Tunable zero and first sounds in ultracold Fermi gases with Rabi coupling

We consider a weakly-interacting fermionic gas of alkali-metal atoms characterized by two hyper- fine states which are Rabi coupled. By using a Hartree approximation for the repulsive interaction we determine the zero-temperature equation of state of this Fermi gas in D spatial dimensions (D = 1, 2, 3). Then, adopting the Landau-Vlasov equation and hydrodynamic equations, we investi- gate the speed of first sound and zero sound. We show that the two sounds, which occur respectively in collisional and collisionless regimes, crucially depend on the interplay between interaction strength and Rabi coupling. Finally, we discuss for some experimentally relevant cases the effect of a trapping harmonic potential on the density profiles of the fermionic system.Comment: Accepted in Journal of Statistical Mechanic

Solvable 2D superconductors with l-wave pairing

We analyze a family of two-dimensional BCS Hamiltonians with general l-wave pairing interactions, classifying the models in this family that are Bethe-ansatz solvable in the finite-size regime. We show that these solutions are characterized by nontrivial winding numbers, associated with topological phases, in some part of the corresponding phase diagrams. By means of a comparative study, we demonstrate benefits and limitations of the mean-field approximation, which is the standard approach in the limit of a large number of particles. The mean-field analysis also allows to extend part of the results beyond integrability, clarifying the peculiarities associable with the integrability itself.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Current transport properties and phase diagram of a Kitaev chain with long-range pairing

We describe a method to probe the quantum phase transition between the short-range topological phase and the long-range topological phase in the superconducting Kitaev chain with long-range pairing, both exhibiting subgap modes localized at the edges. The method relies on the effects of the finite mass of the subgap edge modes in the long-range regime (which survives in the thermodynamic limit) on the single-particle scattering coefficients through the chain connected to two normal leads. Specifically, we show that, when the leads are biased at a voltage V with respect to the superconducting chain, the Fano factor is either zero (in the short-range correlated phase) or 2e (in the long-range correlated phase). As a result, we find that the Fano factor works as a directly measurable quantity to probe the quantum phase transition between the two phases. In addition, we note a remarkable "critical fractionalization effect" in the Fano factor, which is exactly equal to e along the quantum critical line. Finally, we note that a dual implementation of our proposed device makes it suitable as a generator of large-distance entangled two-particle states.Comment: 24 pages, 8 .eps figures Published versio

Homotopy, monopoles and 't Hooft tensor in QCD with generic gauge group

We study monopoles and corresponding 't Hooft tensor in QCD with a generic compact gauge group. This issue is relevant to the understanding of color confinement in terms of dual symmetry.Comment: 15 pages. Accepted for publication in JHE

Long-range Ising and Kitaev Models: Phases, Correlations and Edge Modes

We analyze the quantum phases, correlation functions and edge modes for a class of spin-1/2 and fermionic models related to the 1D Ising chain in the presence of a transverse field. These models are the Ising chain with anti-ferromagnetic long-range interactions that decay with distance $r$ as $1/r^\alpha$, as well as a related class of fermionic Hamiltonians that generalise the Kitaev chain, where both the hopping and pairing terms are long-range and their relative strength can be varied. For these models, we provide the phase diagram for all exponents $\alpha$, based on an analysis of the entanglement entropy, the decay of correlation functions, and the edge modes in the case of open chains. We demonstrate that violations of the area law can occur for $\alpha \lesssim1$, while connected correlation functions can decay with a hybrid exponential and power-law behaviour, with a power that is $\alpha$-dependent. Interestingly, for the fermionic models we provide an exact analytical derivation for the decay of the correlation functions at every $\alpha$. Along the critical lines, for all models breaking of conformal symmetry is argued at low enough $\alpha$. For the fermionic models we show that the edge modes, massless for $\alpha \gtrsim 1$, can acquire a mass for $\alpha < 1$. The mass of these modes can be tuned by varying the relative strength of the kinetic and pairing terms in the Hamiltonian. Interestingly, for the Ising chain a similar edge localization appears for the first and second excited states on the paramagnetic side of the phase diagram, where edge modes are not expected. We argue that, at least for the fermionic chains, these massive states correspond to the appearance of new phases, notably approached via quantum phase transitions without mass gap closure. Finally, we discuss the possibility to detect some of these effects in experiments with cold trapped ions.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Multicomponent meson superfluids in chiral perturbation theory

We show that the multicomponent meson systems can be described by chiral perturbation theory. We chiefly focus on a system of two pion gases at different isospin chemical potential, deriving the general expression of the chiral Lagrangian, the ground state properties and the spectrum of the low-energy excitations. We consider two different kinds of interactions between the two meson gases: one which does not lock the two chiral symmetry groups and one which does lock them. The former is a kind of interaction that has already been discussed in mutlicomponent superfluids. The latter is perhaps more interesting, because seems to be related to an instability. Although the pressure of the system does not show any instability, we find that for sufficiently strong locking, the spectrum of one Bogolyubov mode becomes tachyonic. This unstable branch seems to indicate a transition to an inhomogeneous phase.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Kitaev chains with long-range pairing

We propose and analyze a generalization of the Kitaev chain for fermions with long-range $p$-wave pairing, which decays with distance as a power-law with exponent $\alpha$. Using the integrability of the model, we demonstrate the existence of two types of gapped regimes, where correlation functions decay exponentially at short range and algebraically at long range ($\alpha > 1$) or purely algebraically ($\alpha < 1$). Most interestingly, along the critical lines, long-range pairing is found to break conformal symmetry for sufficiently small $\alpha$. This is accompanied by a violation of the area law for the entanglement entropy in large parts of the phase diagram in the presence of a gap, and can be detected via the dynamics of entanglement following a quench. Some of these features may be relevant for current experiments with cold atomic ions.Comment: 5+3 pages, 4+2 figure