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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Helical Edge States and Quantum Phase Transitions in Tetralayer Graphene

Helical conductors with spin-momentum locking are promising platforms for Majorana fermions. Here we report observation of two topologically distinct phases supporting helical edge states in charge neutral Bernal-stacked tetralayer graphene in Hall bar and Corbino geometries. As the magnetic field B ⊥ and out-of-plane displacement field D are varied, we observe a phase diagram consisting of an insulating phase and two metallic phases, with 0, 1, and 2 helical edge states, respectively. These phases are accounted for by a theoretical model that relates their conductance to spin-polarization plateaus. Transitions between them arise from a competition among interlayer hopping, electrostatic and exchange interaction energies. Finally, our work highlights the complex competing symmetries and the rich quantum phases in few-layer graphene.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Self-diffusion of liquid deuterium hydride and liquid tritium

Here, we present a quasi-elastic neutron scattering study of liquid deuterium hydride carried out using the Disk Chopper Spectrometer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Under saturated vapor pressure, the self-diffusion constant of deuterium hydride obeys an Arrhenius law D = D 0 exp(-E A /k B T), where the prefactor D 0 is given by D 0 = 9.5 ± 1.2 Å 2 /ps and the activation energy is given by E A = 58 ± 2 K. We apply the quantum law of corresponding states to the known diffusion constants of the hydrogen isotopologues. From this application, we estimate that D 0 ≈ 9.1 Å 2 /ps and E A ≈ 75 K in liquid tritium. Young’s theory of quantum-mechanical effects in van der Waals fluids is shown to apply to the diffusion constants of the liquid hydrogens. Our results underscore the importance of nuclear quantum effects in shaping the properties and behavior of the hydrogen isotopologues.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Origin of the quasi-quantized Hall effect in ZrTe 5

The quantum Hall effect (QHE) is traditionally considered to be a purely two-dimensional (2D) phenomenon. Recently, however, a three-dimensional (3D) version of the QHE was reported in the Dirac semimetal ZrTe 5 . It was proposed to arise from a magnetic-field-driven Fermi surface instability, transforming the original 3D electron system into a stack of 2D sheets. Here, we report thermodynamic, spectroscopic, thermoelectric and charge transport measurements on such ZrTe 5 samples. The measured properties: magnetization, ultrasound propagation, scanning tunneling spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, show no signatures of a Fermi surface instability, consistent with in-field single crystal X-ray diffraction. Instead, a direct comparison of the experimental data with linear response calculations based on an effective 3D Dirac Hamiltonian suggests that the quasi-quantization of the observed Hall response emerges from the interplay of the intrinsic properties of the ZrTe 5 electronic structure and its Dirac-type semi-metallic character.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2026

Superconducting qubits for particle detection and fundamental tests of quantum mechanics

Many fundamental questions at the interface of quantum mechanics, gravity, and measurement remain relatively unexplored in the laboratory. These include whether spatial superpositions experience gravitational redshift, how the quantum Zeno effect propagates through entangled systems, and whether quantum information is globally conserved or fundamentally lost during measurement-induced wavefunction collapse. In this colloquium, I will discuss how superconducting qubits—developed primarily for quantum computing—can be repurposed as ultra sensitive detectors to probe these questions and to search for low-energy particle interactions. I will describe my work at Fermilab on stabilizing these devices to the level required for next-generation qubit-based sensors. This includes mitigating decoherence from infrared radiation and cosmic rays, using machine-learning techniques to accelerate superconducting qubit design, and leveraging the quantum Zeno effect to improve coherence times and suppress qubit frequency fluctuations. Together, these advances point toward a new class of quantum sensors capable of testing fundamental physics.

Seidel, Olivia [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2020

SQUARE: Strategic Quantum Ancilla Reuse for Modular Quantum Programs via Cost-Effective Uncomputation

Compiling high-level quantum programs to machines that are size constrained (i.e. limited number of quantum bits) and time constrained (i.e. limited number of quantum operations) is challenging. In this paper, we present SQUARE (Strategic QUantum Ancilla REuse), a compilation infrastructure that tackles allocation and reclamation of scratch qubits (called ancilla) in modular quantum programs. At its core, SQUARE strategically performs uncomputation to create opportunities for qubit reuse. Current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers and forward-looking Fault-Tolerant (FT) quantum computers have fundamentally different constraints such as data locality, instruction parallelism, and communication overhead. Our heuristic-based ancilla-reuse algorithm balances these considerations and fits computations into resource-constrained NISQ or FT quantum machines, throttling parallelism when necessary. To precisely capture the workload of a program, we propose an improved metric, the "active quantum volume," and use this metric to evaluate the effectiveness of our algorithm. Furthermore, our results show that SQUARE improves the average success rate of NISQ applications by 1.47X. Surprisingly, the additional gates for uncomputation create ancilla with better locality, and result in substantially fewer swap gates and less gate noise overall. SQUARE also achieves an average reduction of 1.5X (and up to 9.6X) in active quantum volume for FT machines.

compiler optimization↗
DOE OSTI2021

Quantum phase transitions in long-range interacting hyperuniform spin chains in a transverse field

Hyperuniform states of matter are characterized by anomalous suppression of long-wavelength density fluctuations. While most of the interesting cases of disordered hyperuniformity are provided by complex many-body systems such as liquids or amorphous solids, classical spin chains with certain long-range interactions have been shown to demonstrate the same phenomenon. Such spin-chain systems are ideal models for exploring the effects of quantum mechanics on hyperuniformity. It is well-known that the transverse field Ising model shows a quantum phase transition (QPT) at zero temperature. Under the quantum effects of a transverse magnetic field, classical hyperuniform spin chains are expected to lose their hyperuniformity. High-precision simulations of these cases are complicated because of the presence of highly nontrivial long-range interactions. We perform an extensive analysis of these systems using density matrix renormalization group simulations to study the possibilities of phase transitions and the mechanism by which they lose hyperuniformity. Even for a spin chain of length 30, we see discontinuous changes in properties like the “τ order metric” of the ground state, the measure of hyperuniformity, and the second cumulant of the total magnetization along the x-direction, all suggestive of first-order QPTs. An interesting feature of the phase transitions in these disordered hyperuniform spin chains is that, depending on the parameter values, the presence of a transverse magnetic field may lead remarkably to an increase in the order of the ground state as measured by the “τ order metric,” even if hyperuniformity is lost. Therefore, it would be possible to design materials to target specific novel quantum behaviors in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. Our numerical investigations suggest that these spin chains can show no more than two QPTs. We further analyze the long-range interacting spin chains via the Jordan-Wigner mapping onto a system of spinless fermions, showing that under the pairwise-interaction approximation and a mean-field treatment, there can be at most two quantum phase transitions. Here, based on these numerical and theoretical explorations, we conjecture that for spin chains with long-range pair interactions that have convergent cosine transforms, there can be a maximum of two quantum phase transitions at zero temperature.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Local probe of bulk and edge states in a fractional Chern insulator

The fractional quantum Hall effect is a key example of topological quantum many-body phenomena, arising from the interplay between strong electron correlation, topological order and time-reversal symmetry breaking. Recently, a lattice analogue of the fractional quantum Hall effect at zero magnetic field has been observed, confirming the existence of a zero-field fractional Chern insulator (FCI). Despite this, the bulk–edge correspondence—a hallmark of a FCI featuring an insulating bulk with conductive edges—has not been directly observed. In fact, this correspondence has not been visualized in any system for fractional states owing to experimental challenges. Here we report the imaging of FCI edge states in twisted MoTe 2 (t-MoTe 2 ) using microwave impedance microscopy. By tuning the carrier density, we observe the system evolving between metallic and FCI states, the latter of which exhibits insulating bulk and conductive edges, as expected from the bulk–boundary correspondence. Further analysis suggests the composite nature of the FCI edge states. We also observe the evolution of edge states across the topological phase transition as a function of interlayer electric field and reveal exciting prospects of neighbouring domains with different fractional orders. Furthermore, these findings pave the way for research into topologically protected one-dimensional interfaces between various anyonic states at zero magnetic field, such as gapped one-dimensional symmetry-protected phases with non-zero topological entanglement entropy, Halperin–Laughlin interfaces and the creation of non-abelian anyons.

Imaging techniques↗
DOE OSTI2022

One-Loop effective action approach to quantum MHV theory

It is well known that the MHV action, i.e. the action containing all the maximally helicity violating vertices, is alone not sufficient for loop computations. In order to develop loop contributions systematically and to ensure that there are no missing terms, we propose to formulate the quantum MHV action via one-loop effective action approach. The quadratic field fluctuations in the light cone Yang-Mills theory are explicitly integrated, followed by the classical canonical field transformation. We test the approach by calculating one loop (++++) and (+++) amplitudes, i.e. amplitudes that cannot be calculated from ordinary MHV action. Such an approach can be further used to unambiguously define loop corrections in other theories related to Yang-Mills theory by field transformations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Experimental Evidence of Free Carrier Generation in 2D Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskites

Despite the significant potential of 2D hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (2DHOIPs) for high-efficiency optoelectronics application-comparable to their 3D counterparts, the fundamental carrier photogeneration remains unclear. In contrast to conventional ultrafast optical property characterization, we use ultrafast photocurrent spectroscopy to investigate the early-time electrical properties of type-I and type-II 2DHOIPs by manipulating the quantum confinement and the dielectric quantum matching effect. We discovered that the high frequency dielectric quantum matching effect plays a major role in 2DHOIPs, demonstrated by their high carrier mobility (µ), near-unity photogeneration quantum yield (Φ), below-room temperature exciton binding energy (E b ), and approaching 3D space factor (DSF). Our work shows that the optoelectronic performances of 2DHOIPs are comparable to their counterparts of 3DHOIPs.

2D perovskite↗
DOE OSTI2026

Higher-order Zeno sequences

The quantum Zeno effect typically refers to freezing the dynamics of a quantum system through frequent observations. In general, quantum Zeno dynamics is obtained with an error of order 𝒪⁢(1/𝑁), where 𝑁 is the number of projective measurements performed within a fixed evolution time. In this work, we develop higher-order Zeno sequences that achieve faster convergence to Zeno dynamics, yielding an improved error scaling of 𝒪⁢(1/𝑁 2⁢𝑘 ), where 𝑘 describes the order of the Zeno sequence. This is achieved by relating higher-order Zeno sequences to higher-order Trotter formulas that achieve similar convergence behavior. We leverage this relation to develop higher-order Zeno sequences for different manifestations of the quantum Zeno effect, including frequent projective measurements and unitary kicks. We go on to discuss achieving quantum Zeno dynamics through periodic control fields of high frequency. We explicitly develop control fields that yield a second-order type improvement in the Zeno error scaling and present shorter Zeno sequences. Finally, we discuss the connection to randomized and Uhrig dynamical decoupling to develop more efficient implementations in the weak-coupling regime.

Quantum Zeno dynamics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Density dependence of the excitation gaps in an undoped Si/SiGe double-quantum-well heterostructure

In this work, we report low-temperature magneto-transport measurements of an undoped Si/SiGe asymmetric double quantum well heterostructure. The density in both layers is tuned independently utilizing top and bottom gates, allowing the investigation of quantum wells at both imbalanced and matched densities. Integer quantum Hall states at total filling factor v T =1 and v T =2 are observed in both density regimes, and the evolution of their excitation gaps is reported as a function of the density. The v T =1 gap evolution departs from the behavior generally observed for valley splitting in the single layer regime. Furthermore, by comparing the v T =2 gap to the single particle tunneling energy, Δ SAS , obtained from Schrödinger–Poisson (SP) simulations, evidence for the onset of spontaneous interlayer coherence is observed for a relative filling fraction imbalance smaller than ~50%.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Scar states in a system of interacting chiral fermions

Here, we study the nature of many-body eigenstates of a system of interacting chiral spinless fermions on a ring. We find a coexistence of fermionic and bosonic types of eigenstates in parts of the many-body spectrum. Some bosonic eigenstates, native to the strong interaction limit, persist at intermediate and weak couplings, enabling persistent density oscillations in the system, despite it being far from integrability.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Possible continuous transition from fractional quantum Hall to stripe phase at ν e = 7 / 3

We study the phase diagram of the ν e = 7/3 state in the N=1 Landau level in the presence of band mass anisotropy. Using the density matrix renormalization group on an infinite cylinder geometry, we find a continuous transition from the topologically ordered Laughlin fractional quantum Hall state to a stripe phase with a period of approximately five and a half magnetic lengths. The transition is driven by the condensation of the magnetoroton mode which becomes gapless at the critical point. We interpret the transition within the composite-boson theory as the onset of stripe order in a superfluid background, resulting from the roton mode going soft.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Suppression of one-dimensional weak localization by band asymmetry

Herein we investigate disorder-induced localization in metals that break time-reversal and inversion symmetries through their energy dispersion, ε k ≠ε– k , but lack Berry phases. In the perturbative regime of disorder, we show that weak localization is suppressed due to a mismatch of the Fermi velocities of left and right movers. To substantiate this analytical result, we perform quench numerics on chains shorter than the Anderson localization length ξ—the latter computed and verified to be finite using the recursive Green's function method—and find a sharp rise in the saturation value of the participation ratio due to band asymmetry, indicating a tendency to delocalize. Interestingly, for weak disorder strength η, we see a better fit to the scaling behavior ξ∝1/η 2 for asymmetric bands than conventional symmetric ones.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Topological edge conduction induced by strong anisotropic exchange interactions

Here, we predict that an interplay between isotropic and anisotropic exchange interactions in a honeycomb lattice structure can lead to topological edge conduction when the anisotropic interaction is at least twice the strength of the isotropic interaction. For materials like Na 2 ⁢IrO 3 , such a strong anisotropic exchange interaction simultaneously induces a zigzag type of antiferromagnetic order that breaks the time-reversal symmetry of the topological edge conductor. We show that the electronic transport in such topological conductors will exhibit a quantized Hall conductance without any external magnetic field when the Fermi energy lies within a particular energy range.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Substrate-Dependent Band Structures in Trilayer Graphene / h - BN Heterostructures

The tight-binding model has been spectacularly successful in elucidating the electronic and optical properties of a vast number of materials. Within the tight-binding model, the hopping parameters that determine much of the band structure are often taken as constants. Here, using ABA-stacked trilayer graphene as the model system, we show that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the hopping parameters and therefore band structures are not constants, but are systematically variable depending on their relative alignment angle between h-BN. Moreover, the addition or removal of the h-BN substrate results in an inversion of the K and K' valley in trilayer graphene’s lowest Landau level. Our work illustrates the oft-ignored and rather surprising impact of the substrates on band structures of 2D materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Remote Mesoscopic Signatures of Induced Magnetic Texture in Graphene

Mesoscopic conductance fluctuations are a ubiquitous signature of phase-coherent transport in small conductors, exhibiting universal character independent of system details. Here, however, we demonstrate a pronounced breakdown of this universality, due to the interplay of local and remote phenomena in transport. Our experiments are performed in a graphene-based interaction-detection geometry, in which an artificial magnetic texture is induced in the graphene layer by covering a portion of it with a micromagnet. When probing conduction at some distance from this region, the strong influence of remote factors is manifested through the appearance of giant conductance fluctuations, with amplitude much larger than e 2 / h . This violation of one of the fundamental tenets of mesoscopic physics dramatically demonstrates how local considerations can be overwhelmed by remote signatures in phase-coherent conductors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Extracting the Quantum Hall Conductance from a Single Bulk Wave Function

In this work, we propose a new formula that extracts the quantum Hall conductance from a single (2+1)⁢ D gapped wave function. The formula applies to general many-body systems that conserve particle number, and is based on the concept of modular flow, i.e., unitary dynamics generated from the entanglement structure of the wave function. The formula is shown to satisfy all formal properties of the Hall conductance: it is odd under time reversal and reflection, even under charge conjugation, universal and topologically rigid in the thermodynamic limit. Further evidence for relating the formula to the Hall conductance is obtained from conformal field theory arguments. Finally, we numerically check the formula by applying it to a noninteracting Chern band where excellent agreement is obtained.

2-dimensional systems↗