Prof Dieter Jaksch

Abstract:

Spin-charge separation (SCS) is a striking manifestation of strong correlations in low-dimensional quantum systems, whereby a fermion splits into separate spin and charge excitations that travel at different speeds. Here, we demonstrate that periodic driving enables control over SCS in a Hubbard system near half filling. In one dimension, we predict analytically an exotic regime where charge travels slower than spin and can even become “frozen,” in agreement with numerical calculations. In two dimensions, the driving slows both charge and spin and leads to complex interferences between single-particle and pair-hopping processes.

Abstract:

In triangular lattice structures, spatial anisotropy and frustration can lead to rich equilibrium phase diagrams with regions containing complex, highly entangled states of matter. In this work, we study the driven two-rung triangular Hubbard model and evolve these states out of equilibrium, observing how the interplay between the driving and the initial state unexpectedly shuts down the particle-hole excitation pathway. This restriction, which symmetry arguments fail to predict, dictates the transient dynamics of the system, causing the available particle-hole degrees of freedom to manifest uniform long-range order. We discuss implications of our results for a recent experiment on photoinduced superconductivity in κ − ( BEDT − TTF ) 2 Cu [ N ( CN ) 2 ] Br molecules.

Abstract:

We discuss the emergence of non-stationarity in open quantum many-body systems. This leads us to the definition of dissipative time crystals which display experimentally observable, persistent, time-periodic oscillations induced by noisy contact with an environment. We use the Loschmidt echo and local observables to indicate the presence of a finite sized dissipative time crystal. Starting from the closed Hubbard model we then provide examples of dissipation mechanisms that yield experimentally observable quantum periodic dynamics and allow analysis of the emergence of finite sized dissipative time crystals. For a disordered Hubbard model including two-particle loss and gain we find a dark Hamiltonian driving oscillations between GHZ states in the long-time limit. Finally, we discuss how the presented examples could be experimentally realized.

Abstract:

The properties of organic conductors are often tuned by the application of chemical or external pressure, which change orbital overlaps and electronic bandwidths while leaving the molecular building blocks virtually unperturbed. Here, we show that, unlike any other method, light can be used to manipulate the local electronic properties at the molecular sites, giving rise to new emergent properties. Targeted molecular excitations in the charge-transfer salt κ−(BEDT−TTF)2 Cu[N(CN)2] Br induce a colossal increase in carrier mobility and the opening of a superconducting optical gap. Both features track the density of quasiparticles of the equilibrium metal and can be observed up to a characteristic coherence temperature T∗≃50K, far higher than the equilibrium transition temperature TC=12.5K. Notably, the large optical gap achieved by photoexcitation is not observed in the equilibrium superconductor, pointing to a light-induced state that is different from that obtained by cooling. First-principles calculations and model Hamiltonian dynamics predict a transient state with long-range pairing correlations, providing a possible physical scenario for photomolecular superconductivity.

Abstract:

We demonstrate how virtual scattering of laser photons inside a cavity via two-photon processes can induce controllable long-range electron interactions in two-dimensional materials. We show that laser light that is red(blue)-detuned from the cavity yields attractive(repulsive) interactions, whose strength is proportional to the laser intensity. Furthermore, we find that the interactions are not screened effectively except at very low frequencies. For realistic cavity parameters, laserinduced heating of the electrons by inelastic photon scattering is suppressed and coherent electron interactions dominate. When the interactions are attractive, they cause an instability in the Cooper channel at a temperature proportional to the square root of the driving intensity. Our results provide a novel route for engineering electron interactions in a wide range of two-dimensional materials including AB-stacked bilayer graphene and the conducting interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3.