Ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopy with field resolution and noncollinear geometry at mid-infrared frequencies

in New Journal of Physics (2022)

Energetic correlations and their dynamics govern the fundamental properties of condensed matter materials. Ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopy in the mid infrared is an advanced technique to study ... [more ▼]

Energetic correlations and their dynamics govern the fundamental properties of condensed matter materials. Ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopy in the mid infrared is an advanced technique to study such coherent low-energy dynamics. The intrinsic many-body phenomena in functional solid-state materials, in particular few-layer samples, remain widely unexplored to this date, because complex and weak sample responses demand versatile and sensitive detection. Here, we present a novel setup for ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopy with noncollinear geometry and complete field resolution in the 15–40 THz range. Electric fields up to few-100 kV cm−1 drive coherent dynamics in a perturbative regime, and an advanced modulation scheme allows to detect nonlinear signals down to a few tens of V cm−1 entirely background-free with high sensitivity and full control over the geometric phase-matching conditions. Our system aims at the investigation of correlations and many-body interactions in condensed matter systems at low energy. Benchmark measurements on bulk indium antimonide reveal a strong six-wave mixing signal and map ultra- fast changes of the band structure with access to amplitude and phase information. Our results pave the way towards the investigation of functional thin film materials and few-layer samples. [less ▲]

Uhlmann fidelity and fidelity susceptibility for integrable spin chains at finite temperature: exact results

in New Journal of Physics (2021)

We derive the exact expression for the Uhlmann fidelity between arbitrary thermal Gibbs states of the quantum XY model in a transverse field with finite system size. Using it, we conduct a thorough ... [more ▼]

We derive the exact expression for the Uhlmann fidelity between arbitrary thermal Gibbs states of the quantum XY model in a transverse field with finite system size. Using it, we conduct a thorough analysis of the fidelity susceptibility of thermal states for the Ising model in a transverse field.We compare the exact results with a common approximation that considers only the positive-parity subspace, which is shown to be valid only at high temperatures. The proper inclusion of the odd parity subspace leads to the enhancement of maximal fidelity susceptibility in the intermediate range of temperatures. We show that this enhancement persists in the thermodynamic limit and scales quadratically with the system size. The correct low-temperature behavior is captured by an approximation involving the two lowest many-body energy eigenstates, from which simple expressions are obtained for the thermal susceptibility and specific heat. [less ▲]

Time-reversal symmetry violations and entropy production in field theories of polar active matter

in New Journal of Physics (2020), 22

We investigate the steady-state entropy production rate (EPR) in the hydrodynamic Vicsek model (HVM) and diffusive flocking model (DFM). Both models display a transition from an isotropic gas to a polar ... [more ▼]

We investigate the steady-state entropy production rate (EPR) in the hydrodynamic Vicsek model (HVM) and diffusive flocking model (DFM). Both models display a transition from an isotropic gas to a polar liquid (flocking) phase, in addition to travelling polar clusters and microphase-separation in the miscibility gap. The phase diagram of the DFM, which may be considered an extension of the HVM, contains additional structure at low densities where we find a novel crystal phase in which a stationary hexagonal lattice of high-density ridges surround low density valleys. From an assessment of the scaling of the EPR at low noise, we uncover that the dynamics in this limit may be organised into three main classes based on the dominant contribution. Truly nonequilibrium dynamics is characterised by a divergent EPR in this limit, and sustains global time-reversal symmetry (TRS) violating currents at zero noise. On the other hand, marginally nonequilibrium and effectively equilibrium dynamics have a finite EPR in this limit, and TRS is broken only at the level of fluctuations. For the latter of these two cases, detailed balance is restored in the small noise limit and we recover effective Boltzmann statistics to lowest nontrivial order.We further demonstrate that the scaling of the EPR may change depending on the dynamical variables that are tracked when it is computed, and the protocol chosen for time-reversal. Results acquired from numerical simulations of the dynamics confirm both the asymptotic scaling relations we derive and our quantitative predictions. [less ▲]

Stochastic thermodynamics of all-to-all interacting many-body systems

in New Journal of Physics (2020), 22(6), 063005

Unifying thermodynamic uncertainty relations

in New Journal of Physics (2020), 22(5), 053046

Composite boson signature in the interference pattern of atomic dimer condensates

in New Journal of Physics (2019), 21

We predict the existence of high frequency modes in the interference pattern of two condensates made of fermionic-atom dimers. These modes, which result from fermion exchanges between condensates ... [more ▼]

We predict the existence of high frequency modes in the interference pattern of two condensates made of fermionic-atom dimers. These modes, which result from fermion exchanges between condensates, constitute a striking signature of the dimer composite nature. From the 2-coboson spatial correlation function, that we derive analytically, and the Shiva diagrams that visualize many-body effects specific to composite bosons, we identify the physical origin of these high frequency modes and determine the conditions to see them experimentally by using bound fermionic-atom pairs trapped on optical lattice sites. The dimer granularity which appears in these modes comes from Pauli blocking that prevents two dimers to be located at the same lattice site. [less ▲]

Negative differential response in chemical reactions

in New Journal of Physics (2019), 21

Performance of various density-functional approximations for cohesive properties of 64 bulk solids

in New Journal of Physics (2018), 20

Accurate and careful benchmarking of different density-functional approximations (DFAs) represents an important source of information for understanding DFAs and how to improve them. In this work we have ... [more ▼]

Accurate and careful benchmarking of different density-functional approximations (DFAs) represents an important source of information for understanding DFAs and how to improve them. In this work we have studied the lattice constants, cohesive energies, and bulk moduli of 64 solids using six functionals, representing the local, semi-local, and hybrid DFAs on the first four rungs of Jacob’s ladder. The set of solids considered consists of ionic crystals, semiconductors, metals, and transition metal carbides and nitrides. To minimize numerical errors and to avoid making further approximations, the full-potential, all-electron FHI-aims code has been employed, and all the reported cohesive properties include contributions from zero-point vibrations. Our assessment demonstrates that current DFAs can predict cohesive properties with mean absolute relative errors of 0.6% for the lattice constant and6%for both the cohesive energy and the bulk modulus over the whole database of 64 solids. For semiconducting and insulating solids, the recently proposed SCAN meta-GGA functional represents a substantial improvement over the other functionals. However, when considering the different types of solids in the set, all of the employed functionals exhibit some variance in their performance. There are clear trends and relationships in the deviations of the cohesive properties, pointing to the need to consider, for example, long-range van der Waals (vdW) interactions. This point is also demonstrated by consistent improvements in predictions for cohesive properties of semiconductors when augmentingGGAand hybrid functionals with a screened Tkatchenko– Scheffler vdW energy term. [less ▲]

Conservation Laws Shape Dissipation

in New Journal of Physics (2018), 20

Starting from the most general formulation of stochastic thermodynamics—i.e. a thermodynamically consistent nonautonomous stochastic dynamics describing systems in contact with several reservoirs —we ... [more ▼]

Starting from the most general formulation of stochastic thermodynamics—i.e. a thermodynamically consistent nonautonomous stochastic dynamics describing systems in contact with several reservoirs —we define a procedure to identify the conservative and the minimal set of nonconservative contributions in the entropy production. The former is expressed as the difference between changes caused by time-dependent drivings and a generalized potential difference. The latter is a sum over the minimal set of flux-force contributions controlling the dissipative flows across the system. When the system is initially prepared at equilibrium (e.g. by turning off drivings and forces), a finite-time detailed fluctuation theorem holds for the different contributions. Our approach relies on identifying the complete set of conserved quantities and can be viewed as the extension of the theory of generalized Gibbs ensembles to nonequilibrium situations. [less ▲]

Focus on quantum thermodynamics

in New Journal of Physics (2017)