More Like this

1. Clock transitions generated by defects in silica glass

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0239469  

   Sheehan, Brendan_C; Chen, Guanchu; Friedman, Jonathan_R (December 2024, Applied Physics Letters)

   Clock transitions (CTs) in spin systems, which occur at avoided level crossings, enhance quantum coherence lifetimes T2 because the transition becomes immune to the decohering effects of magnetic field fluctuations to first order. We present the first electron-spin resonance characterization of CTs in certain defect-rich silica glasses, noting coherence times up to 16 μs at the CTs. We find CT behavior at zero magnetic field in borosilicate and aluminosilicate glasses, but not in a variety of silica glasses lacking boron or aluminum. Annealing reduces or eliminates the zero-field signal. Since boron and aluminum have the same valence and are acceptors when substituted for silicon, we suggest the observed CT behavior could be generated by a spin-1 boron vacancy center within the borosilicate glass, and similarly, an aluminum vacancy center in the aluminosilicate glass. 

   more » « less
2. Many-body quantum chaos in stroboscopically-driven cold atoms

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-023-01258-1  

   Dağ, Ceren B; Mistakidis, Simeon I; Chan, Amos; Sadeghpour, H R (December 2023, Communications Physics)

   Abstract In quantum chaotic systems, the spectral form factor (SFF), defined as the Fourier transform of two-level spectral correlation function, is known to follow random matrix theory (RMT), namely a ‘ramp’ followed by a ‘plateau’ in late times. Recently, a generic early-time deviation from RMT, so-called the ‘bump’, was shown to exist in random quantum circuits as toy models for many-body quantum systems. We demonstrate the existence of ‘bump-ramp-plateau’ behavior in the SFF for a number of paradigmatic and stroboscopically-driven 1D cold-atom models: spinless and spin-1/2 Bose-Hubbard models, and nonintegrable spin-1 condensate with contact or dipolar interactions. We find that the scaling of the many-body Thouless timet_Th—the onset of RMT—, and the bump amplitude are more sensitive to variations in atom number than the lattice size regardless of the hyperfine structure, the symmetry classes, or the choice of driving protocol. Moreover,t_Thscaling and the increase of the bump amplitude in atom number are significantly slower in spinor gases than interacting bosons in 1D optical lattices, demonstrating the role of locality. We obtain universal scaling functions of SFF which suggest power-law behavior for the bump regime in quantum chaotic cold-atom systems, and propose an interference measurement protocol. 

   more » « less
3. Potential energy landscape formalism for quantum molecular liquids

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-024-01342-9  

   Eltareb, Ali; Zhou, Yang; Lopez, Gustavo_E; Giovambattista, Nicolas (December 2024, Communications Chemistry)

   Abstract The potential energy landscape (PEL) formalism is a powerful tool within statistical mechanics to study the thermodynamic properties of classical low-temperature liquids and glasses. Recently, the PEL formalism has been extended to liquids/glasses that obey quantum mechanics, but applications have been limited to atomistic model liquids. In this work, we extend the PEL formalism to liquid/glassy water using path-integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) simulations, where nuclear quantum effects (NQE) are included. Our PIMD simulations, based on the q-TIP4P/F water model, show that the PEL of quantum water is both Gaussian and anharmonic. Importantly, the ring-polymers associated to the O/H atoms in the PIMD simulations, collapse at the local minima of the PEL (inherent structures, IS) for both liquid and glassy states. This allows us to calculate, analytically, the IS vibrational density of states (IS-VDOS) of the ring-polymer system using the IS-VDOS of classical water (obtained from classical MD simulations). The role of NQE on the structural properties of liquid/glassy water at various pressures are discussed in detail. Overall, our results demonstrate that the PEL formalism can effectively describe the behavior of molecular liquids at low temperatures and in the glass states, regardless of whether the liquid/glass obeys classical or quantum mechanics. 

   more » « less
4. Imaginary-time open-chain path-integral approach for two-state time correlation functions and applications in charge transfer

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0098162  

   Liu, Zengkui; Xu, Wen; Tuckerman, Mark E.; Sun, Xiang (September 2022, The Journal of Chemical Physics)

   Quantum time correlation functions (TCFs) involving two states are important for describing nonadiabatic dynamical processes such as charge transfer (CT). Based on a previous single-state method, we propose an imaginary-time open-chain path-integral (OCPI) approach for evaluating the two-state symmetrized TCFs. Expressing the forward and backward propagation on different electronic potential energy surfaces as a complex-time path integral, we then transform the path variables to average and difference variables such that the integration over the difference variables up to the second order can be performed analytically. The resulting expression for the symmetrized TCF is equivalent to sampling the open-chain configurations in an effective potential that corresponds to the average surface. Using importance sampling over the extended OCPI space via open path-integral molecular dynamics, we tested the resulting path-integral approximation by calculating the Fermi’s golden rule CT rate constant within a widely used spin-boson model. Comparing with the real-time linearized semiclassical method and analytical result, we show that the imaginary-time OCPI provides an accurate two-state symmetrized TCF and rate constant in the typical turnover region. It is shown that the first bead of the open chain corresponds to physical zero-time and that the endpoint bead corresponds to final time t; oscillations of the end-to-end distance perfectly match the nuclear mode frequency. The two-state OCPI scheme is seen to capture the tested model’s electronic quantum coherence and nuclear quantum effects accurately. 

   more » « less
5. Lefschetz thimble quantum Monte Carlo for spin systems

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.214416  

   Mooney, T. C.; Bringewatt, Jacob; Warrington, Neill C.; Brady, Lucas T. (December 2022, Physical Review B)

   Monte Carlo simulations are useful tools for modeling quantum systems, but in some cases they suffer from a sign problem, leading to an exponential slow down in their convergence to a value. While solving the sign problem is generically NP hard, many techniques exist for mitigating the sign problem in specific cases; in particular, the technique of deforming the Monte Carlo simulation's plane of integration onto Lefschetz thimbles (complex hypersurfaces of stationary phase) has seen significant success in the context of quantum field theories. We extend this methodology to spin systems by utilizing spin coherent state path integrals to reexpress the spin system's partition function in terms of continuous variables. Using some toy systems, we demonstrate its effectiveness at lessening the sign problem in this setting, despite the fact that the initial mapping to spin coherent states introduces its own sign problem. The standard formulation of the spin coherent path integral is known to make use of uncontrolled approximations; despite this, for large spins they are typically considered to yield accurate results, so it is somewhat surprising that our results show significant systematic errors. Therefore, possibly of independent interest, our use of Lefschetz thimbles to overcome the intrinsic sign problem in spin coherent state path integral Monte Carlo enables a novel numerical demonstration of a breakdown in the spin coherent path integral. 

   more » « less