Calculations combining first-principles electron-phonon ($e$-ph) interactions with the Boltzmann equation enable studies of ultrafast carrier and phonon dynamics. However, in materials with weak Coulomb screening, electrons and holes form bound excitons so their scattering processes become correlated, posing additional challenges for modeling nonequilibrium physics. Here we show calculations of ultrafast exciton dynamics and related time-domain spectroscopies using ab initio exciton-phonon (ex-ph) interactions together with an excitonic Boltzmann equation. Starting from the nonequilibrium exciton populations, we develop simulations of time-domain absorption and photoemission spectra that take into account electron-hole correlations. We use this method to study monolayer ${\mathrm{WSe}}_2$, where our calculations predict subpicosecond timescales for exciton relaxation and valley depolarization and reveal the key role of intermediate dark excitons. The approach introduced in this paper enables a quantitative description of nonequilibrium dynamics and ultrafast spectroscopies in materials with strongly bound excitons.

We investigate the momentum-resolved spin and charge susceptibilities, as well as the chemical potential and double occupancy in the two-dimensional Hubbard model as functions of doping, temperature, and interaction strength. Through these quantities, we identify a weak-coupling regime, a strong-coupling regime with short-range correlations and an intermediate-coupling regime with long magnetic correlation lengths. In the spin channel, we observe an additional crossover from commensurate to incommensurate correlations. In contrast, we find charge correlations to be only short ranged for all studied temperatures, which suggests that the spin and charge responses are decoupled. These findings were obtained by a connected determinant diagrammatic Monte Carlo algorithm for the computation of double expansions, which we introduce in this paper. This permits us to obtain numerically exact results at temperatures as low as $T=0.067$ and interactions up to $U=7$, while working on arbitrarily large lattices. Our method also allows us to gain physical insights from investigating the analytic structure of perturbative series. We connect to previous work by studying smaller lattice geometries and report substantial finite-size effects.

The use of intense tailored light fields is the perfect tool to achieve ultrafast control of electronic properties in quantum materials. Among them, Mott insulators are materials in which strong electron-electron interactions drive the material into an insulating phase. When shining a Mott insulator with a strong laser pulse, the electric field may induce the creation of doublon-hole pairs, triggering a photoinduced transition into a metallic state. In this paper, we take advantage of the threshold character of this photoinduced transition and we propose a setup that consists of a midinfrared laser pulse and a train of short pulses separated by a half period of the midinfrared with alternating phases. By varying the time delay between the two pulses and the internal carrier envelope phase of the short pulses, we achieve control of the phase transition, which leaves its fingerprint at its high harmonic spectrum.

The current fluctuations due to a temperature bias, i.e., the delta-$T$ noise, allow one to access properties of strongly interacting systems which cannot be addressed by the usual voltage-induced noise. In this work, we study the full delta-$T$ noise between two different fractional quantum Hall edge states, with filling factors $({\nu }_L,{\nu }_R)$ in the Laughlin sequence, coupled through a quantum point contact and connected to two reservoirs at different temperatures. We are able to solve exactly the problem for all couplings and for any set of temperatures in the specific case of a hybrid junction $(1/3,1)$. Moreover, we derive a universal analytical expression which connects the delta-$T$ noise to the equilibrium one valid for all generic pairs $({\nu }_L,{\nu }_R)$ up to the first order in the temperature mismatch. We expect that this linear term can be accessible in today's experimental setups. We describe the two opposite-coupling regimes focusing on the strong one, which corresponds to a nontrivial situation. Our analysis on delta-$T$ noise allows us to better understand the transport properties of strongly interacting systems and to move toward more involved investigations concerning the statistics and scaling dimension of their emergent excitations.

Utilizing optimal control to simulate a model Hamiltonian is an emerging strategy that leverages the intrinsic physics of a device with digital quantum simulation methods. Here we evaluate optimal control for probing the nonequilibrium properties of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) states simulated with superconducting hardware. Assuming a tunable transmon architecture, we cast the evolution of these SPT states as a series of one- and two-site pulse optimization problems that are solved in the presence of leakage constraints. From the generated pulses, we classically simulate the time-dependent melting of the perturbed SPT string order across a six-site model with an average state infidelity of ${10}^{-3}$. The feasibility of these pulses as well as their efficient application indicate that high-fidelity simulations of string order melting are within reach of current quantum computing systems.

Most of the spiral magnetoelectric multiferroics investigated in recent years are geometrically or exchange-frustrated magnets, where the presence of triangular or other frustrated spin networks produce low magnetic transition temperatures. This critically limits their potential uses. The exceptional stability of the spiral magnetic order (at $T_S$) in the layered structure of the ${\mathrm{YBaCuFeO}}_5$ double perovskite involves a nonconventional mechanism: spiral order by disorder. The model has been theoretically developed by Scaramucci et al. [Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 013273 (2020)] after the discovery of a huge impact of cation disorder on $T_S$ [M. Morin et al., Nat. Commun. 7, 13758 (2016)]. In this work the influence of disorder (and only disorder) on the magnetic phase diagram is studied on a quantitative basis extending the range of previous studies. We thoroughly investigate the impact of frustration due to $B$-site disorder ($n_d$) on the magnetic spirals in the reference composition ${\mathrm{YBaCuFeO}}_5$. The interplay between disorder, stability, and the detailed features of the incommensurate spiral magnetic orders were systematic, quantitative, and methodically investigated in samples of identical composition, spanning a wide range of $n_d$ values. Three different regimes are distinguished in the ${\mathrm{YBaCuFeO}}_5$ phase diagram versus disorder. A triple point is found in ${\mathrm{YBaCuFeO}}_5$ driven by Fe/Cu disorder that sets limits to $T_S$ and the cycloidal component of the helicoidal order. These layered materials appear as a very efficient realization of the avenue “spiral order by disorder” to supply functional helimagnets at normal working temperatures.

Unconventional Weyl semimetals have attracted intensive research interest in condensed-matter physics and materials science, but they are very rare in two dimensions. In this work, based on symmetry analysis and first-principles electronic structure calculations, we predict that the Si/Bi van der Waals heterostructure is a two-dimensional unconventional quadratic double Weyl semimetal with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Although unprotected by the $C_{3v}$ double group symmetry of the heterostructure, the two-dimensional quadratic double Weyl semimetal is stable for compressive strains up to 6.64%. The system transforms into a trivial semimetal with further increasing strain, where the phase boundary is a two-dimensional triply degenerate semimetal state. Furthermore, the Kane-Mele tight-binding model calculations show that the quadratic double Weyl phase is derived from the competition between the Rashba SOC and the proximity-effect-enhanced intrinsic SOC. On the other hand, by breaking mirror symmetry, the quadratic double Weyl semimetal transforms into a quantum spin Hall insulator as well as a quantum valley Hall insulator phase. Thus, the Si/Bi heterostructure is an excellent platform for studying the exotic physics of the two-dimensional double Weyl semimetal and other novel topological phases.

Prestress in amorphous solids bears the memory of their formation and plays a profound role in their mechanical properties. Here we develop a set of mathematical tools to investigate mechanical response of prestressed systems, using stress rather than strain as the fundamental variable. This theory allows microscopic prestress to vary for the same bond or contact configuration and is particularly convenient for nonconservative systems, such as granular packings and jammed suspensions, where there is no well-defined reference state, invalidating conventional elasticity. Using prestressed nonconservative triangular lattices and a computational model of amorphous solids, we show that drastically different mechanical responses can show up in amorphous materials at the same density, due to nonconservative interactions which evolve over time, or different preparation protocols. In both cases, the information is encoded in the prestress of the network and not visible at all from the configurations of the network in the case of nonconservative interactions.

We present that two spin defects (SDs) can be entangled through a magnon polariton mode, within the strong-coupling regime. The magnon polariton modes are provided by an antiferromagnetic (AFM) ${\mathrm{MnF}}_2$ layer, where the dispersion of the modes is characterized by the layer's thickness. The macroscopic quantum electrodynamics theory is used to describe the light-matter interactions, where the Green's functions are its core elements. The individual SD relaxes by exciting the magnon polariton modes, exhibiting high enhancement values of the Purcell factor. When two SDs are considered, an oscillatory exchange of population probability is observed between them, a sign of strong-coupling light-matter interactions, where the concurrence value is used to quantify the level of entanglement. The thinner AF layers can potentially be used to promote interactions between multiple spins through long-range coupling. This is a desired feature to fabricate high-demand applications in the fields of quantum measurement and computation.

Quantum impurities exhibit fascinating many-body phenomena when the small interacting impurity changes the physics of a large noninteracting environment. The characterisation of such strongly correlated nonperturbative effects is particularly challenging due to the infinite size of the environment, and the inability of local correlators to capture the buildup of long-ranged entanglement in the system. Here, we harness an entanglement-based observable—the purity of the impurity—as a witness for the formation of strong correlations. We showcase the utility of our scheme by exactly solving the open Kondo box model in the small box limit, and thus describe all-electronic dot-cavity devices. Specifically, we conclusively characterize the metal-to-insulator phase transition in the system and identify how the (conducting) dot-lead Kondo singlet is quenched by an (insulating) intraimpurity singlet formation. Furthermore, we propose an experimentally feasible tomography protocol for the measurement of the purity, which motivates the observation of impurity physics through their entanglement build up.

The hydrodynamic behavior of electron fluids in a certain range of temperatures and densities is well established in graphene and in two-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures. The hydrodynamic regime is intrinsically based on electron-electron interactions, and therefore it provides a unique opportunity to study electron correlations. Unfortunately, in simple longitudinal resistance measurements, the relative contribution of hydrodynamic effects to transport is rather small, especially at higher temperatures. Viscous hydrodynamic effects are masked by impurities, interaction with phonons, uncontrolled boundaries, and ballistic effects. This essentially limits the accuracy of measurements of electron viscosity. Fundamentally, what causes viscous friction in the electron fluid is the property of the flow called vorticity. In this paper, we propose to use micromagnets to increase the vorticity by orders of magnitude. Experimental realization of this proposal will bring electron hydrodynamics to a qualitatively new precision level, as well as opening a new way to characterize and externally control the electron fluid.

Periodic driving of a quantum (or classical) many-body system can alter the system's properties significantly and therefore has emerged as a promising way to engineer exotic quantum phases, such as topological insulators and discrete time crystals. A major limitation in such setups, is that generally interacting, driven systems will heat up over time and lose the desired properties. Understanding the relevant timescales is thus an important topic in the field and so far, there have only been a few approaches to determine heating times for a concrete system quantitatively, and in a computationally efficient way. In this paper, we propose a new approach, based on building the heating rate from microscopic processes, encoded in avoided level crossings of the Floquet propagator. We develop a method able to resolve individual crossings and show how to construct the heating rate based on these. The method is closely related to the Fermi golden rule approach for weak drives, but can go beyond it, since it captures nonperturbative effects by construction. This enables our method to be applicable in scenarios such as the heating time of discrete time crystals or frequency-dependent couplings, which are very relevant for Floquet engineering, where previously no efficient methods for estimating heating times were available.

The ultrastrong coupling of single-electron tunneling and nanomechanical motion opens exciting opportunities to explore fundamental questions and develop new platforms for quantum technologies. We have measured and modeled this electromechanical coupling in a fully suspended carbon nanotube device and report a ratio of $g_{\text{m}}/{\omega }_{\mathrm{m}}=2.72\pm 0.14$, where $g_{\text{m}}/2\pi =0.80\pm 0.04\mathrm{GHz}$ is the coupling strength and ${\omega }_{\mathrm{m}}/2\pi =294.5\mathrm{MHz}$ is the mechanical resonance frequency. This is well within the ultrastrong coupling regime and the highest among all other electromechanical platforms. We show that, although this regime was present in similar fully suspended carbon nanotube devices, it went unnoticed. Even higher ratios could be achieved with improvement on device design.

We apply Bayesian statistics to the estimation of correlation functions. We give the probability distributions of auto- and cross-correlations as functions of the data. Our procedure uses the measured data optimally and informs about the certainty level of the estimation. Our results apply to general stationary processes and their essence is a nonparametric estimation of spectra. It allows one to better understand the statistical noise fluctuations, assess the correlations between two variables, and postulate parametric models of spectra that can be further tested. We also propose a method to numerically generate correlated noise with a given spectrum.

Most spreading processes require spatial proximity between agents. The stationary state of spreading dynamics in a population of mobile agents thus depends on the interplay between the time and length scales involved in the epidemic process and their motion in space. We analyze the steady properties resulting from such interplay in a simple model describing epidemic spreading (modeled as a susceptible-infected-susceptible process) on self-propelled particles (performing run-and-tumble motion). Focusing our attention on the diffusive long-time regime, we find that the agents' motion changes qualitatively the nature of the epidemic transition from an inactive phase to an active one, characterized by the emergence of a macroscopic fraction of infected agents. Indeed, the transition becomes of the mean-field type for agents diffusing in one, two, and three dimensions, while, in the absence of motion, the epidemic outbreak depends on the dimension of the underlying static network determined by the agents' fixed locations. The insights obtained from a continuum description of the system are validated by numerical simulations of an agent-based model. Our work aims at establishing a connection between the research fields of soft active matter physics and theoretical epidemiology, and may be of interest for both communities.

The breached-pair state wherein superconductivity coexists with magnetic polarization is known to exist as a ground state of an imbalanced Fermi system only under very fine-tuned conditions. Here, we show that an s-wave superconductor that is well described by a spin-selectively disordered attractive Hubbard model away from half filling has the breached-pair state as a ground-state without the need for such fine-tuning. The existence of this breached-pair phase is established by laying recourse to a Monte Carlo technique called static path approximation (SPA). Further, by using the SPA, we map out the entire phase diagram of the spin-selectively disordered attractive Hubbard model and show that apart from the breached-pair phase, the many-body system hosts the putative s-wave superconducting state and a polarized Fermi-liquid state.

The at-will control of quantum states is a primary goal of quantum science and technology. The celebrated Hahn echo exemplifies such quantum-state control based on a time-reversal process in a few-level system. Here, we propose a different echo phenomenon associated with the energy-band structure in quantum many-body systems. We show that the dynamics of quasiparticle wave packets can be reversed by a driving electric-field pulse, yielding echoes with the time-reversed waveform of the optical excitation pulse when the quasiparticles recombine. The present echoes are observed not only in band insulators but also in correlated insulators, including a Mott insulator and a spontaneously-broken-symmetry charge-ordered insulator, in one- and higher-dimensional systems, irrespective of the integrability of the models. Analytical expressions reveal the conditions under which the echoes appear, and they also indicate that the frequency of the echo pulses reflects the dispersion relation for quasiparticles such as electron-hole pairs, doublon-holon pairs, and kink-antikink pairs. These findings provide a framework for all-optical momentum-resolved spectroscopy of the quasiparticles in quantum many-body systems.