In this paper we continue to explore “hybrid” quantum circuit models in one-dimension with both unitary and measurement gates, focusing on the entanglement properties of wave function trajectories at long times, in the steady state. We simulate a large class of Clifford circuits, including models with or without randomness in the unitary gates, and with or without randomness in the locations of measurement gates, using stabilizer techniques to access the long-time dynamics of systems up to 512 qubits. In all models we find a volume-law entangled phase for low measurement rates, which exhibits a subdominant logarithmic behavior in the entanglement entropy, $S_A=\alpha ln\left|A\right|+s\left|A\right|$, with subsystem size $\left|A\right|$. With increasing measurement rate the volume-law phase is unstable to a disentangled area-law phase, passing through a single entanglement transition at a critical rate of measurement. At criticality we find a purely logarithmic entanglement entropy, $S_A=\alpha \left(p_c\right)ln\left|A\right|$, a power-law decay and conformal symmetry of the mutual information, with exponential decay off criticality. Various spin-spin correlation functions also show slow decay at criticality. Critical exponents are consistent across all models, indicative of a single universality class. These results suggest the existence of an effective underlying statistical mechanical model for the entanglement transition. Beyond Clifford circuit models, numerical simulations of up to 20 qubits give consistent results.

As realized by Kapitza long ago, a rigid pendulum can be stabilized upside down by periodically driving its suspension point with tuned amplitude and frequency. While this dynamical stabilization is feasible in a variety of systems with few degrees of freedom, it is natural to search for generalizations to multiparticle systems. In particular, a fundamental question is whether, by periodically driving a single parameter in a many-body system, one can stabilize an otherwise unstable phase of matter against all possible fluctuations of its microscopic degrees of freedom. In this paper, we show that such stabilization occurs in experimentally realizable quantum many-body systems: A periodic modulation of a transverse magnetic field can make ferromagnetic spin systems with long-range interactions stably trapped around unstable paramagnetic configurations as well as in other unconventional dynamical phases with no equilibrium counterparts. We demonstrate that these quantum Kapitza phases have a long lifetime and can be observed in current experiments with trapped ions.

Dynamical phase transitions (DPTs), characterized by nonanalytic behaviors in time domain, extend the equilibrium phase transitions to far-from-equilibrium situations. It has been predicted that DPTs can be precisely identified by the discontinuities of the Pancharatnam geometric phase (PGP) during the time evolution. However, PGP always mixes with dynamical phase and the experimental observation of DPTs by PGP is still absent. Here, we theoretically present a novel scheme for eliminating the dynamical phase by taking advantage of chiral symmetry in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model and experimentally observe DPTs by directly measuring PGP in a quenched topological nanomechanical lattice. Time-dependent topological structures of the SSH model are configured by eight strong-coupled high-quality-factor nanomechanical oscillators. By measuring the vibration phase and the normalized amplitude of the edge oscillator, we show a direct classical analog of DPTs. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate the robustness of DPTs against weak structure disorders, and numerically explore the relation between DPTs and the equilibrium phase boundary. This work not only establishes the quantitative method to identify DPTs, but also opens the door for studying nonequilibrium topological dynamics with a well-controlled nanomechanical system.

Phonons and their interactions are necessary for determining a wide range of materials properties. Here we present four independent advances which facilitate the computation of phonons and their interactions from first principles. First, we implement a group-theoretical approach to construct the order $\mathcal{N}$ Taylor series of a $d$-dimensional crystal purely in terms of space group irreducible derivatives (ID), which guarantees symmetry by construction and allows for a practical means of communicating and storing phonons and their interactions. Second, we prove that the smallest possible supercell which accommodates $\mathcal{N}$ given wave vectors in a $d$-dimensional crystal is determined using the Smith normal form of the matrix formed from the corresponding wave vectors; resulting in negligible computational cost to find said supercell, in addition to providing the maximum required multiplicity for uniform supercells at arbitrary $\mathcal{N}$ and $d$. Third, we develop a series of finite displacement methodologies to compute phonons and their interactions which exploit the first two developments: lone and bundled irreducible derivative (LID and BID) approaches. LID computes a single ID, or as few as possible, at a time in the smallest supercell possible, while BID exploits perturbative derivatives for some order less than $\mathcal{N}$ (e.g., Hellman-Feynman forces) in order to extract all ID in the smallest possible supercells using the fewest possible computations. Finally, we derive an equation for the order $N$ volume derivatives of the phonons in terms of the order $\mathcal{N}=N+2$ ID. Given that the former are easily computed, they can be used as a stringent, infinite ranged test of the ID. Our general framework is illustrated on graphene, yielding irreducible phonon interactions to fifth order. Additionally, we provide a cost analysis for the rocksalt structure at $\mathcal{N}=3$, demonstrating a massive speedup compared to popular finite displacement methods in the literature.

We propose a scheme based on the neural-network quantum states to simulate the stationary states of open quantum many-body systems. Using the high expressive power of the variational ansatz described by the restricted Boltzmann machines, which we dub as the neural stationary state ansatz, we compute the stationary states of quantum dynamics obeying the Lindblad master equations. The mapping of the stationary-state search problem into finding a zero-energy ground state of an appropriate Hermitian operator allows us to apply the conventional variational Monte Carlo method for the optimization. Our method is shown to simulate various spin systems efficiently, i.e., the transverse-field Ising models in both one and two dimensions and the XYZ model in one dimension.

We propose a realistic scheme to construct anomalous Floquet Chern topological insulators using spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particles carrying out a discrete-time quantum walk in a two-dimensional lattice. By Floquet engineering the quantum-walk protocol, an Aharonov-Bohm geometric phase is imprinted onto closed-loop paths in the lattice, thus realizing an Abelian gauge field, the analog of a magnetic flux threading a two-dimensional electron gas. We show that in the strong-field regime, when the flux per plaquette is a sizable fraction of the flux quantum, magnetic quantum walks give rise to nearly flat energy bands featuring nonvanishing Chern numbers. Furthermore, we find that because of the nonperturbative nature of the periodic driving, a second topological number, the so-called RLBL invariant, is necessary to fully characterize the anomalous Floquet topological phases of magnetic quantum walks and to compute the number of topologically protected edge modes expected at the boundaries between different phases. In the second part of this paper, we discuss an implementation of this scheme using neutral atoms in two-dimensional spin-dependent optical lattices, which enables the generation of arbitrary magnetic-field landscapes, including those with sharp boundaries. The robust atom transport, which is observed along boundaries separating regions of different field strength, reveals the topological character of the Floquet Chern bands.

Between space crystals and amorphous materials there exists a third class of aperiodic structures which lack translational symmetry but reveal long-range order. They are dubbed quasicrystals and their formation, similar to the formation of space crystals, is related to spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry of underlying Hamiltonians. Here, we investigate spontaneous emergence of quasicrystals in periodically driven systems. We consider a quantum many-body system which is driven by a harmonically oscillating force and show that interactions between particles result in spontaneous self-reorganization of the motion of a quantum many-body system and in the formation of a quasicrystal structure in time.

Optical dual-pulse pumping actively creates quantum-mechanical superposition of the electronic and phononic states in a bulk solid. We here made transient reflectivity measurements in an $n$-GaAs using a pair of relative-phase-locked femtosecond pulses and found characteristic interference fringes. This is a result of quantum-path interference peculiar to the dual-pulse excitation as indicated by theoretical calculation. Our observation reveals that the pathway of coherent phonon generation in the $n$-GaAs is impulsive stimulated Raman scattering at the displaced potential due to the surface-charge field, even though the photon energy lies in the opaque region.

We theoretically study the high-harmonic generation (HHG) in one-dimensional spin systems. While in electronic systems the driving by ac electric fields produces radiation from the dynamics of excited charges, we consider here the situation where spin systems excited by a magnetic field pulse generate radiation via a time-dependent magnetization. Specifically, we study the magnetic dipole radiation in two types of ferromagnetic spin chain models, the Ising model with static longitudinal field and the XXZ model, and reveal the structure of the spin HHG and its relation to spin excitations. For weak laser amplitude, a peak structure appears which can be explained by time-dependent perturbation theory. With increasing amplitude, plateaus with well-defined cutoff energies emerge. In the Ising model with longitudinal field, the thresholds of the multiple plateaus in the radiation spectra can be explained by the annihilation of multiple magnons. In the XXZ model, which retains the ${\mathbf{Z}}_2$ symmetry, the laser magnetic field can induce a phase transition of the ground state when it exceeds a critical value, which results in a drastic change of the spin excitation character. As a consequence, the first cutoff energy in the HHG spectrum changes from a single-magnon to a two-magnon energy at this transition. Our results demonstrate the possibility of generating high-harmonic radiation from magnetically ordered materials and the usefulness of high-harmonic signals for extracting information on the spin excitation spectrum.

We present the phonon dispersion of bulk ${\mathrm{MoS}}_2$ in the high-symmetry directions of the Brillouin zone, determined by inelastic x-ray scattering. Our results underline the two-dimensional nature of ${\mathrm{MoS}}_2$. In combination with state-of-the-art first-principles calculations, we determine the phonon displacement patterns, symmetry properties, and scattering intensities. The results will be the basis for future experimental and theoretical work regarding electron-phonon interactions, intervalley scattering, as well as phonons in related 2D materials.

We report the infrared dielectric properties of $\alpha$-quartz in the temperature range from $1.5\mathrm{K}$ to $200\mathrm{K}$. Using an infrared free-electron laser, far-infrared reflectivity spectra of a single crystal $y$ cut were acquired along both principal axes, under two different incidence angles, in $S$ and $P$ polarization. These experimental data have been fitted globally for each temperature with a multioscillator model, allowing one to extract frequencies and damping rates of the ordinary and extraordinary, transverse and longitudinal optic phonon modes, and hence the temperature-dependent dispersion of the infrared dielectric function. The results are in line with previous high-temperature studies, allowing for a parametrized description of all temperature-dependent phonon parameters and the resulting dielectric function from $1.5\mathrm{K}$ up to the $\alpha \text{−}\beta$-phase transition temperature, $T_C=846\mathrm{K}$. Using these data, we predict remarkably high quality factors for polaritons in $\alpha$-quartz's hyperbolic spectral region at low temperatures.

The many-body localization (MBL) phase transition is not a conventional thermodynamic phase transition. Thus, to define the phase transition, one should allow the possibility of taking the limit of an infinite system in a way that is not the conventional thermodynamic limit. We explore this for the so-called avalanche instability due to rare thermalizing regions in the MBL phase for systems with quenched randomness in two cases: for short-range interacting systems in more than one spatial dimension and for systems in which the interactions fall off with distance as a power law. We find an unconventional way of scaling these systems so that they do have a type of phase transition. Our arguments suggest that the MBL phase transition in systems with short-range interactions in more than one dimension (or with sufficiently rapidly decaying power laws) is a transition where entanglement in the eigenstates begins to spread into some typical regions: The transition is set by when the avalanches start. Once this entanglement gets started, the system does thermalize. From this point of view, the much-studied case of one-dimensional MBL with short-range interactions is a special case with a different, and in some ways more conventional, type of phase transition.

Operators in ergodic spin chains are found to grow according to hydrodynamical equations of motion. The study of such operator spreading has aided our understanding of many-body quantum chaos in spin chains. Here we initiate the study of “operator spreading” in quantum maps on a torus, systems which do not have a tensor-product Hilbert space or a notion of spatial locality. Using the perturbed Arnold cat map as an example, we analytically compare and contrast the evolutions of functions on classical phase space and quantum operator evolutions, and identify distinct timescales that characterize the dynamics of operators in quantum chaotic maps. Until an Ehrenfest time, the quantum system exhibits classical chaos, i.e., it mimics the behavior of the corresponding classical system. After an operator scrambling time, the operator looks “random” in the initial basis, a characteristic feature of quantum chaos. These timescales can be related to the quasienergy spectrum of the unitary via the spectral form factor. Furthermore, we show examples of “emergent classicality” in quantum problems far away from the classical limit. Finally, we study operator evolution in nonchaotic and mixed quantum maps using the Chirikov standard map as an example.

Time-resolved measurements of materials provide a wealth of information on quasiparticle dynamics, and have been the focus of optical studies for decades. In this paper, we develop a theory for explicitly evaluating time-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (tr-RIXS). We apply the theory to a noninteracting electronic system and reveal the particle-hole spectrum and its evolution during the pump pulse. With a high-frequency pump, the frequency and amplitude dependence analysis of the spectra agrees well with the steady-state assumptions and Floquet excitations. When the pump frequency is low, the spectrum extracts real-time dynamics of the particle-hole continuum in momentum space. These results verify the correctness of our theory and demonstrate the breadth of physical problems that tr-RIXS could shed light on.

We present a computationally efficient and general first-principles based method for spin-lattice simulations for solids and clusters. The method is based on a coupling of atomistic spin dynamics and molecular dynamics simulations, expressed through a spin-lattice Hamiltonian, where the bilinear magnetic term is expanded up to second order in displacement. The effect of first-order spin-lattice coupling on the magnon and phonon dispersion in bcc Fe is reported as an example, and we observe good agreement with previous simulations. We also illustrate the coupled spin-lattice dynamics method on a more conceptual level, by exploring dissipation-free spin and lattice motion of small magnetic clusters (a dimer, trimer, and tetramer). The method discussed here opens the door for a quantitative description and understanding of the microscopic origin of many fundamental phenomena of contemporary interest, such as ultrafast demagnetization, magnetocalorics, and spincaloritronics.

Acoustic flat lensing is achieved here by tuning a phononic array to have indefinite medium behavior in a narrow frequency spectral region along the acoustic branch in the irreducible Brillouin zone (IBZ). This is confirmed by the occurrence of a flat band along an unusual path in the IBZ and by interpreting the intersection point of isofrequency contours on the corresponding isofrequency surface; coherent directive collimated beams are formed whose reflection from the array surfaces create lensing. Theoretical predictions using a mass-spring lattice approximation of the phononic crystal (PC) are corroborated by time-domain experiments, airborne acoustic waves generated by a source with a frequency centered about 10.6 kHz, placed at three different distances from one side of a finite PC slab, constructed from polymeric spheres, yielding distinctive focal spots on the other side. These experiments evaluate the pressure field using optical feedback interferometry and demonstrate precise control of the three-dimensional wave trajectory through a sonic crystal.

Floquet engineering offers tantalizing opportunities for controlling the dynamics of quantum many-body systems and realizing new nonequilibrium phases of matter. However, this approach faces a major challenge: generic interacting Floquet systems absorb energy from the drive, leading to uncontrolled heating which washes away the sought-after behavior. How to achieve and control a nontrivial nonequilibrium steady state is therefore of crucial importance. In this work, we study the dynamics of an interacting one-dimensional periodically driven electronic system coupled to a phonon heat bath. Using the Floquet-Boltzmann equation (FBE) we show that the electronic populations of the Floquet eigenstates can be controlled by the dissipation. We find the regime in which the steady state features an insulator-like filling of the Floquet bands, with a low density of additional excitations. Furthermore, we develop a simple rate equation model for the steady state excitation density that captures the behavior obtained from the numerical solution of the FBE over a wide range of parameters.

High-order topological insulators are a recent development extending the topological theory of charge polarization to higher multipole moments. In these systems, the presence of a nontrivial $n$-dimensional bulk results in boundary modes of a dimension $n-2$ or lower. Since their theoretical proposal, several experimental realizations of high-order topological insulators have been reported. However, high-order topological transitions have not been observed. In this Rapid Communication, we report on the observation of a high-order topological transition in a quadrupole topological insulator implemented in an LC circuit with nonlinear couplings. This system presents the ability to confine electromagnetic energy in its corner states, with a localization length that can be tuned over a broad range through the use of an external bias voltage. Additionally, we provide an experimental characterization and an effective theory for the boundary states, further corroborating their topological nature by direct measurement of the winding number.

The Weyl particle is the massless fermionic cousin of the photon. While no fundamental Weyl particles have been identified, they arise in condensed matter and metamaterial systems, where their spinor nature imposes topological constraints on low-energy dispersion and surface properties. Here we demonstrate a topological circuit with Weyl dispersion at low momentum, realizing a 3D lattice that behaves as a half-flux Hofstadter model in all principal planes. The circuit platform provides access to the complete complex-valued spin texture of all bulk and surface states, thereby revealing not only the presence of Weyl points and the Fermi arcs that connect their surface projections, but also the Berry curvature distribution through the Brillouin zone and the associated quantized chiral charge of the Weyl points. This work opens a path to exploration of interacting Weyl physics in superconducting circuits, as well as studies of how manifold topology impacts band topology in three dimensions.

Irreversibility, despite being a necessary condition for thermalization, still lacks a sound understanding in the context of isolated quantum many-body systems. In this Rapid Communication we approach this question by studying the behavior of generic many-body systems under imperfect effective time reversal, where the imperfection is introduced as a perturbation of the many-body state at the point of time reversal. Based on numerical simulations of the full quantum dynamics we demonstrate that observable echoes occurring in this setting decay exponentially with a rate that is independent of the perturbation; hence, the sensitivity to perturbations is intrinsic to the system, meaning that the dynamics is effectively irreversible.