Sriram Ganeshan

Topological zero-energy modes in gapless commensurate aubry-andré- harper models

The Aubry-André or Harper (AAH) model has been the subject of extensive theoretical research in the context of quantum localization. Recently, it was shown that one-dimensional quasicrystals described by the incommensurate AAH model has a nontrivial topology. In this Letter, we show that the commensurate off-diagonal AAH model is topologically nontrivial in the gapless regime and supports zero-energy edge modes. Unlike the incommensurate case, the nontrivial topology in the off-diagonal AAH model is attributed to the topological properties of the one-dimensional Majorana chain. We discuss the feasibility of experimental observability of our predicted topological phase in the commensurate AAH model.

Measurement of topological invariants in a 2D photonic system

A photonic analogue of charge pumping in electronic quantum Hall systems is demonstrated by using a finite 2D square annulus of ring resonators. Topological invariants are investigated by observing the shift of the edge state resonances. A hallmark feature of topological physics is the presence of one-way propagating chiral modes at the system boundary1,2. The chirality of edge modes is a consequence of the topological character of the bulk. For example, in a non-interacting quantum Hall model, edge modes manifest as mid-gap states between two topologically distinct bulk bands. The bulk–boundary correspondence dictates that the number of chiral edge modes, a topological invariant called the winding number, is completely determined by the bulk topological invariant, the Chern number3. Here, for the first time, we measure the winding number in a 2D photonic system. By inserting a unit flux quantum at the edge, we show that the edge spectrum resonances shift by the winding number. This experiment provides a new approach for unambiguous measurement of topological invariants, independent of the microscopic details, and could possibly be extended to probe strongly correlated topological orders.

Lyapunov Exponent and Out-of-Time-Ordered Correlator’s Growth Rate in a Chaotic System

It was proposed recently that the out-of-time-ordered four-point correlator (OTOC) may serve as a useful characteristic of quantum-chaotic behavior, because, in the semiclassical limit ℏ→0, its rate of exponential growth resembles the classical Lyapunov exponent. Here, we calculate the four-point correlator C(t) for the classical and quantum kicked rotor-a textbook driven chaotic system-and compare its growth rate at initial times with the standard definition of the classical Lyapunov exponent. Using both quantum and classical arguments, we show that the OTOCs growth rate and the Lyapunov exponent are, in general, distinct quantities, corresponding to the logarithm of the phase-space averaged divergence rate of classical trajectories and to the phase-space average of the logarithm, respectively. The difference appears to be more pronounced in the regime of low kicking strength K, where no classical chaos exists globally. In this case, the Lyapunov exponent quickly decreases as K→0, while the OTOCs growth rate may decrease much slower, showing a higher sensitivity to small chaotic islands in the phase space. We also show that the quantum correlator as a function of time exhibits a clear singularity at the Ehrenfest time t_{E}: transitioning from a time-independent value of t^{-1}lnC(t) at tt_{E}. We note that the underlying physics here is the same as in the theory of weak (dynamical) localization [Aleiner and Larkin, Phys. Rev. B 54, 14423 (1996)PRBMDO0163-182910.1103/PhysRevB.54.14423; Tian, Kamenev, and Larkin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 124101 (2004)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.93.124101] and is due to a delay in the onset of quantum interference effects, which occur sharply at a time of the order of the Ehrenfest time.

Many-Body Localization and Quantum Nonergodicity in a Model with a Single-Particle Mobility Edge.

We investigate many-body localization in the presence of a single-particle mobility edge. By considering an interacting deterministic model with an incommensurate potential in one dimension we find that the single-particle mobility edge in the noninteracting system leads to a many-body mobility edge in the corresponding interacting system for certain parameter regimes. Using exact diagonalization, we probe the mobility edge via energy resolved entanglement entropy (EE) and study the energy resolved applicability (or failure) of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH). Our numerical results indicate that the transition separating area and volume law scaling of the EE does not coincide with the nonthermal to thermal transition. Consequently, there exists an extended nonergodic phase for an intermediate energy window where the many-body eigenstates violate the ETH while manifesting volume law EE scaling. We also establish that the model possesses an infinite temperature many-body localization transition despite the existence of a single-particle mobility edge. We propose a practical scheme to test our predictions in atomic optical lattice experiments which can directly probe the effects of the mobility edge.

Nearest neighbor tight binding models with an exact mobility edge in one dimension.

We investigate localization properties in a family of deterministic (i.e., no disorder) nearest neighbor tight binding models with quasiperiodic on site modulation. We prove that this family is self-dual under a generalized duality transformation. The self-dual condition for this general model turns out to be a simple closed form function of the model parameters and energy. We introduce the typical density of states as an order parameter for localization in quasiperiodic systems. By direct calculations of the inverse participation ratio and the typical density of states we numerically verify that this self-dual line indeed defines a mobility edge in energy separating localized and extended states. Our model is a first example of a nearest neighbor tight binding model manifesting a mobility edge protected by a duality symmetry. We propose a realistic experimental scheme to realize our results in atomic optical lattices and photonic waveguides.

Simulation of quantum zero-point effects in water using a frequency-dependent thermostat

This work was partially supported by DOE Award No. DE-FG02-09ER16052 (S.G.) and by DOE Early Career Award No. DE-SC0003871 (M.V.F.S.). The work by R.R. in Madrid is supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spain) through Grant No. FIS2012-31713 and by Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid through project MODELICO-CM/S2009ESP-1691.

Fluctuation relations for current components in mesoscopic electric circuits

We present a new class of fluctuation relations, to which we will refer as Fluctuation Relations for Current Components (FRCCs). FRCCs can be used to estimate system parameters when complete information about nonequilibrium many-body electron interactions is unavailable. We show that FRCCs are often robust in the sense that they do not depend on some basic types of electron interactions and some quantum coherence effects.

Quantum nonergodicity and fermion localization in a system with a single-particle mobility edge

Quantum thermalization of isolated systems undergoing unitary time evolution is a fundamental problem in quantum statistical mechanics. Its study has been revived recently in the context of many-body Anderson localization. Previous works have focused on localization of many-body systems with all the single-particle states being localized. As a significant step forward, this work studies localization aspects of noninteracting many-particle systems in the presence of a single-particle mobility edge. By systemically investigating entanglement entropy scaling and nonthermal fluctuations in various lattice models, the authors establish a nonergodic extended phase as a generic intermediate phase (between purely ergodic extended and nonergodic localized phases) for the many-body localization transition of noninteracting fermions. This work also sheds light on the interacting transition scenario as well.

Parafermionic Zero Modes in Ultracold Bosonic Systems.

Exotic topologically protected zero modes with parafermionic statistics (also called fractionalized Majorana modes) have been proposed to emerge in devices fabricated from a fractional quantum Hall system and a superconductor. The fractionalized statistics of these modes takes them an important step beyond the simplest non-Abelian anyons, Majorana fermions. Building on recent advances towards the realization of fractional quantum Hall states of bosonic ultracold atoms, we propose a realization of parafermions in a system consisting of Bose-Einstein-condensate trenches within a bosonic fractional quantum Hall state. We show that parafermionic zero modes emerge at the end points of the trenches and give rise to a topologically protected degeneracy. We also discuss methods for preparing and detecting these modes.

Critical integer quantum Hall topology and the integrable Maryland model as a topological quantum critical point

One dimensional tight binding models such as Aubry-Andre-Harper (AAH) model (with onsite cosine potential) and the integrable Maryland model (with onsite tangent potential) have been the subject of extensive theoretical research in localization studies. AAH can be directly mapped onto the two dimensional Hofstadter model which manifests the integer quantum Hall topology on a lattice. However, no such connection has been made for the Maryland model (MM). In this work, we describe a generalized model that contains AAH and MM as the limiting cases with the MM lying precisely at a topological quantum phase transition (TQPT) point. A remarkable feature of this critical point is that the 1D MM retains well defined energy gaps whereas the equivalent 2D model becomes gapless, signifying the 2D nature of the TQPT.