Publications

String theories naturally predict a negative, while observations on the exponential expansion of the present Universe require a positive value for the cosmological constant. Solution to resolve this discrepancy is known in the framework of string theory however, it might describe unstable worlds. Other options include modified ΛCDM models with sign switching cosmological constant (known as Λ s cosmology), but the sign flip is introduced into the models ad hoc . Additional studies consider Asymptotically Safe (AS) quantum gravity by using Renormalization Group (RG), however their disadvantage is the omission of temperature which is otherwise crucial in the early Universe. Here we present a proposal for resolving this conflict by using a modified thermal RG method where the temperature parameter T is given by the inverse radius of the compactified time-like dimension, similarly to spacetime foliation. In our scenario not the dimensionful T , but the dimensionless temperature τ=T/k is kept constant when the RG scale k is sent to zero and string theory is assumed to take place at very high while AS quantum gravity at intermediate and low temperatures. We show that the modified thermal RG study of AS quantum gravity models at very high temperatures results in a negative cosmological constant while turns it into a positive parameter for low temperatures.

Building on recent progress in the study of Anderson and many-body localization via the renormalization group (RG), we examine the scaling theory of localization in the quantum random energy model (QREM). The QREM is known to undergo a localization-delocalization transition at finite energy density, while remaining fully ergodic at the center of the spectrum. At zero energy density, we show that RG trajectories consistently flow toward the ergodic phase, and are characterized by an unconventional scaling of the fractal dimension near the ergodic fixed point. When the disorder amplitude is rescaled, as suggested by the forward-scattering approximation approach, a localization transition emerges also at the center of the spectrum, with properties analogous to the Anderson transition on expander graphs. At finite energy density, a localization transition takes place without disorder rescaling, and yet it exhibits a scaling behavior analogous to the one observed on expander graphs. The universality class of the model remains unchanged under the rescaling of the disorder, reflecting the independence of the RG from microscopic details. Our findings demonstrate the robustness of the scaling behavior of random graphs and offer insights into the many-body localization transition.

Understanding different aspects of time is at the core of many areas in theoretical physics. Minimal models of continuous stochastic and quantum clocks have been proposed to explore fundamental limitations on the performance of timekeeping devices. Owing to the level of complexity in the clock structure and its energy consumption, such devices show trade-offs whose characterization remains an open challenge. Indeed, even conceptual designs for thermodynamically efficient quantum clocks are not yet well understood. In condensed matter theory, time crystals were found as an exciting new phase of matter featuring oscillations in (pseudo) equilibrium with first experimental observations appearing recently. This naturally prompts the question: Can time crystals be used as quantum clocks, and what is their performance from a thermodynamic perspective? We answer this question and find that quantum time crystals are indeed genuine quantum clocks with a performance enhanced by the spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry.

We study the stochastic dynamics of a symmetric self-chemotactic particle and determine the long-time behavior of its mean squared displacement (MSD). The attractive or repulsive interaction of the particle with the chemical field that it generates induces a nonlinear, non-Markovian effective dynamics, which results in anomalous diffusion for spatial dimensions d≤2. In one spatial dimension, we map the case of repulsive chemotaxis onto a run-and-tumble-like dynamics, leading to an MSD which, as a function of the elapsed time t, grows superdiffusively with exponent 4/3. In the presence of attractive chemotaxis, instead, the particle exhibits a slowdown, with the MSD growing logarithmically with time. In d=2, we find logarithmic aging of the diffusion coefficient, while in d=3 the motion reverts to standard diffusive behavior with a renormalized diffusion coefficient.

We present a protocol for integer factorization for all integers N below a certain cut-off (Formula presented.), grounded in the theory of quantum measurement. In this framework, the factorization of an integer (Formula presented.) is achieved in a number of steps equal to the total number I of primes present in its factorization; explicitly, the procedure consists of a sequence of I quantum measurements. The method requires a single-purpose quantum device designed to perform measurements of an observable with a prescribed spectrum. Crucially, the construction of this device involves solving, once and for all, a set of approximately (Formula presented.) differential equations, independently of the specific integer to be factorized. We argue that the initialization task of this device can be efficiently implemented on a quantum computer in d steps, thereby decoupling the computational cost of device preparation from the factorization process itself.

The study of spins and particles on graphs has broad applications, from the dynamics of interacting systems on networks to combinatorial problems. Here, we study the large-nlimit of theO(n) model on graphs, which is considerably more challenging than on regular lattices, as the loss of translational invariance gives rise to an infinite set of saddle point constraints in the thermodynamic limit. We show that the free energy at low and high temperatureTis determined by the spectrum of two fundamental graph-theoretic objects: the Laplacian matrix at lowTand the Adjacency matrix at highT. Their interplay is studied across several classes of graphs. For regular lattices the two coincide. We obtain an exact solution on trees, where the Lagrange multipliers interestingly depend solely on the number of nearest neighbors. We further contrast these classical results with those for a quantum spin model on an exemplary tree. For decorated lattices, the singular part of the free energy is governed by the Laplacian spectrum, whereas this is true for the full free energy only in the zero-temperature limit. Finally, we discuss a bipartite fully connected graph to highlight the importance of a finite coordination number in these results.

We study the entanglement Hamiltonian of an interval for the free massless Dirac field in an inhomogeneous background on a finite segment and in the ground state. We consider a class of metrics that are Weyl equivalent to the flat metric through a Weyl factor that depends only on the spatial coordinate, with the same boundary condition imposed at both endpoints of the segment. The explicit form of the entanglement Hamiltonian is written as the sum of a local and a bilocal term. The weight function of the local term allows us to study a contour function for the entanglement entropies. For the model obtained from the continuum limit of the rainbow chain, the analytic expressions are compared with exact numerical results from the lattice, showing an excellent agreement.

We develop a unified theory of weakly probed differential observables for currents and noise in transport experiments. Our findings uncover a set of universal transport relations between thermoelectric and noise properties of a system probed through a tunnel contact, with the Wiedemann-Franz law being just one example of such universality between charge and heat currents. We apply this theory to various quantum systems, including multichannel Kondo, quantum Hall and Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev quantum dots, resonant impurity, and two-stage Kondo models and demonstrate that each of the microscopic theories is characterized by a set of universal relations connecting conductance and thermoelectrics with noise. Violations of these relations indicate additional energy scales emerging in a system.

We propose a novel, feedback-free method to cancel the effects of dephasing in the dynamics of open quantum systems. The protocol makes use of the coupling with an auxiliary system when they are both subjected to the same noisy dynamics in such a way that their interaction leads to cancellation of the noise on the system itself. This requires tuning the strength of the coupling between the main and auxiliary systems as well as the ability to prepare the auxiliary system in a Fock state, which solely depends on the coupling strength. We investigate the protocol’s efficiency to protect NOON states against dephasing in setups such as tweezer arrays of cold atoms. We show that the protocol’s efficiency is robust against fluctuations of the optimal parameters and, remarkably, that it is independent of the temporal features of the noise. Therefore, it could be applied to cancel both Markovian and non-Markovian dephasing noise, reaching regimes where error-correction protocols become inefficient.

Free fermionic Gaussian, also known as matchgate, random circuits exhibit atypical behavior compared to generic interacting systems. They produce anomalously slow entanglement growth, characterized by diffusive scaling S(t)∼√t, and evolve into volume-law entangled states at late times, S∼N, which are highly unstable under measurements. Here, we investigate how doping such circuits with non-Gaussian resources (gates) restores entanglement structures of typical dynamics. We demonstrate that ballistic entanglement growth S(t)∼t is recovered after injecting an extensive total amount of non-Gaussian gates, which also restores Kardar-Parisi-Zhang fluctuations. When the evolution is perturbed with measurements, we uncover a measurement-induced phase transition between an area-law and a power-law entangled phase, S∼N^α, with α controlled by the doping. A genuine volume-law entangled phase is recovered only when non-Gaussian gates are injected at an extensive rate. Our findings bridge the dynamics of free and interacting fermionic systems, identifying non-Gaussianity as a key resource driving the emergence of nonintegrable behavior.

We investigate the critical behavior of the one-dimensional Ising model with long-range interactions using the functional renormalization group in the local potential approximation (LPA), and compare our findings with Dyson’s hierarchical model (DHM). While the DHM lacks translational invariance, it admits a field-theoretical description closely resembling the LPA, up to minor but nontrivial differences. After reviewing the real-space renormalization group approach to the DHM, we demonstrate a remarkable agreement in the critical exponent ν between the two methods across the entire range of power-law decays 1/2 < σ < 1. We further benchmark our results against Monte Carlo simulations and analytical expansions near the upper boundary of the nontrivial regime, 1

Lagrangians can differ by a total derivative without altering the equations of motion, thus encoding the same physics. This is true both classically and quantum mechanically. We show, however, that in the context of open quantum systems, two Lagrangians that differ by a total derivative can lead to inequivalent reduced dynamics. While these Lagrangians are connected via unitary transformations at the level of the global system-plus-environment description, the equivalence breaks down after tracing out the environment. We argue that only those Lagrangians for which the canonical and mechanical momenta of the system coincide lead to operationally meaningful dynamics. Applying this insight to quantum electrodynamics (QED), we derive the master equation for bremsstrahlung due to an accelerated nonrelativistic electron upto second order in the interaction. The resulting reduced dynamics predicts decoherence in the position basis and closely matches the Caldeira-Leggett form, thus resolving previous discrepancies in the literature. Our findings have implications for both QED and gravitational decoherence, where similar ambiguities arise.

We study particle and energy transport in an open quantum system consisting of a three-harmonic oscillator chain coupled to thermal baths at different temperatures placed at the ends of the chain. We consider the exact dynamics of the open chain and its so-called local and global Markovian approximations. By comparing them, we show that, while all three yield a divergence-like continuity equation for the probability flow, the energy flow exhibits instead a distinct behavior. The exact dynamics and the local one preserve a standard divergence form for the energy transport, whereas the global open dynamics, due to the rotating wave approximation (RWA), introduces non-divergence sink/source terms. These terms also affect the continuity equation in the case of a master equation obtained through a time-coarse-graining method whereby RWA is avoided through a time-zoom parameter Δt. In such a scenario, sink and source contributions are always present for each Δt>0. While in the limit Δt→+∞ one recovers the global dissipative dynamics, sink and source terms instead vanish when Δt→0, restoring the divergence structure of the exact dynamics. Our results underscore how the choice of the dissipative Markovian approximation to an open system dynamics critically influences the energy transport descriptions, with implications for discriminating among them and thus, ultimately, for the correct modeling of the time-evolution of open quantum many-body systems.

Understanding the interplay between nonstabilizerness and entanglement is crucial for uncovering the fundamental origins of quantum complexity. Recent studies have proposed entanglement spectral quantities, such as antiflatness of the entanglement spectrum and entanglement capacity, as effective complexity measures, establishing direct connections to stabilizer Rényi entropies. In this work, we systematically investigate quantum complexity across a diverse range of spin models, analyzing how entanglement structure and nonstabilizerness serve as distinctive signatures of quantum phases. By studying entanglement spectra and stabilizer entropy measures, we demonstrate that these quantities consistently differentiate between distinct phases of matter. Specifically, we provide a detailed analysis of spin chains including the XXZ model, the transverse-field XY model, its extension with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, as well as the Cluster Ising and Cluster XY models. Our findings reveal that entanglement spectral properties and magic-based measures serve as intertwined, robust indicators of quantum phase transitions, highlighting their significance in characterizing quantum complexity in many-body systems.

We introduce an efficient method to quantify nonstabilizerness in fermionic Gaussian states, overcoming the long-standing challenge posed by their extensive entanglement. Using a perfect sampling scheme based on an underlying determinantal point process, we compute the Stabilizer Rényi Entropies (SREs) for systems with hundreds of qubits. Benchmarking on random Gaussian states with and without particle conservation, we reveal an extensive leading behavior equal to that of Haar random states, with logarithmic subleading corrections. We support these findings with analytical calculations for a set of related quantities, the participation entropies in the computational (or Fock) basis, for which we derive an exact formula. We also investigate the time evolution of non-stabilizerness in a random unitary circuit with Gaussian gates, observing that it converges in a time that scales logarithmically with the system size. Applying the sampling algorithm to a two-dimensional free-fermionic topological model, we uncover a sharp transition in non-stabilizerness at the phase boundaries, highlighting the power of our approach in exploring different phases of quantum many-body systems, even in higher dimensions.

We investigate the dynamics of nonstabilizerness-also known as "magic"-in monitored quantum circuits composed of random Clifford unitaries and local measurements. For measurements in the computational basis, we derive an analytical model for dynamics of the stabilizer nullity, showing that it decays in quantized steps and requires exponentially many measurements to vanish, which reveals the strong protection through Clifford scrambling. On the other hand, for measurements performed in rotated non-Clifford bases, measurements can both create and destroy nonstabilizerness. Here, the dynamics leads to a steady state with nontrivial nonstabilizerness, independent of the initial state. We find that Haar-random states equilibrate in constant time, whereas stabilizer states exhibit linear-in-size relaxation time. While the stabilizer nullity is insensitive to the rotation angle, stabilizer Rényi entropies expose a richer structure in their dynamics. Our results uncover sharp distinctions between coarse and fine-grained nonstabilizerness diagnostics and demonstrate how measurements can both suppress and sustain quantum computational resources.

Stability and efficiency are mutually exclusive in a thermodynamic process, e.g., in a thermal machine. Any effort to reduce the fluctuations of a certain output quantity is necessarily accompanied by an increase of entropy production, therefore lowering its efficiency. This interplay is beautifully captured by the so-called thermodynamic uncertainty relations (TURs), which set a lower bound on the relative uncertainty of a current for a given rate of entropy production. Their status in hybrid normal-superconducting (N-S) devices has remained unsettled. We show that, in the subgap regime, departures from the normal quantum TUR are governed by macroscopic superconducting coherence quantified by the pair amplitude, and that introducing a dephasing probe suppresses this coherence and restores the bound. We further derive a hybrid quantum TUR that is general for two-terminal N-S junctions in the Andreev regime: the inequality is never violated, is saturated only at vanishing current, and is related to the normal quantum bound under the replacement e→2e. For N-S quantum dot and Cooper-pair-splitter systems, we compute current and noise and show that deviations from the normal bound track the pair amplitude on the central region. The results establish a direct link between superconducting macroscopic coherence and nonequilibrium fluctuations and supply a general bound for the Andreev regime.