Motivated by recent advances in cold atomic systems, we study the equilibrium and quench properties of two-dimensional fermions with quadratic band touching at the Fermi level, in the presence of infinitely long-range interactions. Unlike when only short-range interactions are present, both nematic and quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) states appear at weak interactions, separated by a narrow coexistence region, whose boundaries mark second- and third-order quantum phase transitions. After an interaction quench, the QAH order exhibits three distinct regions: persistent or damped oscillations and exponential decay to zero. In contrast, the nematic order always reaches a nonzero stationary value through power-law damped oscillations, due to the interplay between the symmetry of the interaction and the specific topology of the quadratic band touching.

We report a detail theoretical study of the electronic structure and phase stability of transition metal oxides MnO, FeO, CoO, and NiO in their paramagnetic cubic $B1$ structure by employing dynamical mean-field theory of correlated electrons combined with ab initio band-structure methods. Our calculations reveal that under pressure these materials exhibit a Mott insulator-metal transition (IMT) which is accompanied by a simultaneous collapse of local magnetic moments and lattice volume, implying a complex interplay between chemical bonding and electronic correlations. Moreover, our results for the transition pressure show a monotonous decrease from $\sim 145$ to 40 GPa, upon moving from MnO to CoO. In contrast to that, in NiO, magnetic collapse is found to occur at a remarkably higher pressure of $\sim 429$ GPa. We provide a unified picture of such a behavior and suggest that it is primarily a localized to itinerant moment behavior transition at the IMT that gives rise to magnetic collapse in transition metal oxides.

Formulating consistent theories describing strongly correlated metallic topological phases is an outstanding problem in condensed-matter physics. In this work, we derive a theory defining a fractionalized analog of the Weyl semimetal state: the fractional chiral metal. Our approach is to construct a 4+1D quantum Hall insulator by stacking 3+1D Weyl semimetals in a magnetic field. In a strong enough field, the low-energy physics is determined by the lowest Landau level of each Weyl semimetal, which is highly degenerate and chiral, motivating us to use a coupled-wire approach. The one-dimensional dispersion of the lowest Landau level allows us to model the system as a set of degenerate 1+1D quantum wires that can be bosonized in the presence of electron-electron interactions and coupled such that a gapped phase is obtained whose response to an electromagnetic field is given in terms of a Chern-Simons field theory. At the boundary of this phase, we obtain the field theory of a 3+1D gapless fractional chiral state, which we show is consistent with a previous theory for the surface of a 4+1D Chern-Simons theory. The boundary's response to an external electromagnetic field is determined by a chiral anomaly with a fractionalized coefficient. We suggest that such an anomalous response can be taken as a working definition of a fractionalized strongly correlated analog of the Weyl semimetal state.

We investigate through an atomistic method the effects of anharmonicity on the dispersion of flexural modes of graphene. Using a calculation based on ensemble averages of correlations among displacements and forces, we calculate the temperature-dependent frequencies for a semiempirical potential for graphene. We find that the dispersion relation of the flexural modes of graphene is renormalized by anharmonic coupling to other modes. Our calculations confirm that the anharmonic continuum results of Mariani and von Oppen [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 076801 (2008)] hold in detail for small wave number and at low temperatures. We examine the deviation from the continuum result outside of that range.

We present a Raman scattering study of optical phonons in hexagonal BN for temperatures ranging from 80 to 600 K. The experiments were performed on high-quality, single-crystalline hexagonal BN platelets. The observed temperature dependence of the frequencies and linewidths of both Raman active $E_{2g}$ optical phonons is analyzed in the framework of anharmonic decay theory, and possible decay channels are discussed in the light of density-functional theory calculations. With increasing temperature, the $E_{2g}^{\mathrm{high}}$ mode displays strong anharmonic interactions, with a linewidth increase that indicates an important contribution of four-phonon processes and a marked frequency downshift that can be attributed to a substantial effect of the four-phonon scattering processes (quartic anharmonicity). In contrast, the $E_{2g}^{\mathrm{low}}$ mode displays a very narrow linewidth and weak anharmonic interactions, with a frequency downshift that is primarily accounted for by the thermal expansion of the interlayer spacing.

We study features of thermoelectric transport through a one-dimensional topological system model hosting Majorana bound states (MBSs) at its ends. We describe the behavior of the Seebeck coefficient and the $ZT$ figure of merit for two configurations between the MBS and normal current leads. We find an important violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law in one of these geometries, leading to sizable values of the thermoelectric efficiency over a narrow window in chemical potential away from neutrality. These findings could lead to interesting thermoelectric-based MBS detection devices, via measurements of the Seebeck coefficient and figure of merit.

Understanding the behavior of light in nonequilibrium scenarios underpins much of quantum optics and optical physics. While lasers provide a severe example of a nonequilibrium problem, recent interests in the near-equilibrium physics of so-called photon gases, such as in Bose condensation of light or in attempts to make photonic quantum simulators, suggest one re-examine some near-equilibrium cases. Here we consider how a sinusoidal parametric coupling between two semi-infinite photonic transmission lines leads to the creation and flow of photons between the two lines. Our approach provides a photonic analog to the Landauer transport formula, and using nonequilbrium Green's functions, we can extend it to the case of an interacting region between two photonic leads where the sinusoid frequency plays the role of a voltage bias. Crucially, we identify both the mathematical framework and the physical regime in which photonic transport is directly analogous to electronic transport and regimes in which other behavior such as two-mode squeezing can emerge.

We investigate the low-lying excitation spectrum and ground-state properties of narrow graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edge configurations. Nanoribbons of comparable widths have been synthesized very recently [P. Ruffieux et al., Nature (London) 531, 489 (2016)], and their descriptions require more sophisticated methods since in this regime conventional methods, like mean-field or density-functional theory with local-density approximation, fail to capture the enhanced quantum fluctuations. Using the unbiased density-matrix renormalization-group algorithm, we calculate the charge gaps with high accuracy for different widths and interaction strengths and compare them with mean-field results. It turns out that the gaps are much smaller in the former case due to the proper treatment of quantum fluctuations. Applying the elements of quantum information theory, we also reveal the entanglement structure inside a ribbon and examine the spectrum of subsystem density matrices to understand the origin of entanglement. We examine the possibility of magnetic ordering and the effect of magnetic field. Our findings are relevant for understanding the gap values in different recent experiments and the deviations between them.

Recent reports have demonstrated the $Z_2$ topological property of the superconductor ${\mathrm{PbTaSe}}_2$ ($T_c\sim 3.8$ K). ${\mathrm{PbTaSe}}_2$ simultaneously exhibits superconductivity and nontrivial $Z_2$ topology without the need for doping or proximity effect. Scanning tunneling microscopy confirms that the topological surface states are gapped by superconductivity, indicating the likelihood of the chiral $p_x+i{p}_y$ pairing mechanism. Motivated by these exciting findings, we predict by means of the first-principles scheme that $AB{\mathrm{Se}}_2$ ($A=\text{Pb}$ or Sn and $B=\text{Ta}$ or Nb) is also a superconductor with nontrivial $Z_2$ topology. Among these, ${\mathrm{SnNbSe}}_2$ shows the highest $T_c\sim 7.0$ K. Due to the fact that the required energy resolution to detect the Majorana bound states is of the order of ${\mathrm{\Delta }}^2/{\varepsilon }_F$, the predicted higher $T_c$ of $AB{\mathrm{Se}}_2$ may help mitigate some experimental challenges and provides a better platform for the exploration of the topological superconductivity.

In the search for an accurate and computationally efficient approximation to the exact exchange potential of Kohn-Sham density functional theory, we recently compared various semilocal exchange potentials to the exact one [F. Tran et al., Phys. Rev. B 91, 165121 (2015)]. It was concluded that the Becke-Johnson (BJ) potential is a very good starting point, but requires the use of empirical parameters to obtain good agreement with the exact exchange potential. In this work, we extend the comparison by considering the Krieger-Li-Iafrate (KLI) approximation, which is a beyond-semilocal approximation. It is shown that overall the KLI- and BJ-based potentials are the most reliable approximations to the exact exchange potential, however, sizable differences, especially for the antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxides, can be obtained.

We study the dynamics of quantum three-level systems due to fast fluctuations of their environment (white noise). As an example, we model the decoherence and dephasing of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond that are positioned near a surface that gives rise to quickly fluctuating magnetic field noise, with and without the presence of a rf field that couples levels of the ground electronic state manifold. We use a simple quantum mechanical model that allows for analytical solutions. The model treats the NV three-level ground state in the presence of rapidly fluctuating magnetic fields that arise from the environment and result in decoherence, dephasing, and dissipation. We show that the magnetic field fluctuations can couple all the elements of the density matrix of the three-level system. Hence, all 9 eigenmodes may contribute to both population and coherence dynamics. We also discuss consequences for fitting experiments in which decoherence plays a role.

Group-VI monochalcogenides are attracting a great deal of attention due to their peculiar anisotropic properties. Very recently, it has been suggested that GeS could act as a promissory absorbing material with high input-output ratios, which are relevant features for designing prospective optoelectronic devices. In this work, we use the ab initio many-body perturbation theory to study the role of electron-phonon coupling on orthorhombic GeS. We identify the vibrational modes that efficiently couple with the electronic states responsible for giving rise to the first and second excitonic state. We also study finite-temperature optical absorption, and we show that even at $T\to 0\text{K}$, the role of the electron-phonon interaction is crucial to properly describe the position and width of the main experimental excitation peaks. Our results suggest that the electron-phonon coupling is essential to properly describe the optical properties of the monochalcogenides family.

We investigate the structural modulations induced by optical excitation of a polar phonon mode in ${\mathrm{YBa}}_2{\mathrm{Cu}}_3{\mathrm{O}}_7$ using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. We focus on the intense-excitation regime in which we expect that fourth-order phonon-phonon coupling terms dominate and model the structural modulations induced by pulses of such intensity. Our calculations of the phonon-phonon anharmonicities confirm that the cubic coupling between modes, shown in earlier work to cause a quasistatic change in the apical O-Cu distance and a buckling of the ${\mathrm{CuO}}_2$ planes, is the leading contribution at moderate pump strengths. At higher pump strengths ($\sim 10\mathrm{MV}/\mathrm{cm}$) the previously neglected quartic couplings become relevant and produce an additional shearing of the ${\mathrm{CuO}}_2$ planes. Finally, we analyze the changes in the electronic and magnetic properties associated with the induced structural changes.

Barium titanate (${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_3$) is a prototypical ferroelectric perovskite that undergoes the rhombohedral-orthorhombic-tetragonal-cubic phase transitions as the temperature increases. In this paper, we develop a classical interatomic potential for ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_3$ within the framework of the bond-valence theory. The force field is parametrized from first-principles results, enabling accurate large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations at finite temperatures. Our model potential for ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_3$ reproduces the temperature-driven phase transitions in isobaric-isothermal ensemble ($NPT$) MD simulations. This potential allows for the analysis of ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_3$ structures with atomic resolution. By analyzing the local displacements of Ti atoms, we demonstrate that the phase transitions of ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_3$ exhibit a mix of order-disorder and displacive characters. Besides, from a detailed observation of structural dynamics during phase transition, we discover that the global phase transition is associated with changes in the equilibrium value and fluctuations of each polarization component, including the ones already averaging to zero, Contrary to the conventional understanding that temperature increase generally causes bond-softening transition, the $x$-polarization component (the one which is polar in both the orthorhombic and the tetragonal phases) exhibits a bond-hardening character during the orthorhombic-to-tetragonal transition. These results provide further insight about the temperature-driven phase transitions in ${\mathrm{BaTiO}}_3$.

In conventional $s$-wave superconductors, only magnetic impurities exhibit impurity bound states, whereas for an $s_{\pm }$ order parameter they can occur for both magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities. Impurity bound states in superconductors can thus provide important insight into the order parameter. Here, we present a combined experimental and theoretical study of native and engineered iron-site defects in LiFeAs. A detailed comparison of tunneling spectra measured on impurities with spin-fluctuation theory reveals a continuous evolution from negligible impurity-bound-state features for weaker scattering potential to clearly detectable states for somewhat stronger scattering potentials. All bound states for these intermediate strength potentials are pinned at or close to the gap edge of the smaller gap, a phenomenon that we explain and ascribe to multiorbital physics.

We investigate spin transport through metallic antiferromagnets using measurements based on spin pumping combined with inverse spin Hall effects in $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{i}}_{80}\mathrm{F}{\mathrm{e}}_{20}/\mathrm{FeMn}/\mathrm{W}$ trilayers. The relatively large magnitude and opposite sign of spin Hall effects in W compared to FeMn enable an unambiguous detection of spin currents transmitted through the entire FeMn layer thickness. Using this approach we can detect two distinctively different spin transport regimes, which we associate with electronic and magnonic spin currents, respectively. The latter can extend to relatively large distances (≈9 nm) and is enhanced when the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature is close to the measurement temperature.

We present a theoretical study of the nonlocal anomalous Hall effect induced by heavy-metal impurities in dilute magnetic alloys based on noble metals. The results of our first-principles calculations are shown in comparison to those obtained within a model consideration via Matthiessen's rule. Based on the transport properties of the constituent binary alloys, we reveal optimal host-impurity combinations to enhance the phenomenon. In particular, this allows us to explain experimental findings showing a strong effect in Cu-based alloys but a vanishing effect in the case of the Au host.

A system driven in the vicinity of its critical point by varying a relevant field in an arbitrary function of time is a generic system that possesses a long relaxation time compared with the driving time scale and thus represents a large class of nonequilibrium systems. For such a manifestly nonlinear nonequilibrium strongly fluctuating system, we show that there exists universal nonequilibrium critical behavior that is incredibly well described by its equilibrium critical properties. A dynamic renormalization-group theory is developed to account for the behavior. The weak driving may give rise to several time scales depending on its form and thus rich nonequilibrium phenomena of various regimes and their crossovers, negative susceptibilities, as well as a violation of fluctuation-dissipation theorem and hysteresis. An initial condition that can be in either equilibrium or nonequilibrium but has longer correlations than the driving scales also results in a unique regime and complicates the situation. The implication of the results on measurement is also discussed. The theory may shed light on the study of other nonequilibrium systems and even nonlinear science.

A small angle neutron inelastic scattering measurement has been performed to study the magnon dispersion relation in the field-induced ferromagnetic phase of the noncentrosymmetric binary compound MnSi. For the magnons propagating parallel or antiparallel to the external magnetic field, we experimentally confirmed that the dispersion relation is asymmetrically shifted along the magnetic field direction. This magnon dispersion shift is attributed to the relativistic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, which is finite in noncentrosymmetric magnets, such as MnSi. The shift direction is found to be switchable by reversing the external magnetic field direction.