting correlations are induced by proximity effect. When the superconducting pairing dominates the initial insulating gap, Majorana fermion phases develop for a class of insulators. As a concrete example, we study the Creutz model with induced s-wave superconductivity and repulsive Hubbard-type interactions. For a finite wire, without interactions, the solitonic modes originating from the nonsuperconducting model survive at zero energy, revealing a fourfold-degenerate ground state. However, interactions break the aforementioned discrete symmetry and completely remove this degeneracy, thereby producing a unique ground state which is characterized by a topological bulk invariant with respect to the product of fermion parity and bond inversion. In contrast, the Majorana edge modes are globally robust to interactions. Moreover, the parameter range for which a topological Majorana phase is stabilized expands when increasing the repulsive Hubbard interaction. The topological phase diagram of the interacting model is obtained using a combination of mean-field theory and density matrix renormalization group techniques.

Cascade of field-induced magnetic transitions in a frustrated antiferromagnetic metal

Frustrated magnets can exhibit many novel forms of order when exposed to high magnetic fields, however, much less is known about materials where frustration occurs in the presence of itinerant electrons. Here we report thermodynamic and transport measurements on micron-sized single crystals of the triangular-lattice metallic antiferromagnet 2H-AgNiO2, in magnetic fields of up to 90 T and temperatures down to 0.35 K. We observe a cascade of magnetic phase transitions at 13.5 20, 28 and 39T in fields applied along the easy axis, and we combine magnetic torque, specific heat and transport data to construct the field-temperature phase diagram. The results are discussed in the context of a frustrated easy-axis Heisenberg model for the localized moments where intermediate applied magnetic fields are predicted to stabilize a magnetic supersolid phase. Deviations in the measured phase diagram from this model predictions are attributed to the role played by the itinerant electrons.

Supersolid Phases in a Realistic Three-Dimensional Spin Model

Supersolid phases, in which a superfluid component coexists with conventional crystalline long range order, have recently attracted a great deal of attention in the context of both solid helium and quantum spin systems. Motivated by recent experiments on 2H-AgNiO2, we study the magnetic phase diagram of a realistic three-dimensional spin model with single-ion anisotropy and competing interactions on a layered triangular lattice, using classical Monte Carlo simulation techniques, complemented by spin-wave calculations. For parameters relevant to experiment, we find a cascade of different phases as a function of magnetic field, including three phases which are supersolids in the sense of Liu and Fisher. One of these phases is continuously connected with the collinear ground state of AgNiO2, and is accessible at relatively low values of magnetic field. The nature of this transition, and its possible observation, are discussed.

Exotic Ising dynamics in a Bose-Hubbard model

We explore the dynamical properties of a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model, where two bosonic species interact via Feshbach resonance. We focus on the region in the phase diagram which is described by an effective, low-energy ferromagnetic Ising model in both transverse and longitudinal fields. In this regime, we numerically calculate the dynamical structure factor of the Bose-Hubbard model using the time-evolving block decimation method. In the ferromagnetic phase, we observe both the continuum of excitations and the bound states in the presence of a longitudinal field. Near the Ising critical point, we observe the celebrated E8 mass spectrum in the excited states. We also point out possible measurements which could be used to detect these excitations in an optical lattice experiment.