Pre-prints

Angular-momentum-selective nanofocusing with Weyl semimetals

Marco Peluso, Alessandro De Martino, Reinhold Egger, Francesco Buccheri

We investigate the theory of surface plasmon polaritons on a magnetic Weyl semimetal conical tip. We show that the axion term in the effective electrodynamics modifies the surface plasmon polariton dispersion relation and allows all modes with a given sign of the orbital angular momentum to be focused at the end of the tip. This is in contrast with normal metals, in which only one mode can reach the end. We discuss how this orbital angular momentum nanofocusing expands the potential of technologies that use this degree of freedom.

ArXiv: 2506.18503

Correlated hopping induced topological order in an atomic mixture

Ashirbad Padhan, Luca Barbiero, Tapan Mishra

The large majority of topological phases in one dimensional many-body systems are known to inherit from the corresponding single-particle Hamiltonian. In this work, we go beyond this assumption and find a new example of topological order induced through specific interactions couplings. Specifically, we consider a fermionic mixture where one component experiences a staggered onsite potential and it is coupled through density dependent hopping interactions to the other fermionic component. Crucially, by varying the sign of the staggered potential, we show that this latter fermionic component can acquire topological properties. Thanks to matrix product state simulations, we prove this result both at the equilibrium by extracting the behavior of correlation functions and in an out-of-equilibrium scheme by employing a Thouless charge pumping. Notably, we further discuss how our results can be probed in quantum simulators made up of ultracold atoms. Our results reveal an important and alternative mechanism that can give rise to topological order.

ArXiv:2503.00589

Geometrical frustration, power law tunneling and non-local gauge fields from scattered light

Pavel P. Popov, Joana Fraxanet, Luca Barbiero, Maciej Lewenstein

Designing the amplitude and range of couplings in quantum systems is a fundamental tool for exploring a large variety of quantum mechanical effects. Here, we consider off-resonant photon scattering processes on a geometrically shaped molecular cloud. Our analysis shows that such a setup is properly modeled by a Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian where the range, amplitude and sign of the tunneling processes of the scattered photonic modes can be accurately tuned. Specifically, by varying the molecular distribution, we demonstrate that different configurations characterized by geometrical frustration, long-range power law hopping processes, and non-local gauge fields can be achieved. Our results thus represent a powerful and alternative approach to perform an accurate Hamiltonian engineering of quantum systems with non trivial coupling structures.

ArXiv: 2502.04330

Nonreciprocal Weyl semimetal waveguide

Marco Peluso, Alessandro De Martino, Reinhold Egger, Francesco Buccheri

We study a cylindrical plasmonic waveguide consisting of a magnetic Weyl semimetal embedded in a dielectric medium. We determine the dispersion relation of the surface plasmon polaritons and show how it depends on the plasma frequency, the radius of the semimetal and the separation between the nodes. We show that the band structure, which modifies the electrodynamics in the medium, manifests itself through a pronounced asymmetry in the dispersion curves and a giant splitting in the group velocity, with the orbital angular momentum as a control parameter for the direction of propagation.

ArXiv: 2410.01503

Deconfined quantum critical points in fermionic systems with spin-charge separation

Niccolò Baldelli, Arianna Montorsi, Sergi Julià-Farré, Maciej Lewenstein, Matteo Rizzi, Luca Barbiero

Deconfined quantum critical points are exotic transition points not predicted by the Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson symmetry-breaking paradigm. They are associated to a one-point gap closing between distinct locally ordered phases, thus to a continuous phase transition. Because of this intrinsic criticality, at deconfined quantum critical points algebraic decay of all the correlation functions is expected. Here, we show that it is possible to go beyond this assumption. Specifically, we consider one dimensional interacting fermions where the phenomenon of spin-charge separation arises. We first explore the low energy regimes where a sine-Gordon Hamiltonian can provide accurate results. By means of a field theory approach we find that continuous phase transitions between different locally ordered phases can occur. As a consequence of the decoupled spin and charge degrees of freedom, we find that in two cases only one gap vanishes while the other remains finite. We then derive a microscopic model where such phase transitions take place. By performing a numerical analysis, we unambiguously find that deconfined quantum critical points can indeed be further characterized by the long-range order of a parity operator signaling the presence of a finite gap. Our results provide new interesting insights on the widely investigated topic of quantum phase transitions.

ArXiv:2407.04073

Intertwined superconductivity and orbital selectivity in a three-orbital Hubbard model for the iron pnictides

Vito Marino, Alberto Scazzola, Federico Becca, Massimo Capone, Luca F. Tocchio

We study a three-orbital Hubbard-Kanamori model relevant for iron-based superconductors using variational wave functions, which explicitly include spatial correlations and electron pairing. We span the nonmagnetic sector ranging from a filling n=4, which is representative of undoped iron-based superconductors, to n=3. In the latter case, a Mott insulating state is found, with each orbital at half filling. In the strong-coupling regime, when the electron density is increased, we find a spontaneous differentiation between the occupation of dxz and dyz orbitals, which leads to an orbital-selective state with a nematic character that becomes stronger at increasing density. One of these orbitals stays half filled for all densities while the other one hosts (together with the dxy orbital) the excess of electron density. Most importantly, in this regime, long-range pairing correlations appear in the orbital with the largest occupation. Our results highlight a strong link between orbital-selective correlations, nematicity, and superconductivity, which requires the presence of a significant Hund's coupling.

ArXiv: 2406.13634

Recent progress on quantum simulations of non-standard Bose-Hubbard models

Titas Chanda, Luca Barbiero, Maciej Lewenstein, Manfred J. Mark, Jakub Zakrzewski

In recent years, the systems comprising of bosonic atoms confined to optical lattices at ultra-cold temperatures have demonstrated tremendous potential to unveil novel quantum mechanical effects appearing in lattice boson models with various kinds of interactions. In this progress report, we aim to provide an exposition to recent advancements in quantum simulations of such systems, modeled by different "non-standard" Bose-Hubbard models, focusing primarily on long-range systems with dipole-dipole or cavity-mediated interactions. Through a carefully curated selection of topics, which includes the emergence of quantum criticality beyond Landau paradigm, bond-order wave insulators, the role of interaction-induced tunneling, the influence of transverse confinement on observed phases, or the effect of cavity-mediated all-to-all interactions, we report both theoretical and experimental developments from the last few years. Additionally, we discuss the real-time evolution of systems with long-range interactions, where sufficiently strong interactions render the dynamics non-ergodic. And finally to cap our discussions off, we survey recent experimental achievements in this rapidly evolving field, underscoring its interdisciplinary significance and potential for groundbreaking discoveries.

arXiv:2405.07775