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Twisted bilayer graphene. V. Exact analytic many-body excitations in Coulomb Hamiltonians: Charge gap, Goldstone modes, and absence of Cooper pairing

We find exact analytic expressions for the energies and wave functions of the charged and neutral excitations above the exact ground states (at rational filling per unit cell) of projected Coulomb Hamiltonians in twisted bilayer graphene. Our exact expressions are valid for any form of the Coulomb interaction and any form of A A and A B / B A tunneling. The single charge excitation energy is a convolution of the Coulomb potential with a quantum geometric tensor of the TBG bands. The neutral excitations are (high-symmetry group) magnons, and their dispersion is analytically calculated in terms of the form factors of the active bands in TBG. The two-charge excitation energy and wave functions are also obtained, and a sufficient condition on the graphene eigenstates for obtaining a Cooper pair from Coulomb interactions is obtained. For the actual TBG bands at the first magic angle, we can analytically show that the Cooper pair binding energy is zero in all such projected Coulomb models, implying that either phonons and/or nonzero kinetic energy are needed for superconductivity. Since Vafek and Kang [Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 257602 (2020)] showed that the kinetic energy bounds on the superexchange energy are less 10 -3 in Coulomb units, the phonon mechanism becomes then very likely. If nonetheless the superconductivity is due to kinetic terms which render the bands nonflat, one prediction of our theory is that the highest T c would not occur at the highest DOS.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Single-ion anisotropy is necessary and appropriate to study the magnetic behavior of ${\mathrm{Tb}}^{3+}$ moments with ${J}_{\text{eff}}=\frac{1}{2}$ on the honeycomb lattice in ${\mathrm{Tb}}_{2}{\mathrm{Ir}}_{3}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{9}$

By developing models of increasing complexity, we show that a model without single-ion anisotropy (SIA) cannot explain the magnetic properties of J eff = 1 / 2 Tb 3+ moments in the orthorhombically distorted, honeycomb material Tb 2 Ir 3 Ga 9 . In four different models for the magnetization of a single honeycomb layer, the only sources of anisotropy are symmetric exchange interactions J nαβ = J nβα along three different bonds n , an anisotropic $\underline{g}$ tensor, and a Dzyalloshinskii-Moriya interaction (asymmetric exchange) that produces the observed canted moment along b . With 21 parameters, the best such model yields χ 2 = 0.065 , which is substantially smaller than χ 2 = 0.112 obtained using a Heisenberg model containing six parameters including easy-axis anisotropy. However, models without SIA fail to reproduce the linear dependence of the magnetization with a field perpendicular to the Ising axis while predicting a saturation magnetization that is far too low. Due to the complex crystal-field environments, we argue that SIA is necessary to study low-symmetry, three-dimensional J eff = 1 / 2 materials containing Tb 3+ ions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Microscopic formulas for thermoelectric transport coefficients in lattice systems

Here, a macroscopic description of thermoelectric phenomena involves several tensorial transport coefficients. Textbook microscopic Kubo formulas for them are plagued with ambiguities in the definitions of the current operators and the magnetization. We derive a version of these formulas for lattice systems that is free from ambiguities but contains additional terms compared to the textbook results. For symmetric components of thermoelectric tensors, we identify a large class of lattice systems for which the additional terms vanish with a natural choice of the energy current. To eliminate ambiguities in the skew-symmetric components, one needs to interpret them as relative quantities: only their differences for pairs of materials are well-defined.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Fracton-elasticity duality in twisted moiré superlattices

We formulate a fracton-elasticity duality for twisted moiré superlattices, taking into account that they are incommensurate crystals with dissipative phason dynamics. From a dual tensor-gauge formulation, as compared to standard crystals, we identify twice the number of conserved charges that describe topological lattice defects, namely, disclinations and another type of defects that we dub discompressions. Furthermore, the key implication of these conservation laws is that both glide and climb motions of lattice dislocations are suppressed, indicating that dislocation networks may become exceptionally stable. We also generalize our results to other planar incommensurate crystals and quasicrystals.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Entanglement transitions from restricted Boltzmann machines

The search for novel entangled phases of matter has lead to the recent discovery of a new class of “en- tanglement transitions,” exemplified by random tensor networks and monitored quantum circuits. Most known examples can be understood as some classical ordering transitions in an underlying statistical mechanics model, where entanglement maps onto the free-energy cost of inserting a domain wall. In this paper we study the possibility of entanglement transitions driven by physics beyond such statistical mechanics mappings. Motivated by recent applications of neural-network-inspired variational Ansätze, we investigate under what conditions on the variational parameters these Ansätze can capture an entanglement transition. We study the entanglement scaling of short-range restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) quantum states with random phases. For uncorrelated random phases, we analytically demonstrate the absence of an entanglement transition and reveal subtle finite-size effects in finite-size numerical simulations. Introducing phases with correlations decaying as 1/r α in real space, we observe three regions with a different scaling of entanglement entropy depending on the exponent α. We study the nature of the transition between these regions, finding numerical evidence for critical behavior. Furthermore, our work establishes the presence of long-range correlated phases in RBM-based wave functions as a required ingredient for entanglement transitions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Disentangling ( 2 + 1 ) D topological states of matter with entanglement negativity

We use the entanglement negativity, a bipartite measure of entanglement in mixed quantum states, to study how multipartite entanglement constrains the real-space structure of the ground state wavefunctions of (2 + 1)-dimensional topological phases. We focus on the (Abelian) Laughlin and (non-Abelian) Moore-Read states at filling fraction ν = 1/m. We show that a combination of entanglement negativities, calculated with respect to specific cylinder and torus geometries, determines a necessary condition for when a topological state can be disentangled, i.e., factorized into a tensor product of states defined on cylinder subregions. This condition, which requires the ground state to lie in a definite topological sector, is sufficient for the Laughlin state. On the other hand, we find that a general Moore-Read ground state cannot be disentangled even when the disentangling condition holds.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Twisted symmetric trilayer graphene. II. Projected Hartree-Fock study

The Hamiltonian of the magic-angle twisted symmetric trilayer graphene (TSTG) can be decomposed into a twisted-bilayer-graphene- (TBG-) like flat band Hamiltonian and a high-velocity Dirac fermion Hamiltonian. We use Hartree-Fock mean field approach to study the projected Coulomb interacting Hamiltonian of TSTG developed in Calugaru et al. [Phys. Rev. B 103, 195411 (2021)] at integer fillings ν = -3, -2, -1, and 0 measured from charge neutrality. We study the phase diagram with w 0 /w 1 , the ratio of AA and AB interlayer hoppings, and the displacement field, which introduces an interlayer potential U and hybridizes the TBG-like bands with the Dirac bands. At small U, we find the ground states at all fillings ν are in the same phases as the tensor products of a Dirac semimetal with the filling ν TBG insulator ground states, which are spin-valley polarized at ν = -3, and fully (partially) intervalley coherent at ν = -2, 0(ν = -1) in the flat bands. An exception is ν = -3 with w 0 /w 1 ≳ 0.7 , which possibly becomes a metal with competing orders at small U due to charge transfers between the Dirac and flat bands. At strong U where the bandwidths exceed interactions, all the fillings ν enter a metal phase with small or zero valley polarization and intervalley coherence. Lastly, at intermediate U, semimetal or insulator phases with zero intervalley coherence may arise for ν = -2, -1, 0. Finally, our results provide a simple picture for the electron interactions in TSTG systems, and reveal the connection between the TSTG and TBG ground states.

2-dimensional systems↗

Structure and energetics of the elbows in the Au(111) herringbone reconstruction

We study the structure of the threading edge dislocations, or “elbows,” which are an essential component of the well-known herringbone reconstruction of the (111) surface of Au. Previous work had shown that these dislocations can be stabilized by long-range elastic relaxations into the bulk. However, the validity of the harmonic spring model that had been used to estimate the energies of the dislocations is uncertain. To enable a more refined model of the dislocation energetics, we have imaged the atomic structure of these dislocations using scanning tunneling microscopy. We find that the harmonic spring model does not adequately reproduce the observed structure. We are able to reproduce the structure, however, with a two-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model that uses a pairwise Morse potential to describe the interactions between the top layer Au atoms on a rigid substrate. The parameters of the potential were obtained by fitting the energy of uniaxially compressed phases, or “stripes”, computed with density functional theory, as a function of surface Au density. Within this model, the formation of the threading dislocations remains unfavorable. However, the large forces on the substrate atoms near the threading-dislocation cores, render the assumption of a completely rigid substrate questionable. Indeed, if the FK parameters are modified to account for the relaxation of just one more atomic layer, threading dislocations can, in principle, become favorable, even without bulk elastic relaxations. Additional evidence for a small elbow energy is that our computed change in the Au(111) surface stress tensor caused by the (√ 3 × 22) reconstruction is considerably smaller than previous estimates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Bulk photovoltaic effect in hexagonal LuMnO 3 single crystals

Hexagonal manganites, such as h-LuMnO 3 , are ferroelectric and have a narrow electronic band gap of ≈1.5eV. Here we report on the photoresponse of h-LuMnO 3 single crystals. It is found that the short circuit photocurrent density (J sc ) and the open circuit voltage (V oc ) are dependent on the direction of the polarization plane of a linearly polarized impinging light. Its angular dependence indicates the contribution of bulk photovoltaic effect to the short circuit photocurrent (J BPE ). It is also observed that a switchable drift photocurrent, originating from the depoling field of the ferroelectric and thus tunable(<10%) by its polarization direction, also contributes to J sc . Although its presence precludes accurate determination of the bulk photovoltaic tensor elements and Glass coefficients, some bounds can be established. The Glass coefficients are found to be significantly larger than those obtained in BiFeO 3 . We argue that the smaller band gap of h-LuMnO 3 , its distinctive bipyramidal crystal field, and electronic configuration (3d 4 vs 3d 5 ), account for the difference and suggest a path towards ferroelectrics of higher photoconversion efficiency.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Constructing Hubbard models for the hydrogen chain using sliced-basis density matrix renormalization group

Sliced-basis DMRG(sb-DMRG) is used to simulate a chain of hydrogen atoms and to construct low-energy effective Hubbard-like models. The downfolding procedure first involves a change of basis to a set of atom-centered Wannier functions constructed from the natural orbitals of the exact DMRG one-particle density matrix. The Wannier function model is then reduced to a fewer-parameter Hubbard-like model, whose parameters are determined by minimizing the expectation value of the Wannier Hamiltonian in the ground state of the Hubbard Hamiltonian. This indirect variational procedure not only yields compact and simple models for the hydrogen chain, but also allows us to explore the importance of constraints in the effective Hamiltonian, such as the restricting the range of the single-particle hopping and two-particle interactions, and to assess the reliability of more conventional downfolding. The entanglement entropy for a model's ground state, cut in the middle, is an important property determining the ability of DMRG and tensor networks to simulate the model, and here we study its variation with the range of the interactions. Counterintuitively, we find that shorter ranged interactions often have larger entanglement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Strong magnetoelastic coupling in Mn 3 X ( X = Ge , Sn)

Here we measure the full elastic tensors of Mn 3 Ge and Mn 3 Sn as a function of temperature through their respective antiferromagnetic phase transitions. Large discontinuities in the bulk moduli at the Néel transitions indicate strong magnetoelastic coupling in both compounds. Strikingly, the discontinuities are nearly a factor of 10 larger in Mn 3 Ge than in Mn 3 Sn. We use the magnitudes of the discontinuities to calculate the pressure derivatives of the Néel temperature, which are 39 K/GPa 14.3 K/GPa for Mn 3 Ge and Mn 3 Sn, respectively. We measured the in-plane shear modulus c 66 , which couples strongly to the magnetic order, in magnetic fields up to 18 T and found quantitatively similar behavior in both compounds. Recent measurements have demonstrated strong piezomagnetism in Mn 3 Sn : Our results suggest that Mn 3 Ge may be an even better candidate for this effect.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Single-ion properties of the transverse-field Ising model material CoNb 2 O 6

We report CoNb 2 O 6 is one of the few materials that is known to approximate the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model (1D-TFIM) near its quantum critical point. It has been inferred that Co 2+ acts as a pseudospin 1/2 with anisotropic exchange interactions that are largely Ising-like, enabling the realization of the TFIM. However, the behavior of CoNb 2 O 6 is known to diverge from the ideal TFIM under transverse magnetic fields that are far from the quantum critical point, requiring the consideration of additional anisotropic, bond-dependent (Kitaev-like) terms in the microscopic pseudospin-1/2 Hamiltonian. These terms are expected to be controlled in part by single-ion physics, namely the wave function for the pseudospin-1/2 angular momentum doublet. Here, we present the results of both inelastic neutron scattering measurements and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy on CoNb 2 O 6 , which elucidate the single-ion physics of Co 2+ in CoNb 2 O 6 for the first time. We find that the system is well-described by an intermediate spin-orbit coupled Hamiltonian, and the ground state is a well-isolated Kramers doublet with an anisotropic g tensor. We provide the approximate wave functions for this doublet, which we expect will be useful in theoretical investigations of the anisotropic exchange interactions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Classification of (2 + 1) D invertible fermionic topological phases with symmetry

Here we provide a classification of invertible topological phases of interacting fermions with symmetry in two spatial dimensions for general fermionic symmetry groups G f and general values of the chiral central charge c - . Here G f is a central extension of a bosonic symmetry group G b by fermion parity, (-1) F , specified by a second cohomology class [ω 2 ]∈ $\mathscr{H}^2$(Gb,$\mathbb{Z}_2$). Our approach proceeds by gauging fermion parity and classifying the resulting G b symmetry-enriched topological orders while keeping track of certain additional data and constraints. We perform this analysis through two perspectives, using G-crossed braided tensor categories and Spin(2c - ) 1 Chern-Simons theory coupled to a background G gauge field. These results give a way to characterize and classify invertible fermionic topological phases in terms of a concrete set of data and consistency equations, which is more physically transparent and computationally simpler than the more abstract methods using cobordism theory and spectral sequences. Our results also generalize and provide a different approach to the recent classification of fermionic symmetry-protected topological phases by Wang and Gu, which have chiral central charge c - = 0. We show how the tenfold way classification of topological insulators and superconductors fits into our scheme, along with general nonperturbative constraints due to certain choices of c - and G f . Mathematically, our results also suggest an explicit general parametrization of deformation classes of (2 + 1)D invertible topological quantum field theories with G f symmetry.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High-pressure control of optical nonlinearity in the polar Weyl semimetal TaAs

The transition metal monopnictide family of Weyl semimetals recently has been shown to exhibit anomalously strong second-order optical nonlinearity, which is theoretically attributed to a highly asymmetric polarization distribution induced by their polar structure. We experimentally test this hypothesis by measuring optical second harmonic generation (SHG) from TaAs across a pressure-tuned polar-to-nonpolar structural phase transition. Despite the high-pressure structure remaining noncentrosymmetric, the SHG yield is reduced by more than 60% by 20 GPa as compared to the ambient pressure value. By examining the pressure dependence of distinct groups of SHG susceptibility tensor elements, we find that the yield is primarily controlled by a single element that governs the response along the polar axis. Furthermore, our results confirm a connection between the polar axis and the giant optical nonlinearity of Weyl semimetals and demonstrate pressure as a means to tune this effect in situ.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Generalized quasiharmonic approximation via space group irreducible derivatives

The quasiharmonic approximation (QHA) is the simplest nontrivial approximation for interacting phonons under constant pressure, bringing the effects of anharmonicity into temperature-dependent observables. Nonetheless, the QHA is often implemented with additional approximations due to the complexity of computing phonons under arbitrary strains, and the generalized QHA, which employs constant stress boundary conditions, has not been completely developed. In this work we formulate the generalized QHA, providing a practical algorithm for computing the strain state and other observables as a function of temperature and true stress. We circumvent the complexity of computing phonons under arbitrary strains by employing irreducible second-order displacement derivatives of the Born-Oppenheimer potential and their strain dependence, which are efficiently and precisely computed using the lone irreducible derivative approach. We formulate two complementary strain parametrizations: a discretized strain grid interpolation and a Taylor series expansion in symmetrized strain. We illustrate our approach by evaluating the temperature and pressure dependence of select elastic constants and the thermal expansion in thoria (ThO 2 ) using density functional theory with three exchange-correlation functionals. The QHA results are compared to our measurements of the elastic constant tensor using time-domain Brillouin scattering and inelastic neutron scattering. Our irreducible derivative approach simplifies the implementation of the generalized QHA, which will facilitate reproducible, data-driven applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Geometric integration of classical spin dynamics via a mean-field Schrödinger equation

The Landau-Lifshitz equation describes the time evolution of magnetic dipoles and can be derived by taking the classical limit of a quantum mechanical spin Hamiltonian. To take this limit, one constrains the many-body quantum state to a tensor product of coherent states, thereby neglecting entanglement between sites. Expectation values of the quantum spin operators produce the usual classical spin dipoles. One may also consider expectation values of polynomials of the spin operators, leading to quadrupole and higher-order spin moments, which satisfy a dynamical equation of motion that generalizes the Landau-Lifshitz dynamics [Zhang and Batista, Phys. Rev. B 104, 104409 (2021)]. Here we reformulate the dynamics of these N 2 –1 generalized spin components as a mean-field Schrödinger equation on the N-dimensional coherent state. Furthermore, this viewpoint suggests efficient integration methods that respect the local symplectic structure of the classical spin dynamics.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Effect of localization on photoluminescence and zero-field splitting of silicon color centers

The study of defect centers in silicon has been recently reinvigorated by their potential applications in optical quantum information processing. A number of silicon defect centers emit single photons in the telecommunication O-band, making them promising building blocks for quantum networks between computing nodes. The two-carbon G-center, self-interstitial W-center, and spin-1/2 T-center are the most intensively studied silicon defect centers, yet despite this, there is no consensus on the precise configurations of defect atoms in these centers, and their electronic structures remain ambiguous. Here, in this work, we employ ab initio density functional theory to characterize these defect centers, providing insight into the relaxed structures, band structures, and photoluminescence spectra, which are compared to experimental results. Motivation is provided for how these properties are intimately related to the localization of electronic states in the defect centers. In particular, we present the calculation of the zero-field splitting for the excited triplet state of the G-center defect as the structure is linearly interpolated from the A-configuration to the B-configuration, showing a sudden increase in the magnitude of the D zz component of the zero-field-splitting tensor. By performing projections onto the local orbital states of the defect, we analyze this transition in terms of the symmetry and bonding character of the G-center defect, which sheds light on its potential application as a spin-photon interface.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Thermal conductivity and theory of inelastic scattering of phonons by collective fluctuations

We study the intrinsic scattering of phonons by a general quantum degree of freedom, i.e., a fluctuating “field” Q, which may have completely general correlations, restricted only by unitarity and translational invariance. From the induced scattering rates, generalizing the model studied in a companion paper [Mangeolle et al., Phys. Rev. X 12, 041031 (2022)], we obtain the consequences on the thermal conductivity tensor of the phonons. We confirm that, even within our generalized model, the off-diagonal scattering rates involve a minimum of three- to four-point correlation functions of the Q fields, and we discuss the “semiclassical” versus “quantum” nature of all contributions. We obtain general and explicit forms for these correlations which isolate the contributions to the Hall conductivity, and we provide a general discussion of the implications of symmetry and equilibrium; this elaborates on, and extends, the results of Mangeolle et al. [Phys. Rev. X 12, 041031 (2022)]. We also extend the discussion and evaluation of these two- (diagonal scattering) and four-point correlation functions, and hence the thermal transport, for the illustrative example of an ordered two-dimensional antiferromagnet, where the Q field is a composite of magnon operators arising from spin-lattice coupling, and confirm numerically that the results, while satisfying all the necessary symmetry restrictions, lead to nonvanishing scattering and Hall effects. In particular, we investigate, both analytically and numerically, the dependence of such intrinsic scattering on a crucial parameter—the magnon to phonon velocity ratio v. We in particular confirm that within some range of v of order 1 the skew-scattering mechanism leads to comparable thermal Hall conductivity for thermal currents within and normal to the plane of the antiferromagnetism, and we discover that the temperature scaling of the longitudinal conductivity displays a threshold effect and a nonuniversal, continuous variation of the scaling exponent with v.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗