Publications

Measuring fluctuations in matter’s low-energy excitations is the key to unveiling the nature of the non-equilibrium response of materials. A promising outlook in this respect is offered by spectroscopic methods that address matter fluctuations by exploiting the statistical nature of light-matter interactions with weak few-photon probes. Here we report the first implementation of ultrafast phase randomized tomography, combining pump-probe experiments with quantum optical state tomography, to measure the ultrafast non-equilibrium dynamics in complex materials. Our approach utilizes a time-resolved multimode heterodyne detection scheme with phase-randomized coherent ultrashort laser pulses, overcoming the limitations of phase-stable configurations and enabling a robust reconstruction of the statistical distribution of phase-averaged optical observables. This methodology is validated by measuring the coherent phonon response in α-quartz. By tracking the dynamics of the shot-noise limited photon number distribution of few-photon probes with ultrafast resolution, our results set an upper limit to the non-classical features of phononic state in α-quartz and provide a pathway to access non-equilibrium quantum fluctuations in more complex quantum materials.

This summary of the second Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry (TVLBAI) Workshop provides a comprehensive overview of our meeting held in London in April 2024 (Second Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop, Imperial College, April 2024), building on the initial discussions during the inaugural workshop held at CERN in March 2023 (First Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop, CERN, March 2023). Like the summary of the first workshop (Abend et al. in AVS Quantum Sci. 6:024701, 2024), this document records a critical milestone for the international atom interferometry community. It documents our concerted efforts to evaluate progress, address emerging challenges, and refine strategic directions for future large-scale atom interferometry projects. Our commitment to collaboration is manifested by the integration of diverse expertise and the coordination of international resources, all aimed at advancing the frontiers of atom interferometry physics and technology, as set out in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by over 50 institutions (Memorandum of Understanding for the Terrestrial Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometer Study).

We propose an enhanced time-dependent variational principle (TDVP) algorithm for matrix product states that integrates Clifford disentangling techniques to efficiently manage entanglement growth. By leveraging the Clifford group, which maps Pauli strings to other Pauli strings while maintaining low computational complexity, we introduce a Clifford dressed single-site 1-TDVP scheme. During the TDVP integration, we apply a global Clifford transformation as needed to reduce entanglement by iteratively sweeping over two-qubit Clifford unitaries that connect neighboring sites in a checkerboard pattern. We validate the new algorithm numerically using various quantum many-body models, including both integrable and nonintegrable systems. Our results demonstrate that the Clifford dressed TDVP significantly improves entanglement management and computational efficiency, achieving higher accuracy, extended simulation times, and enhanced precision in computed observables compared to standard TDVP approaches. Additionally, we propose incorporating Clifford gates directly within the two-site 2-TDVP scheme.

We present a variational quantum adiabatic theorem, which states that, under certain assumptions, the adiabatic dynamics projected onto a variational manifold follow the instantaneous variational ground state. We focus on low-entanglement variational manifolds and target Hamiltonians with classical ground states. Despite highly entangled intermediate states along the exact adiabatic path, the variational evolution converges to the target ground state. We demonstrate this approach with several examples that align with our theoretical analysis.

Monitored quantum system have sparked great interest in recent years due to the possibility of observing measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPTs) in the full-counting statistics of quantum trajectories. Here, we investigate the dynamics of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, composed of N all-to-all interacting spins 1/2, under a weak external monitoring. In the thermodynamic limit, we derive a set of semiclassical stochastic equations describing the evolution of the expectation values of global spin observables. Our results show that the limit N→∞ does not commute with the long-time limit: while for any finite N the average over trajectories is expected to converge towards a trivial steady state, in the thermodynamic limit a MIPT appears. The transition is not affected by postselection issues, as it is already visible at the level of ensemble averages. We derive a quantitative theoretical picture explaining the nature of the transition within our semiclassical approach.

We study the probability distribution of the first return time to the initial state of a quantum many-body system subject to global projective measurements at stroboscopic times. We show that this distribution can be mapped to a continuation of the canonical partition function of a classical spin chain with noninteracting domains at equilibrium, which is entirely characterized by the Loschmidt amplitude of the quantum many-body system. This allows us to conclude that this probability may decay either algebraically or exponentially at long times, depending on whether the spin chain displays a ferromagnetic or a paramagnetic phase. We illustrate this idea on the example of the return time of N adjacent fermions in a tight-binding model, revealing a rich phase behavior, which can be tuned by scaling the probing time as a function of N. The analysis presented here provides an overarching understanding of many-body quantum first detection problems in terms of equilibrium thermodynamic phases. Our theoretical predictions are in excellent agreement with exact numerical computations.

A key challenge in observing measurement-induced phase transitions is the mitigation of the post-selection barrier, which causes the reproducibility of specific sequences of measurement readouts - the trajectory - to be exponentially small in system size. Recent studies suggest that some classes of monitored infinite-range systems alleviate this problem by exhibiting a fast saturation of entanglement, resulting in only a polynomial post-selection overhead. This paper answers whether this feature is inherent in infinite-range systems, due to their underlying semiclassical dynamics. We consider three experimentally relevant monitored models: a Tavis-Cummings model, a Superradiance model, and a Bose-Hubbard dimer, each exhibiting nontrivial monitored dynamics. We unveil the occurrence of entanglement phase transitions in these models, showing how the saturation time is strongly affected by bistability regions, which also prevent the mitigation of the post-selection barrier. Finally, we propose experimental realizations of these models, providing a discussion of post selection from an experimental perspective.

Recent breakthrough experiments have demonstrated how it is now possible to explore the dynamics of quantum Hall states interacting with quantum electromagnetic cavity fields. While the impact of strongly coupled nonlocal cavity modes on integer quantum Hall physics has been recently addressed, the effects on fractional quantum Hall (FQH) liquids - and, more generally, fractionalized states of matter - remain largely unexplored. In this work, we develop a theoretical framework for the understanding of FQH states coupled to quantum light. In particular, combining analytical arguments with tensor network simulations, we study the dynamics of a ν=1/3 Laughlin state in a single-mode cavity with finite electric field gradients. We find that the topological signatures of the FQH state remain robust against the nonlocal cavity vacuum fluctuations, as indicated by the endurance of the quantized Hall resistivity. The entanglement spectra, however, carry direct fingerprints of light-matter entanglement and topology, revealing peculiar polaritonic replicas of the U(1) counting. As a further response to cavity fluctuations, we also find a squeezed FQH geometry, encoded in long-wavelength correlations. By exploring the low-energy excited spectrum inside the FQH phase, we identify a new neutral quasiparticle, the graviton polariton, arising from the hybridization between quadrupolar FQH collective excitations (known as gravitons) and light. Pushing the light-matter interaction to ultrastrong-coupling regimes, we find other two important effects, a cavity vacuum-induced Stark shift for charged quasiparticles and a potential instability toward a density modulated stripe phase, competing against the phase separation driven by the Stark shift. Finally, we discuss the experimental implications of our findings and possible extension of our results to more complex scenarios.

We investigate Lorentz invariance breaking in quantum wires due to Rashba spin-orbit interaction and transverse phonons. Using bosonization, we derive an effective action coupling electronic and mechanical degrees of freedom. Strikingly, at a quantum phase transition between straight and bent wire states, we find a gapped phonon mode and a gapless mode with quadratic dispersion, signaling the breaking of Lorentz invariance. We explore stability conditions for general potentials and propose nanomechanical back action as a sensitive tool for detecting this transition, with implications for sliding Luttinger liquids and dimensional crossover studies.

We study the nonequilibrium dynamics of bosons in a two-dimensional optical lattice after a sudden quench from the superfluid phase to the free-boson regime. The initial superfluid state is described approximately using both the Bogoliubov theory and the Gaussian variational principle. The subsequent time evolution remains Gaussian, and we compare the results from each approximation of the initial state by examining different aspects of the dynamics. First, we analyze the entanglement entropy and observe that, in both cases, it increases linearly with time before reaching a saturation point. This behavior is attributed to the propagation of entangled pairs of quantum depletions in the superfluid state. Next, we explore the fate of particle-number symmetry, which is spontaneously broken in the superfluid phase. To do so, we use the entanglement asymmetry, a recently introduced observable that enables us to track symmetry breaking within a subsystem. We observe that its evolution varies qualitatively depending on the theory used to describe the initial state. However, in both cases, the symmetry remains broken and is never restored in the stationary state. Finally, we assess the time it takes to reach the stationary state by evaluating the quantum fidelity between the stationary reduced density matrix and the time-evolved one. Interestingly, within the Gaussian variational principle, we find that an initial state further from the stationary state can relax more quickly than one closer to it, indicating the presence of the recently discovered quantum Mpemba effect. We derive the microscopic conditions necessary for this effect to occur and demonstrate that these conditions are never met in the Bogoliubov theory.

The entanglement Hamiltonian (EH) provides the most comprehensive characterization of bipartite entanglement in many-body quantum systems. Ground states of local Hamiltonians inherit this locality, resulting in EHs that are dominated by local, few-body terms. Unfortunately, in nonequilibrium situations, analytic results are rare and largely confined to continuous field theories, which fail to accurately describe microscopic models. To address this gap, we present an analytic result for the EH following a quantum quench in noninteracting fermionic models, valid in the ballistic scaling regime. The derivation adapts the celebrated quasiparticle picture to operators, providing detailed insights into its physical properties. The resulting analytic formula serves as a foundation for engineering EHs in quantum optics experiments.

The ghost-Gutzwiller variational wave function within the Gutzwiller approximation is shown to stabilize a genuine paramagnetic Mott insulator in the half-filled single-band Hubbard model. This phase hosts quasiparticles that are crucial to the paramagnetic response without showing up in the single-particle spectrum, and, as such, they can be legitimately regarded as an example of Anderson's spinons. We demonstrate that these spinons at the interface with a metal reacquire charge by proximity effect and thus reemerge in the spectrum as a heavy-fermion band.

We employ the quasiparticle picture of entanglement evolution to obtain an effective description for the out-of-equilibrium entanglement Hamiltonian at the hydrodynamical scale following quantum quenches in free fermionic systems in two or more spatial dimensions. Specifically, we begin by applying dimensional reduction techniques in cases where the geometry permits, building directly on established results from one-dimensional systems. Subsequently, we generalize the analysis to encompass a wider range of geometries. We obtain analytical expressions for the entanglement Hamiltonian valid at the ballistic scale, which reproduce the known quasiparticle picture predictions for the Renyi entropies and full counting statistics. We also numerically validate the results with excellent precision by considering quantum quenches from several initial configurations.

The behavior of the helicity modulus has been frequently employed to investigate the onset of the topological order characterizing the low-temperature phase of the two-dimensional XY model. We here present how the analysis based on the use of this key quantity can be applied to the study of the properties of coupled layers. To this aim, we first discuss how to extend the popular worm algorithm to a layered sample, and in particular to the evaluation of the longitudinal helicity, that we introduce taking care of the fact that the virtual twist representing the elastic deformation one applies to properly define the helicity modulus can act on a single layer or on all of them. We then apply the method to investigate the bilayer XY model, showing how the helicity modulus can be used to determine the phase diagram of the model as a function of temperature and interlayer coupling strength.

Odd-diffusive systems, characterised by broken time-reversal and/or parity, have recently been shown to display counterintuitive features such as interaction-enhanced dynamics in the dilute limit. Here we extend the investigation to the high-density limit of an odd tracer embedded in a soft medium described by the Gaussian core model (GCM) using a field-theoretic approach based on the Dean-Kawasaki equation. Our analysis reveals that interactions can enhance the dynamics of an odd tracer even in dense systems. We demonstrate that oddness results in a complete reversal of the well-known self-diffusion ( D s ) anomaly of the GCM. Ordinarily, D s exhibits a non-monotonic trend with increasing density, approaching but remaining below the interaction-free diffusion, D0, ( D s < D 0 ) so that D s ↑ D 0 at high densities. In contrast, for an odd tracer, self-diffusion is enhanced ( D s > D 0 ) and the GCM anomaly is inverted, displaying D s ↓ D 0 at high densities. The transition between the standard and reversed GCM anomaly is governed by the tracer’s oddness, with a critical oddness value at which the tracer diffuses as a free particle ( D s ≈ D 0 ) across all densities. We validate our theoretical predictions with Brownian dynamics simulations, finding strong agreement between the them.

Due to their broad applicability, gauge theories (GTs) play a crucial role in various areas of physics, from high-energy physics to condensed matter. Their formulations on lattices, lattice gauge theories (LGTs), can be studied, among many other methods, with tools coming from statistical mechanics lattice models, such as mean field methods, which are often used to provide approximate results. Applying these methods to LGTs requires particular attention due to the intrinsic local nature of gauge symmetry, how it is reflected in the variables used to formulate the theory, and the breaking of gauge invariance when approximations are introduced. This issue has been addressed over the decades in the literature, yielding different conclusions depending on the formulation of the theory under consideration. In this article, we focus on the mean field theoretical approach to the analysis of GTs and LGTs, connecting both older and more recent results that, to the best of our knowledge, have not been compared in a pedagogical manner. After a brief overview of mean field theory in statistical mechanics and many-body systems, we examine its application to pure LGTs with a generic compact gauge group. Finally, we review the existing literature on the subject, discussing the results obtained so far and their dependence on the formulation of the theory.

We introduce a general approximate method for calculating the one-body correlations and the momentum distributions of one-dimensional Bose gases at finite interaction strengths and temperatures trapped in smooth confining potentials. Our method combines asymptotic techniques for the long-distance behavior of the gas (similar to Luttinger liquid theory) with known short-distance expansions. We derive analytical results for the limiting cases of strong and weak interactions and provide a general procedure for calculating one-body correlations at any interaction strength. A step-by-step explanation of the numerical method used to compute Green's functions (needed as input to our theory) is included. We benchmark our method against exact numerical calculations and compare its predictions to recent experimental results.

We investigate the use of a boundary time crystals (BTCs) as quantum sensors of AC fields. Boundary time crystals are non-equilibrium phases of matter in contact to an environment, for which a macroscopic fraction of the many-body system breaks the time translation symmetry. We find an enhanced sensitivity of the BTC when its spins are resonant with the applied AC field, as quantified by the quantum Fisher information (QFI). The QFI dynamics in this regime is shown to be captured by a relatively simple Ansatz consisting of an initial power-law growth and late-time exponential decay. We study the scaling of the Ansatz parameters with resources (encoding time and number of spins) and identify a moderate quantum enhancement in the sensor performance through comparison with classical QFI bounds. Investigating the precise source of this performance, we find that despite of its long coherence time and multipartite correlations (advantageous properties for quantum metrology), the entropic cost of the BTC (which grows indefinitely in the thermodynamic limit) hinders an optimal decoding of the AC field information. This result has implications for future candidates of quantum sensors in open system and we hope it will encourage future study into the role of entropy in quantum metrology.

We show that in models with the Hatsugai-Kohmoto type of interaction that is local in momentum space thus infinite range in real space, Kubo formulas neither reproduce the correct thermodynamic susceptibilities, nor yield sensible transport coefficients. Using Kohn's trick to differentiate between metals and insulators by threading a flux in a torus geometry, we uncover the striking property that Hatsugai-Kohmoto models with an interaction-induced gap in the spectrum sustain a current that grows as the linear size at any nonzero flux and which can be either diamagnetic or paramagnetic.

We present a thorough investigation of nonstabilizerness - a fundamental quantum resource that quantifies state complexity within the framework of quantum computing - in a one-dimensional U(1) lattice gauge theory including matter fields. We show how nonstabilizerness is always extensive with volume, and has no direct relation to the presence of critical points. However, its derivatives typically display discontinuities across the latter: This indicates that nonstabilizerness is strongly sensitive to criticality, but in a manner that is very different from entanglement (which, typically, is maximal at the critical point). Our results indicate that error-corrected simulations of lattice gauge theories close to the continuum limit have similar computational costs to those at finite correlation length and provide rigorous lower bounds for quantum resources of such quantum computations.