Ulrich Schollwöck

Theoretical Nanophysics

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Theresienstr. 37

80333 Munich

schollwoeck[at]lmu.de

Research Website

Description

Research focus: computational methods, condensed-matter and quantum many-body physics

The research interests of the group of Uli Schollwöck focus on the computational study of many-body systems that show strong interaction effects such that conventional many-body perturbation techniques mostly do not work. Such systems range from quantum spin chains, frustrated quantum magnets through low-dimensional superconductors and conjugate polymers to ultracold atom gases in optical lattices, which are particularly important for us: The merger between traditional condensed matter physics and quantum optics is a special focus of our work.

Scholl_ex_dynamics
While we have focused previously on the equilibrium and linear response regime, more advanced techniques now allow us to go very far from equilibrium, where physics is very poorly understood: we are looking at quantum quenches, expansion experiments, transport properties and relaxation physics.

The dominant role of quantum and interaction effects usually implies that no simple analytical approximations are available. More advanced techniques, such as bosonization in one dimension or field theoretical approaches in arbitrary dimensions, have to be used. In the absence of a large number of exact solutions the ultimate test is in numerical approaches, which are a central part of our efforts. In low dimensional quantum systems, methods of choice are the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG), which is a variational method within the ansatz class of matrix product states (MPS), and arguably the most powerful method for one-dimensional quantum systems, and tensor network states (TNS). Here our interest is in both applying and developing these methods with a special emphasis on the guidance provided by insights from quantum information theory.

Scholl_12_renyi_fit
In the context of out-of-equilibrium physics, recent highlights of our research include the first dynamical quantum simulator, which resulted from a collaboration with the Bloch group, the development of expansion dynamics in the presence of optical lattices as a tool to study interactions and probe integrability vs. non-integrability in quantum systems, and the dynamics of (spin) impurities in magnets simulated by ultracold atoms.

Scholl_dynamical
We are also pushing applications of conventional DMRG to two-dimensional quantum systems: while this is an exponentially hard task in the thermodynamic limit, the very high numerical stability of the method allows us to obtain very precise results on such quantum systems nevertheless. A recent highlight was the identification of the topological nature of the spin liquid ground state of a key model in frustrated magnetism, the kagome Heisenberg model, where we determined the topological entanglement entropy.

Starting from the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG), we are also interested in merging this method with the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) and in developing new algorithms at finite temperature and for higher dimensions.



Featured

Publications

Detecting hidden order in fractional Chern insulators

F. Pauw, F. A. Palm, U. Schollwöck, A. Bohrdt, S. Paeckel, F. Grusdt

Physical Review Research 6 (2), 23180 (2024).

Show Abstract

Topological phase transitions go beyond Ginzburg and Landau's paradigm of spontaneous symmetry breaking and occur without an associated local order parameter. Instead, such transitions can be characterized by the emergence of nonlocal order parameters, which require measurements on extensively many particles simultaneously-an impossible venture in real materials. On the other hand, quantum simulators have demonstrated such measurements, making them prime candidates for experimental confirmation of nonlocal topological order. Here, building upon the recent advances in preparing few-particle fractional Chern insulators using ultracold atoms and photons, we propose a realistic scheme for detecting the hidden off-diagonal long-range order (HODLRO) characterizing Laughlin states. Furthermore, we demonstrate the existence of this hidden order in fractional Chern insulators, specifically for the nu = 1/2-Laughlin state in the isotropic Hofstadter-Bose-Hubbard model. This is achieved by large-scale numerical density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations based on matrix product states, for which we formulate an efficient sampling procedure providing direct access to HODLRO in close analogy to the proposed experimental scheme. We confirm the characteristic power-law scaling of HODLRO, with an exponent 1/nu = 2, and show that its detection requires only a few thousand snapshots. This makes our scheme realistically achievable with current technology and paves the way for further analysis of nonlocal topological orders, e.g., in topological states with non-Abelian anyonic excitations.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.023180

Complex time evolution in tensor networks and time-dependent Green's functions

M. Grundner, P. Westhoff, F. B. Kugler, O. Parcollet, U. Schollwöck

Physical Review B 109 (15), 155124 (2024).

Show Abstract

Real-time calculations in tensor networks are strongly limited in time by entanglement growth, restricting the achievable frequency resolution of Green's functions, spectral functions, self-energies, and other related quantities. By extending the time evolution to contours in the complex plane, entanglement growth is curtailed, enabling numerically efficient high-precision calculations of time-dependent correlators and Green's functions with detailed frequency resolution. Various approaches to time evolution in the complex plane and the required postprocessing for extracting the pure real-time and frequency information are compared. We benchmark our results on the examples of the single-impurity Anderson model using matrix product states and of the threeband Hubbard-Kanamori and Dworin-Narath models using a tree tensor network. Our findings indicate that the proposed methods are also applicable to challenging realistic calculations of materials.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.109.155124

Growing extended Laughlin states in a quantum gas microscope: A patchwork construction

F. A. Palm, J. Kwan, B. Bakkali-Hassani, M. Greiner, U. Schollwöck, N. Goldman, F. Grusdt

Physical Review Research 6 (1), 13198 (2024).

Show Abstract

The study of fractional Chern insulators and their exotic anyonic excitations poses a major challenge in current experimental and theoretical research. Quantum simulators, in particular ultracold atoms in optical lattices, provide a promising platform to realize, manipulate, and understand such systems with a high degree of controllability. Recently, an atomic nu = 1/2 Laughlin state has been realized experimentally for a small system of two particles on 4 x 4 sites [Leonard et al., Nature (London) 619, 495 (2023)]. The next challenge concerns the preparation of Laughlin states in extended systems, ultimately giving access to anyonic braiding statistics or gapless chiral edge-states in systems with open boundaries. Here, we propose and analyze an experimentally feasible scheme to grow larger Laughlin states by connecting multiple copies of the already-existing 4 x 4 system. First, we present a minimal setting obtained by coupling two of such patches, producing an extended 8 x 4 system with four particles. Then, we analyze different preparation schemes, setting the focus on two shapes for the extended system, and discuss their respective advantages: While growing striplike lattices could give experimental access to the central charge, squarelike geometries are advantageous for creating quasihole excitations in view of braiding protocols. We highlight the robust quantization of the fractional quasihole charge upon using our preparation protocol. We benchmark the performance of our patchwork preparation scheme by comparing it to a protocol based on coupling one-dimensional chains. We find that the patchwork approach consistently gives higher target-state fidelities, especially for elongated systems. The results presented here pave the way towards near-term implementations of extended Laughlin states in quantum gas microscopes and the subsequent exploration of exotic properties of topologically ordered systems in experiments.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.013198

Feshbach resonance in a strongly repulsive ladder of mixed dimensionality: A possible scenario for bilayer nickelate superconductors

H. Lange, L. Homeier, E. Demler, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt, A. Bohrdt

Physical Review B 109 (4), 45127 (2024).

Show Abstract

Since the discovery of superconductivity in cuprate materials, the minimal ingredients for high-Tc superconductivity have been an outstanding puzzle. Motivated by the recently discovered nickelate bilayer superconductor La3Ni2O7 under pressure, we study a minimal bilayer model, in which, as in La3Ni2O7, interlayer and intralayer magnetic interactions but no interlayer hopping are present: A mixed-dimensional (mixD) t-J model. In the setting of a mixD ladder, we show that the system exhibits a crossover associated with a Feshbach resonance: From a closed-channel-dominated regime of tightly bound bosonic pairs of holes to an open-channel-dominated regime of spatially more extended Cooper pairs. The crossover can be tuned by varying doping, or by a nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsion V that we include in our model. Using density matrix renormalization group simulations and analytical descriptions of both regimes, we find that the ground state is a Luther-Emery liquid, competing with a density wave of tetraparton plaquettes at commensurate filling delta = 0.5 at large repulsion, and exhibits a pairing dome where binding is facilitated by doping. Our observations can be understood in terms of pairs of correlated spinon-chargon excitations constituting the open channel, which are subject to attractive interactions mediated by the closed channel of tightly bound chargon-chargon pairs. When the closed channel is lowered in energy by doping or tuning V, a Feshbach resonance is realized, associated with a dome in the binding energy. Our predictions can be directly tested in state-of-the art quantum simulators, and we argue that the pairing mechanism we describe may be realized in the nickelate bilayer superconductor La3Ni2O7.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.109.045127

Density matrix renormalization group, 30 years on

F. Verstraete, T. Nishino, U. Schollwöck, M. C. Bañuls, G. K. Chan, M. E. Stoudenmire

Nature Reviews Physics 5 (5), 273-276 (2023).

Show Abstract

The density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm pioneered by Steven White in 1992 is a variational optimization algorithm that physicists use to find the ground states of Hamiltonians of quantum many-body systems in low dimensions. But DMRG is more than a useful numerical method, it is a framework that brought together ideas from theoretical condensed matter physics and quantum information, enabling advances in other fields such as quantum chemistry and the study of dissipative systems. It also fostered the development and widespread use of tensor networks as mathematical representations of quantum many-body states, whose applications now go beyond quantum systems. Today, it is one of the most powerful and widely used methods for simulating strongly correlated quantum many-body systems. Six researchers discuss the early history of DMRG and the developments it spurred over the past three decades.

DOI: 10.1038/s42254-023-00572-5

Adaptive Quantum State Tomography with Active Learning

H. Lange, M. Kebric, M. Buser, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt, A. Bohrdt

Quantum 7, 1129 (2023).

Show Abstract

Recently, tremendous progress has been made in the field of quantum science and technologies: different platforms for quantum simulation as well as quantum computing, ranging from superconduct-ing qubits to neutral atoms, are start-ing to reach unprecedentedly large sys-tems. In order to benchmark these sys-tems and gain physical insights, the need for efficient tools to characterize quantum states arises. The exponential growth of the Hilbert space with system size ren-ders a full reconstruction of the quantum state prohibitively demanding in terms of the number of necessary measurements. Here we propose and implement an ef-ficient scheme for quantum state tomog-raphy using active learning. Based on a few initial measurements, the active learn-ing protocol proposes the next measure-ment basis, designed to yield the max-imum information gain. We apply the active learning quantum state tomogra-phy scheme to reconstruct different multi-qubit states with varying degree of entan-glement as well as to ground states of the XXZ model in 1D and a kinetically con-strained spin chain. In all cases, we obtain a significantly improved reconstruction as compared to a reconstruction based on the exact same number of measurements and measurement configurations, but with ran-domly chosen basis configurations. Our scheme is highly relevant to gain physical insights in quantum many-body systems as well as for benchmarking and character-izing quantum devices, e.g. for quantum simulation, and paves the way for scalable adaptive protocols to probe, prepare, and manipulate quantum systems.

DOI: 10.22331/q-2023-10-09-1129

Quantifying hole-motion-induced frustration in doped antiferromagnets by Hamiltonian reconstruction

H. Schlömer, T. A. Hilker, I. Bloch, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt, A. Bohrdt

Communications Materials 4 (1), 64 (2023).

Show Abstract

Unveiling the microscopic origins of quantum phases dominated by the interplay of spin and motional degrees of freedom constitutes one of the central challenges in strongly correlated many-body physics. When holes move through an antiferromagnetic spin background, they displace the positions of spins, which induces effective frustration in the magnetic environment. However, a concrete characterization of this effect in a quantum many-body system is still an unsolved problem. Here we present a Hamiltonian reconstruction scheme that allows for a precise quantification of hole-motion-induced frustration. We access non-local correlation functions through projective measurements of the many-body state, from which effective spin-Hamiltonians can be recovered after detaching the magnetic background from dominant charge fluctuations. The scheme is applied to systems of mixed dimensionality, where holes are restricted to move in one dimension, but SU(2) superexchange is two-dimensional. We demonstrate that hole motion drives the spin background into a highly frustrated regime, which can quantitatively be described by an effective J(1)-J(2)-type spin model. We exemplify the applicability of the reconstruction scheme to ultracold atom experiments by recovering effective spin-Hamiltonians of experimentally obtained 1D Fermi-Hubbard snapshots. Our method can be generalized to fully 2D systems, enabling promising microscopic perspectives on the doped Hubbard model.

DOI: 10.1038/s43246-023-00382-3

Stable bipolarons in open quantum systems

M. Moroder, M. Grundner, F. Damanet, U. Schollwöck, S. Mardazad, S. Flannigan, T. Köhler, S. Paeckel

Physical Review B 107 (21), 214310 (2023).

Show Abstract

Recent advances in numerical methods significantly pushed forward the understanding of electrons coupled to quantized lattice vibrations. At this stage, it becomes increasingly important to also account for the effects of physically inevitable environments. Here, we combine state-of-the-art tensor-network and quantum trajectories methods in order to study the impact of dissipation on realistic condensed matter models including highly excited phononic modes. In particular, we study the transport properties of the Hubbard-Holstein Hamiltonian that models a large class of materials characterized by strong electron-phonon coupling, in contact with a dissipative environment. We combine the non-Markovian hierarchy of pure states method and the Markovian quantum jumps method with the newly introduced projected purified density-matrix renormalization group, creating powerful tensor-network methods for dissipative quantum many-body systems. Investigating their numerical properties, we find a significant speedup up to a factor approximate to 30 compared to conventional tensor-network techniques. We apply these methods to study dissipative quenches, aiming for an in-depth understanding of the formation, stability, and quasiparticle properties of bipolarons. Surprisingly, our results show that in the metallic phase dissipation localizes the bipolarons, which is reminiscent of an indirect quantum Zeno effect. However, the bipolaronic binding energy remains mainly unaffected, even in the presence of strong dissipation, exhibiting remarkable bipolaron stability. These findings shed light on the problem of designing real materials exhibiting phonon-mediated high-TC superconductivity.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.107.214310

Robust stripes in the mixed-dimensional t-J model

H. Schlömer, A. Bohrdt, L. Pollet, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt

Physical Review Research 5 (2), L022027 (2023).

Show Abstract

Microscopically understanding competing orders in strongly correlated systems is a key challenge in modern quantum many-body physics. For example, the origin of stripe order and its relation to pairing in the Fermi -Hubbard model remains one of the central questions, and may help to understand the origin of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates. Here, we analyze stripe formation in the doped mixed-dimensional (mixD) variant of the t - J model, where charge carriers are restricted to move only in one direction, whereas magnetic SU(2) interactions are two-dimensional. Using the density matrix renormalization group at finite temperature, we find a stable vertical stripe phase in the absence of pairing, featuring incommensurate magnetic order and long-range charge density wave profiles over a wide range of dopings. We find high critical temperatures on the order of the magnetic coupling similar to J/2, hence being within reach of current quantum simulators. Snapshots of the many-body state, accessible to quantum simulators, reveal hidden spin correlations in the mixD setting, whereby antiferromagnetic correlations are enhanced when considering purely the magnetic background. The proposed model can be viewed as realizing a parent Hamiltonian of the stripe phase, whose hidden spin correlations lead to the predicted resilience against quantum and thermal fluctuations.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L022027

Ferromagnetism and skyrmions in the Hofstadter-Fermi-Hubbard model

F. A. Palm, M. Kurttutan, A. Bohrdt, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt

New Journal of Physics 25 (2), 23021 (2023).

Show Abstract

Strongly interacting fermionic systems host a variety of interesting quantum many-body states with exotic excitations. For instance, the interplay of strong interactions and the Pauli exclusion principle can lead to Stoner ferromagnetism, but the fate of this state remains unclear when kinetic terms are added. While in many lattice models the fermions' dispersion results in delocalization and destabilization of the ferromagnet, flat bands can restore strong interaction effects and ferromagnetic correlations. To reveal this interplay, here we propose to study the Hofstadter-Fermi-Hubbard model using ultracold atoms. We demonstrate, by performing large-scale density-matrix renormalization group simulations, that this model exhibits a lattice analog of the quantum Hall (QH) ferromagnet at magnetic filling factor nu = 1. We reveal the nature of the low energy spin-singlet states around nu asymptotic to 1 and find that they host quasi-particles and quasi-holes exhibiting spin-spin correlations reminiscent of skyrmions. Finally, we predict the breakdown of flat-band ferromagnetism at large fields. Our work paves the way towards experimental studies of lattice QH ferromagnetism, including prospects to study many-body states of interacting skyrmions and explore the relation to high- T-c superconductivity.

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/acb963

Confinement induced frustration in a one-dimensional Z2 lattice gauge theory

M. Kebric, U. Borla, U. Schollwöck, S. Moroz, L. Barbiero, F. Grusdt

New Journal of Physics 25 (1), 13035 (2023).

Show Abstract

Coupling dynamical charges to gauge fields can result in highly non-local interactions with a linear confining potential. As a consequence, individual particles bind into mesons which, in one dimension, become the new constituents of emergent Luttinger liquids (LLs). Furthermore, at commensurate fillings, different Mott-insulating states can be stabilized by including nearest-neighbour (NN) interactions among charges. However, rich phase diagrams expected in such models have not been fully explored and still lack comprehensive theoretical explanation. Here, by combining numerical and analytical tools, we study a simple one-dimensional Z2 lattice gauge theory at half-filling, where U(1) matter is coupled to gauge fields and interacts through NN repulsion. We uncover a rich phase diagram where the local NN interaction stabilizes a Mott state of individual charges (or partons) on the one hand, and an LL of confined mesons on the other. Furthermore, at the interface between these two phases, we uncover a highly frustrated regime arising due to the competition between the local NN repulsion and the non-local confining interactions, realizing a pre-formed parton plasma. Our work is motivated by the recent progress in ultracold atom experiments, where such simple model could be readily implemented. For this reason we calculate the static structure factor which we propose as a simple probe to explore the phase diagram in an experimental setup.

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/acb45c

Formation of CuO2 sublattices by suppression of interlattice correlations in tetragonal CuO

M. Bramberger, B. Bacq-Labreuil, M. Grundner, S. Biermann, U. Schollwöck, S. Paeckel, B. Lenz

Scipost Physics 14 (1), 10 (2023).

Show Abstract

We investigate the tetragonal phase of the binary transition metal oxide CuO (t-CuO) within the context of cellular dynamical mean-field theory. Due to its strong antiferromagnetic correlations and simple structure, analysing the physics of t-CuO is of high interest as it may pave the way towards a more complete understanding of high-temperature superconductivity in hole-doped antiferromagnets. In this work we give a formal justification for the weak-coupling assumption that has previously been made for the interconnected sublattices within a single layer of t-CuO by studying the non-local self-energies of the system. We compute momentum-resolved spectral functions using a Matrix Product State (MPS)-based impurity solver directly on the real axis, which does not require any numerically ill-conditioned analytic continuation. The agreement with photoemission spectroscopy indicates that a single-band Hubbard model is sufficient to capture the material's low energy physics. We perform calculations on a range of different temperatures, finding two magnetic regimes, for which we identify the driving mechanism behind their respective insulating state. Finally, we show that in the hole-doped regime the sublattice structure of t-CuO has interesting consequences on the symmetry of the superconducting state.

DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.14.1.010

Snapshot-based detection of ?=1/2 Laughlin states: Coupled chains and central charge

F. A. Palm, S. Mardazad, A. Bohrdt, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt

Physical Review B 106 (8), L081108 (2022).

Show Abstract

Experimental realizations of topologically ordered states of matter, such as fractional quantum Hall states, with cold atoms are now within reach. In particular, optical lattices provide a promising platform for the realization and characterization of such states, where novel detection schemes enable an unprecedented microscopic under-standing. Here we show that the central charge can be directly measured in current cold atom experiments using the number entropy as a proxy for the entanglement entropy. We perform density-matrix renormalization-group simulations of Hubbard-interacting bosons on coupled chains subject to a magnetic field with alpha = 1/4 flux quanta per plaquette. Tuning the interchain hopping, we find a transition from a trivial quasi-one-dimensional phase to the topologically ordered Laughlin state at magnetic filling factor nu = 1/2 for systems of three or more chains. We resolve the transition using the central charge, on-site correlations, momentum distributions, and the many-body Chern number. Additionally, we propose a scheme to experimentally estimate the central charge from Fock basis snapshots. The model studied here is experimentally realizable with existing cold atom techniques and the proposed observables pave the way for the detection and classification of a larger class of interacting topological states of matter.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.L081108

Snapshot-based characterization of particle currents and the Hall response in synthetic flux lattices

M. Buser, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt

Physical Review A 105 (3), 33303 (2022).

Show Abstract

Quantum simulators are attracting great interest because they promise insight into the behavior of quantum many-body systems that are prohibitive for classical simulations. The generic output of quantum simulators are snapshots, obtained by means of projective measurements. These provide new information, such as full distribution functions, that goes beyond the more commonly evaluated expectation values of observables while adding shot-noise uncertainty to the latter. Hence, a central goal of theoretical efforts must be to predict these exact same quantities that can be measured in experiments. Here, we report on a snapshot-based study of particle currents in quantum lattice models with a conserved number of particles. It is shown how the full probability distribution of locally resolved particle currents can be obtained from suitable snapshot data. Moreover, we investigate the Hall response of interacting bosonic flux ladders, exploiting snapshots drawn from matrix-product states. Flux ladders are minimal lattice models, which enable microscopic studies of the Hall response in correlated quantum phases, and they are successfully realized in current quantum-gas experiments. Using a specific pattern of unitary two-site transformations, it is shown that the Hall polarization and the Hall voltage can be faithfully computed from a realistic number of snapshots obtained in experimentally feasible quench and finite-bias simulations.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.105.033303

Stochastic Adaptive Single-Site Time-Dependent Variational Principle

Y. H. Xu, Z. X. Xie, X. Y. Xie, U. Schollwöck, H. B. Ma

Jacs Au 2 (2), 335-340 (2022).

Show Abstract

In recent years, the time-dependent variational principle (TDVP) method based on the matrix product state (MPS) wave function formulation has shown its great power in performing large-scale quantum dynamics simulations for realistic chemical systems with strong electron-vibration interactions. In this work, we propose a stochastic adaptive single-site TDVP (SA-1TDVP) scheme to evolve the bond-dimension adaptively, which can integrate the traditional advantages of both the high efficiency of the single-site TDVP (1TDVP) variant and the high accuracy of the two-site TDVP (2TDVP) variant. Based on the assumption that the level statistics of entanglement Hamiltonians, which originate from the reduced density matrices of the MPS method, follows a Poisson or Wigner distribution, as generically predicted by random-matrix theory, additional random singular values are generated to expand the bond-dimension automatically. Tests on simulating the vibrationally resolved quantum dynamics and absorption spectra in the pyrazine molecule and perylene bisimide (PBI) J-aggregate trimer as well as a spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain show that it can be automatic and as accurate as 2TDVP but reduce the computational time remarkably.

DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00474

Quantum dynamics simulation of intramolecular singlet fission in covalently linked tetracene dimer

S. Mardazad, Y. H. Xu, X. X. Yang, M. Grundner, U. Schollwöck, H. B. Ma, S. Paeckel

Journal of Chemical Physics 155 (19), 194101 (2021).

Show Abstract

In this work, we study singlet fission in tetracene para-dimers, covalently linked by a phenyl group. In contrast to most previous studies, we account for the full quantum dynamics of the combined excitonic and vibrational system. For our simulations, we choose a numerically unbiased representation of the molecule's wave function, enabling us to compare with experiments, exhibiting good agreement. Having access to the full wave function allows us to study in detail the post-quench dynamics of the excitons. Here, one of our main findings is the identification of a time scale t(0) approximate to 35 fs dominated by coherent dynamics. It is within this time scale that the larger fraction of the singlet fission yield is generated. We also report on a reduced number of phononic modes that play a crucial role in the energy transfer between excitonic and vibrational systems. Notably, the oscillation frequency of these modes coincides with the observed electronic coherence time t(0). We extend our investigations by also studying the dependency of the dynamics on the excitonic energy levels that, for instance, can be experimentally tuned by means of the solvent polarity. Here, our findings indicate that the singlet fission yield can be doubled, while the electronic coherence time t(0) is mainly unaffected. (c) 2021 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

DOI: 10.1063/5.0068292

Confinement and Mott Transitions of Dynamical Charges in One-Dimensional Lattice Gauge Theories

M. Kebric, L. Barbiero, C. Reinmoser, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt

Physical Review Letters 127 (16), 167203 (2021).

Show Abstract

Confinement is an ubiquitous phenomenon when matter couples to gauge fields, which manifests itself in a linear string potential between two static charges. Although gauge fields can be integrated out in one dimension, they can mediate nonlocal interactions which in turn influence the paradigmatic Luttinger liquid properties. However, when the charges become dynamical and their densities finite, understanding confinement becomes challenging. Here we show that confinement in 1D Z(2) lattice gauge theories, with dynamical matter fields and arbitrary densities, is related to translational symmetry breaking in a nonlocal basis. The exact transformation to this string-length basis leads us to an exact mapping of Luttinger parameters reminiscent of a Luther-Emery rescaling. We include the effects of local, but beyond contact, interactions between the matter particles, and show that confined mesons can form a Mott-insulating state when the deconfined charges cannot. While the transition to the Mott state cannot be detected in the Green's function of the charges, we show that the metallic state is characterized by hidden off-diagonal quasi-long-range order. Our predictions provide new insights to the physics of confinement of dynamical charges, and can be experimentally addressed in Rydberg-dressed quantum gases in optical lattices.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.167203

Bosonic Pfaffian state in the Hofstadter-Bose-Hubbard model

F. A. Palm, M. Buser, J. Leonard, M. Aidelsburger, U. Schollwöck, F. Grusdt

Physical Review B 103 (16), L161101 (2021).

Show Abstract

Topological states of matter, such as fractional quantum Hall states, are an active field of research due to their exotic excitations. In particular, ultracold atoms in optical lattices provide a highly controllable and adaptable platform to study such new types of quantum matter. However, finding a clear route to realize non-Abelian quantum Hall states in these systems remains challenging. Here we use the density-matrix renormalization-group (DMRG) method to study the Hofstadter-Bose-Hubbard model at filling factor v = 1 and find strong indications that at alpha = 1/6 magnetic flux quanta per plaquette the ground state is a lattice analog of the continuum non-Abelian Pfaffian. We study the on-site correlations of the ground state, which indicate its paired nature at v = 1, and find an incompressible state characterized by a charge gap in the bulk. We argue that the emergence of a charge density wave on thin cylinders and the behavior of the two- and three-particle correlation functions at short distances provide evidence for the state being closely related to the continuum Pfaffian. The signatures discussed in this letter are accessible in current cold atom experiments and we show that the Pfaffian-like state is readily realizable in few-body systems using adiabatic preparation schemes.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.L161101

BaOsO3: A Hund's metal in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling

M. Bramberger, J. Mravlje, M. Grundner, U. Schollwöck, M. Zingl

Physical Review B 103 (16), 165133 (2021).

Show Abstract

We investigate the 5d transition metal oxide BaOsO3 within a combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory, using a matrix-product-state impurity solver. BaOsO3 has four electrons in the t(2g) shell akin to ruthenates but stronger spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and is thus expected to reveal an interplay of Hund's metal behavior with SOC. We explore the paramagnetic phase diagram as a function of SOC and Hubbard interaction strengths, identifying metallic, band (van Vleck) insulating, and Mott insulating regions. At the physical values of the two couplings, we find that BaOsO3 is still situated inside the metallic region and has a moderate quasiparticle renormalization m* / m approximate to 2, consistent with specific heat measurements. SOC leads to a splitting of a van Hove singularity close to the Fermi energy and a subsequent reduction of electronic correlations (found in the vanishing SOC case), but the SOC strength is insufficient to push the material into an insulating van Vleck regime. In spite of the strong effect of SOC, BaOsO3 can be best pictured as a moderately correlated Hund's metal.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.165133

Probing the Hall Voltage in Synthetic Quantum Systems

M. Buser, S. Greschner, U. Schollwöck, T. Giamarchi

Physical Review Letters 126 (3), 30501 (2021).

Show Abstract

YIn the context of experimental advances in the realization of artificial magnetic fields in quantum gases, we discuss feasible schemes to extend measurements of the Hall polarization to a study of the Hall voltage, allowing for direct comparison with solid state systems. Specifically, for the paradigmatic example of interacting flux ladders, we report on characteristic zero crossings and a remarkable robustness of the Hall voltage with respect to interaction strengths, particle fillings, and ladder geometries, which is unobservable in the Hall polarization. Moreover, we investigate the site-resolved Hall response in spatially inhomogeneous quantum phases.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.030501

Concept of Orbital Entanglement and Correlation in Quantum Chemistry

L. X. Ding, S. Mardazad, S. Das, S. Szalay, U. Schollwöck, Z. Zimboras, C. Schilling

Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 17 (1), 79-95 (2021).

Show Abstract

A recent development in quantum chemistry has established the quantum mutual information between orbitals as a major descriptor of electronic structure. This has already facilitated remarkable improvements in numerical methods and may lead to a more comprehensive foundation for chemical bonding theory. Building on this promising development, our work provides a refined discussion of quantum information theoretical concepts by introducing the physical correlation and its separation into classical and quantum parts as distinctive quantifiers of electronic structure. In particular, we succeed in quantifying the entanglement. Intriguingly, our results for different molecules reveal that the total correlation between orbitals is mainly classical, raising questions about the general significance of entanglement in chemical bonding. Our work also shows that implementing the fundamental particle number superselection rule, so far not accounted for in quantum chemistry, removes a major part of correlation and entanglement seen previously. In that respect, realizing quantum information processing tasks with molecular systems might be more challenging than anticipated.

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00559

Interacting bosonic flux ladders with a synthetic dimension: Ground-state phases and quantum quench dynamics

M. Buser, C. Hubig, U. Schollwöck, L. Tarruell, F. Heidrich-Meisner

Physical Review A 102 (5), 53314 (2020).

Show Abstract

Flux ladders constitute the minimal setup enabling a systematic understanding of the rich physics of interacting particles subjected simultaneously to strong magnetic fields and a lattice potential. In this paper, the ground-state phase diagram of a flux-ladder model is mapped out using extensive density-matrix renormalization-group simulations. The emphasis is put on parameters which can be experimentally realized exploiting the internal states of potassium atoms as a synthetic dimension. The focus is on accessible observables such as the chiral current and the leg-population imbalance. Considering a particle filling of one boson per rung, we report the existence of a Mott-insulating Meissner phase as well as biased-ladder phases on top of superfluids and Mott insulators. Furthermore, we demonstrate that quantum quenches from suitably chosen initial states can be used to probe the equilibrium properties in the transient dynamics. Concretely, we consider the instantaneous turning on of hopping matrix elements along the rungs or legs in the synthetic flux-ladder model, with different initial particle distributions. We show that clear signatures of the biased-ladder phase can be observed in the transient dynamics. Moreover, the behavior of the chiral current in the transient dynamics is discussed. The results presented in this paper provide guidelines for future implementations of flux ladders in experimental setups exploiting a synthetic dimension.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.102.053314

Sr2MoO4 and Sr2RuO4: Disentangling the Roles of Hund's and van Hove Physics

J. Karp, M. Bramberger, M. Grundner, U. Schollwöck, A. J. Millis, M. Zingl

Physical Review Letters 125 (16), 166401 (2020).

Show Abstract

Sr2MoO4 is isostructural to the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4 but with two electrons instead of two holes in the Mo/Ru-t(2g) orbitals. Both materials are Hund's metals, but while Sr2RuO4 has a van Hove singularity in close proximity to the Fermi surface, the van Hove singularity of Sr2MoO4 is far from the Fermi surface. By using density functional plus dynamical mean-field theory, we determine the relative influence of van Hove and Hund's metal physics on the correlation properties. We show that theoretically predicted signatures of Hund's metal physics occur on the occupied side of the electronic spectrum of Sr2MoO4, identifying Sr2MoO4 as an ideal candidate system for a direct experimental confirmation of the theoretical concept of Hund's metals via photoemission spectroscopy.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.166401

Topological phases in the Fermi-Hofstadter-Hubbard model on hybrid-space ladders

L. Stenzel, A. L. C. Hayward, U. Schollwöck, F. Heidrich-Meisner

Physical Review A 102 (2), 23315 (2020).

Show Abstract

In recent experiments with ultracold atoms, both two-dimensional (2D) Chern insulators and one-dimensional topological charge pumps have been realized. Without interactions, both systems can be described by the same Hamiltonian, when some variables are being reinterpreted. In this paper, we study the relation of both models when Hubbard interactions are added, using the density-matrix renormalization-group algorithm. To this end, we express the fermionic Hofstadter model in a hybrid-space representation, and define a family of interactions, which connects 1D Hubbard charge pumps to 2D Hubbard Chern insulators. We study a three-band model at particle density rho = 2/3, where the topological quantization of the 1D charge pump changes from Chern number C = 2 to C = -1 as the interaction strength increases. We find that the C = -1 phase is robust when varying the interaction terms on narrow-width cylinders. However, this phase does not extend to the limit of the 2D Hofstadter-Hubbard model, which remains in the C = 2 phase. We discuss the existence of both topological phases for the largest cylinder circumferences that we can access numerically. We note the appearance of a ferromagnetic ground state between the strongly interacting 1D and 2D models. For this ferromagnetic state, one can understand the C = -1 phase from a band structure argument. Our method for measuring the Hall conductivity could similarly be realized in experiments: We compute the current response to a weak, linear potential, which is applied adiabatically. The Hall conductivity converges to integer-quantized values for large system sizes, corresponding to the system's Chern number.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.102.023315

Plaquette versus ordinary d-wave pairing in the t '-Hubbard model on a width-4 cylinder

C. M. Chung, M. P. Qin, S. W. Zhang, U. Schollwöck, S. R. White, M.-E. Simons Collaboration

Physical Review B 102 (4), 41106 (2020).

Show Abstract

The Hubbard model and its extensions are important microscopic models for understanding high-Tc superconductivity in cuprates. In the model with next-nearest-neighbor hopping t' (the t'-Hubbard model), pairing is strongly influenced by t'. In particular, a recent study on a width-4 cylinder observed quasi-long-range superconducting order, associated with a negative t', which was taken to imply superconductivity in the two-dimensional (2D) limit. In this work we study more carefully pairing in the width-4 t'-Hubbard model. We show that in this specific system, the pairing symmetry with t' < 0 is not the ordinary d-wave one would expect in the 2D limit. Instead we observe a so-called plaquette d-wave pairing. We show that the plaquette d-wave or its extension is difficult to generalize in other geometries, for example a 4-leg ladder with open boundaries or a width-6 cylinder. We find that a negative t' suppresses the conventional d-wave, leading to plaquette pairing. In contrast, a different t '' coupling acting diagonally on the plaquettes suppresses plaquette pairing, leading to conventional d-wave pairing.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.102.041106

Absence of Superconductivity in the Pure Two-Dimensional Hubbard Model

M. P. Qin, C. M. Chung, H. Shi, E. Vitali, C. Hubig, U. Schollwöck, S. R. White, S. W. Zhang

Physical Review X 10 (3), 31016 (2020).

Show Abstract

We study the superconducting pairing correlations in the ground state of the doped Hubbard model-in its original form without hopping beyond nearest neighbor or other perturbing parameters-in two dimensions at intermediate to strong coupling and near optimal doping. The nature of such correlations has been a central question ever since the discovery of cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Despite unprecedented effort and tremendous progress in understanding the properties of this fundamental model, a definitive answer to whether the ground state is superconducting in the parameter regime most relevant to cuprates has proved exceedingly difficult to establish. In this work, we employ two complementary, state-of-the-art, many-body computational methods-constrained-path (CP) auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) methods-deploying the most recent algorithmic advances in each. Systematic and detailed comparisons between the two methods are performed. The DMRG is extremely reliable on small width cylinders, where we use it to validate the AFQMC. The AFQMC is then used to study wide systems as well as fully periodic systems, to establish that we have reached the thermodynamic limit. The ground state is found to be nonsuperconducting in the moderate to strong coupling regime in the vicinity of optimal hole doping.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.10.031016

Thermal Control of Spin Excitations in the Coupled Ising-Chain Material RbCoCl3

M. Mena, N. Hänni, S. Ward, E. Hirtenlechner, R. Bewley, C. Hubig, U. Schollwöck, B. Normand, K.W. Krämer, D.F. McMorrow, C. Rüegg

Physical Review Letters 124, 257201 (2020).

Show Abstract

We have used neutron spectroscopy to investigate the spin dynamics of the quantum (S=1/2) antiferromagnetic Ising chains in RbCoCl3. The structure and magnetic interactions in this material conspire to produce two magnetic phase transitions at low temperatures, presenting an ideal opportunity for thermal control of the chain environment. The high-resolution spectra we measure of two-domain-wall excitations therefore characterize precisely both the continuum response of isolated chains and the “Zeeman-ladder” bound states of chains in three different effective staggered fields in one and the same material. We apply an extended Matsubara formalism to obtain a quantitative description of the entire dataset, Monte Carlo simulations to interpret the magnetic order, and finite-temperature density-matrix renormalization-group calculations to fit the spectral features of all three phases.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.257201

Imaginary-time matrix product state impurity solver in a real material calculation: Spin-orbit coupling in Sr2RuO4

N. O. Linden, M. Zingl, C. Hubig, O. Parcollet, U. Schollwöck

Physical Review B 101 (4), 41101 (2020).

Show Abstract

Using an imaginary-time matrix-product state (MPS) based quantum impurity solver we perform a realistic dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) calculation combined with density functional theory (DFT) for Sr2RuO4. We take the full Hubbard-Kanamori interactions and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) into account. The MPS impurity solver works at essentially zero temperature in the presence of SOC, a regime of parameters currently inaccessible to continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo methods, due to a severe sign problem. We show that earlier results obtained at high temperature, namely, that the diagonal self-energies are nearly unaffected by SOC and that interactions lead to an effective enhancement of the SOC, hold even at low temperature. We observe that realism makes the numerical solution of the impurity model with MPS much more demanding in comparison to earlier works on Bethe lattice models, requiring several algorithmic improvements.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.041101

Time-evolution methods for matrix-product states

S. Paeckel, T. Kohler, A. Swoboda, S. R. Manmana, U. Schollwöck, C. Hubig

Annals of Physics 411, 167998 (2019).

Show Abstract

Matrix-product states have become the de facto standard for the representation of one-dimensional quantum many body states. During the last few years, numerous new methods have been introduced to evaluate the time evolution of a matrix-product state. Here, we will review and summarize the recent work on this topic as applied to finite quantum systems. We will explain and compare the different methods available to construct a time-evolved matrix-product state, namely the time-evolving block decimation, the MPO W-I,W-II method, the global Krylov method, the local Krylov method and the one- and two-site time-dependent variational principle. We will also apply these methods to four different representative examples of current problem settings in condensed matter physics. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.

DOI: 10.1016/j.aop.2019.167998

Time-dependent density matrix renormalization group quantum dynamics for realistic chemical systems

X. Y. Xie, Y. Y. Liu, Y. Yao, U. Schollwöck, C. G. Liu, H. B. Ma

Journal of Chemical Physics 151 (22), 224101 (2019).

Show Abstract

Electronic and/or vibronic coherence has been found by recent ultrafast spectroscopy experiments in many chemical, biological, and material systems. This indicates that there are strong and complicated interactions between electronic states and vibration modes in realistic chemical systems. Therefore, simulations of quantum dynamics with a large number of electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom are highly desirable. Due to the efficient compression and localized representation of quantum states in the matrix-product state (MPS) formulation, time-evolution methods based on the MPS framework, which we summarily refer to as tDMRG (time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group) methods, are considered to be promising candidates to study the quantum dynamics of realistic chemical systems. In this work, we benchmark the performances of four different tDMRG methods, including global Taylor, global Krylov, and local one-site and two-site time-dependent variational principles (1TDVP and 2TDVP), with a comparison to multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree and experimental results. Two typical chemical systems of internal conversion and singlet fission are investigated: one containing strong and high-order local and nonlocal electron-vibration couplings and the other exhibiting a continuous phonon bath. The comparison shows that the tDMRG methods (particularly, the 2TDVP method) can describe the full quantum dynamics in large chemical systems accurately and efficiently. Several key parameters in the tDMRG calculation including the truncation error threshold, time interval, and ordering of local sites were also investigated to strike the balance between efficiency and accuracy of results.

DOI: 10.1063/1.5125945

Dynamical Topological Quantum Phase Transitions in Nonintegrable Models

I. Hagymasi, C. Hubig, O. Legeza, U. Schollwöck

Physical Review Letters 122 (25), 250601 (2019).

Show Abstract

We consider sudden quenches across quantum phase transitions in the S = 1 XXZ model starting from the Haldane phase. We demonstrate that dynamical phase transitions may occur during these quenches that are identified by nonanalyticities in the rate function for the return probability. In addition, we show that the temporal behavior of the string order parameter is intimately related to the subsequent dynamical phase transitions. We furthermore find that the dynamical quantum phase transitions can be accompanied by enhanced two-site entanglement.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.250601

Quantum phases and topological properties of interacting fermions in one-dimensional superlattices

L. Stenzel, A. L. C. Hayward, C. Hubig, U. Schollwöck, F. Heidrich-Meisner

Physical Review A 99 (5), 53614 (2019).

Show Abstract

The realization of artificial gauge fields in ultracold atomic gases has opened up a path towards experimental studies of topological insulators and, as an ultimate goal, topological quantum matter in many-body systems. As an alternative to the direct implementation of two-dimensional lattice Hamiltonians that host the quantum Hall effect and its variants, topological charge-pumping experiments provide an additional avenue towards studying many-body systems. Here, we consider an interacting two-component gas of fermions realizing a family of one-dimensional superlattice Hamiltonians with onsite interactions and a unit cell of three sites, the ground states of which would be visited in an appropriately defined charge pump. First, we investigate the grand canonical quantum phase diagram of individual Hamiltonians, focusing on insulating phases. For a certain commensurate filling, there is a sequence of phase transitions from a band insulator to other insulating phases (related to the physics of ionic Hubbard models) for some members of the manifold of Hamiltonians. Second, we compute the Chern numbers for the whole manifold in a many-body formulation and show that, related to the aforementioned quantum phase transitions, a topological transition results in a change of the value and sign of the Chern number. We provide both an intuitive and a conceptual explanation and argue that these properties could be observed in quantum-gas experiments.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.99.053614

Finite-temperature properties of interacting bosons on a two-leg flux ladder

M. Buser, F. Heidrich-Meisner, U. Schollwöck

Physical Review A 99 (5), 53601 (2019).

Show Abstract

Quasi-one-dimensional lattice systems such as flux ladders with artificial gauge fields host rich quantum-phase diagrams that have attracted great interest. However, so far, most of the work on these systems has concentrated on zero-temperature phases while the corresponding finite-temperature regime remains largely unexplored. The question if and up to which temperature characteristic features of the zero-temperature phases persist is relevant in experimental realizations. We investigate a two-leg ladder lattice in a uniform magnetic field and concentrate our study on chiral edge currents and momentum-distribution functions, which are key observables in ultracold quantum-gas experiments. These quantities are computed for hard-core bosons as well as noninteracting bosons and spinless fermions at zero and finite temperatures. We employ a matrix-product-state based purification approach for the simulation of strongly interacting bosons at finite temperatures and analyze finite-size effects. Our main results concern the vortex-fluid-to-Meissner crossover of strongly interacting bosons. We demonstrate that signatures of the vortex-fluid phase can still be detected at elevated temperatures from characteristic finite-momentum maxima in the momentum-distribution functions, while the vortex-fluid phase leaves weaker fingerprints in the local rung currents and the chiral edge current. In order to determine the range of temperatures over which these signatures can be observed, we introduce a suitable measure for the contrast of these maxima. The results are condensed into a finite-temperature crossover diagram for hard-core bosons.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.99.053601

Density-matrix embedding theory study of the one-dimensional Hubbard-Holstein model

T.E. Reinhard, U. Mordovina, C. Hubig, J.S. Kretchmer, U. Schollwöck, H. Appel, M.A. Sentef, A. Rubio,

Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 15 (4), 2221-2232 (2019).

Show Abstract

We present a density-matrix embedding theory (DMET) study of the one-dimensional Hubbard–Holstein model, which is paradigmatic for the interplay of electron–electron and electron–phonon interactions. Analyzing the single-particle excitation gap, we find a direct Peierls insulator to Mott insulator phase transition in the adiabatic regime of slow phonons in contrast to a rather large intervening metallic phase in the anti-adiabatic regime of fast phonons. We benchmark the DMET results for both on-site energies and excitation gaps against density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) results and find good agreement of the resulting phase boundaries. We also compare the full quantum treatment of phonons against the standard Born–Oppenheimer (BO) approximation. The BO approximation gives qualitatively similar results to DMET in the adiabatic regime but fails entirely in the anti-adiabatic regime, where BO predicts a sharp direct transition from Mott to Peierls insulator, whereas DMET correctly shows a large intervening metallic phase. This highlights the importance of quantum fluctuations in the phononic degrees of freedom for metallicity in the one-dimensional Hubbard–Holstein model.

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.8b01116

Interaction quench and thermalization in a one-dimensional topological Kondo insulator

I. Hagymasi, C. Hubig, U. Schollwöck

Physical Review B 99 (7), 75145 (2019).

Show Abstract

We study the nonequilibrium dynamics of a one-dimensional topological Kondo insulator, modelled by a p-wave Anderson lattice model, following a quantum quench of the on-site interaction strength. Our goal is to examine how the quench influences the topological properties of the system, and therefore our main focus is the time evolution of the string order parameter, entanglement spectrum, and the topologically protected edge states. We point out that postquench local observables can be well captured by a thermal ensemble up to a certain interaction strength. Our results demonstrate that the topological properties after the interaction quench are preserved. Though the absolute value of the string order parameter decays in time, the analysis of the entanglement spectrum, Loschmidt echo and the edge states indicates the robustness of the topological properties in the time-evolved state. These predictions could be directly tested in state-of-the-art cold-atom experiments.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.99.075145

Accept privacy?

Scroll to top