Two-channel Kondo effect and renormalization flow with macroscopic quantum charge states

Many-body correlations and macroscopic quantum behaviors are fascinating condensed matter problems. A powerful test-bed for the many-body concepts and methods is the Kondo model which entails the coupling of a quantum impurity to a continuum of states. It is central in highly correlated systems and can be explored with tunable nanostructures. Although Kondo physics is usually associated with the hybridization of itinerant electrons with microscopic magnetic moments, theory predicts that it can arise whenever degenerate quantum states are coupled to a continuum. Here we demonstrate the previously elusive `charge' Kondo effect in a hybrid metal-semiconductor implementation of a single-electron transistor, with a quantum pseudospin-1/2 constituted by two degenerate macroscopic charge states of a metallic island. In contrast to other Kondo nanostructures, each conduction channel connecting the island to an electrode constitutes a distinct and fully tunable Kondo channel, thereby providing an unprecedented access to the two-channel Kondo effect and a clear path to multi-channel Kondo physics. Using a weakly coupled probe, we reveal the renormalization flow, as temperature is reduced, of two Kondo channels competing to screen the charge pseudospin. This provides a direct view of how the predicted quantum phase transition develops across the symmetric quantum critical point. Detuning the pseudospin away from degeneracy, we demonstrate, on a fully characterized device, quantitative agreement with the predictions for the finite-temperature crossover from quantum criticality.Comment: Letter (5 pages, 4 figures) and Methods (10 pages, 6 figures

Optical network physical layer parameter optimization for digital backpropagation using Gaussian processes

We present a novel methodology for optimizing fiber optic network performance by determining the ideal values for attenuation, nonlinearity, and dispersion parameters in terms of achieved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain from digital backpropagation (DBP). Our approach uses Gaussian process regression, a probabilistic machine learning technique, to create a computationally efficient model for mapping these parameters to the resulting SNR after applying DBP. We then use simplicial homology global optimization to find the parameter values that yield maximum SNR for the Gaussian process model within a set of a priori bounds. This approach optimizes the parameters in terms of the DBP gain at the receiver. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method through simulation and experimental testing, achieving optimal estimates of the dispersion, nonlinearity, and attenuation parameters. Our approach also highlights the limitations of traditional one-at-a-time grid search methods and emphasizes the interpretability of the technique. This methodology has broad applications in engineering and can be used to optimize performance in various systems beyond optical networks

Bose Hubbard Models with Synthetic Spin-Orbit Coupling: Mott Insulators, Spin Textures and Superfluidity

Motivated by the experimental realization of synthetic spin-orbit coupling for ultracold atoms, we investigate the phase diagram of the Bose Hubbard model in a non-abelian gauge field in two dimensions. Using a strong coupling expansion in the combined presence of spin-orbit coupling and tunable interactions, we find a variety of interesting magnetic Hamiltonians in the Mott insulator (MI), which support magnetic textures such as spin spirals and vortex and Skyrmion crystals. An inhomogeneous mean field treatment shows that the superfluid (SF) phases inherit these exotic magnetic orders from the MI and display, in addition, unusual modulated current patterns. We present a slave boson theory which gives insight into such intertwined spin-charge orders in the SF, and discuss signatures of these orders in Bragg scattering, in situ microscopy, and dynamic quench experiments.Comment: 4 pages + references + supplementary inf

Particle Dynamics in a Mass-Conserving Coalescence Process

We consider a fully asymmetric one-dimensional model with mass-conserving coalescence. Particles of unit mass enter at one edge of the chain and coalescence while performing a biased random walk towards the other edge where they exit. The conserved particle mass acts as a passive scalar in the reaction process $A+A\to A$, and allows an exact mapping to a restricted ballistic surface deposition model for which exact results exist. In particular, the mass- mass correlation function is exactly known. These results complement earlier exact results for the $A+A\to A$ process without mass. We introduce a comprehensive scaling theory for this process. The exact anaytical and numerical results confirm its validity.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Phase-Dependent Spontaneous Spin Polarization and Bifurcation Delay in Coupled Two-Component Bose-Einstein Condensates

The spontaneous spin polarization and bifurcation delay in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates coupled with laser or/and radio-frequency pulses are investigated. We find that the bifurcation and the spontaneous spin polarization are determined by both physical parameters and relative phase between two condensates. Through bifurcations, the system enters into the spontaneous spin polarization regime from the Rabi regime. We also find that bifurcation delay appears when the parameter is swept through a static bifurcation point. This bifurcation delay is responsible for metastability leading to hysteresis.Comment: Improved version for cond-mat/021157

Perfect Fluids and Bad Metals: Transport Analogies Between Ultracold Fermi Gases and High TcT_c Superconductors

In this paper, we examine in a unified fashion dissipative transport in strongly correlated systems. We thereby demonstrate the connection between "bad metals" (such as the high temperature superconductors) and "perfect fluids" (such as the ultracold Fermi gases, near unitarity). One motivation of this work is to communicate to the high energy physics community some of the central unsolved problems in high $T_c$ superconductors. Because of interest in the nearly perfect fluidity of the cold gases and because of new tools such as the AdS/CFT correspondence, this better communication may lead to important progress in a variety of different fields. A second motivation is to draw attention to the great power of transport measurements which more directly reflect the excitation spectrum than, say, thermodynamics and thus strongly constrain microscopic theories of correlated fermionic superfluids. Our calculations show that bad metal and perfect fluid behavior is associated with the presence of a normal state excitation gap which suppresses the effective number of carriers leading to anomalously low conductivity and viscosity above the transition temperature $T_c$. Below $T_c$ we demonstrate that the condensate collective modes ("phonons") do not couple to transverse probes such as the shear viscosity. As a result, our calculated shear viscosity at low $T$ becomes arbitrarily small as observed in experiments. In both homogeneous and trap calculations we do not find the upturn in $\eta$ or $\eta/s$ (where $s$ is the entropy density) found in most theories. In the process of these studies we demonstrate compatibility with the transverse sum rule and find reasonable agreement with both viscosity and cuprate conductivity experiments.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure