Double symmetry breaking and 2D quantum phase diagram in spin-boson systems

The quantum ground state properties of two independent chains of spins (two-levels systems) interacting with the same bosonic field are theoretically investigated. Each chain is coupled to a different quadrature of the field, leading to two independent symmetry breakings for increasing values of the two spin-boson interaction constants $\Omega_C$ and $\Omega_I$. A phase diagram is provided in the plane ($\Omega_C$,$\Omega_I$) with 4 different phases that can be characterized by the complex bosonic coherence of the ground states and can be manipulated via non-abelian Berry effects. In particular, when $\Omega_C$ and $\Omega_I$ are both larger than two critical values, the fundamental subspace has a four-fold degeneracy. Possible implementations in superconducting or atomic systems are discussed

Time-reversal symmetry breaking Abelian chiral spin liquid in Mott phases of three-component fermions on the triangular lattice

We provide numerical evidence in favor of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking and the concomitant appearance of an Abelian chiral spin liquid for three-component fermions on the triangular lattice described by an SU(3) symmetric Hubbard model with hopping amplitude $-t$ ($t>0$) and on-site interaction $U$. This chiral phase is stabilized in the Mott phase with one particle per site in the presence of a uniform $\pi$-flux per plaquette, and in the Mott phase with two particles per site without any flux. Our approach relies on effective spin models derived in the strong-coupling limit in powers of $t/U$ for general SU$(N)$ and arbitrary uniform charge flux per plaquette, which are subsequently studied using exact diagonalizations and variational Monte Carlo simulations for $N=3$, as well as exact diagonalizations of the SU($3$) Hubbard model on small clusters. Up to third order in $t/U$, and for the time-reversal symmetric cases (flux $0$ or $\pi$), the low-energy description is given by the $J$-$K$ model with Heisenberg coupling $J$ and real ring exchange $K$. The phase diagram in the full $J$-$K$ parameter range contains, apart from three already known, magnetically long-range ordered phases, two previously unreported phases: i) a lattice nematic phase breaking the lattice rotation symmetry and ii) a spontaneous time-reversal and parity symmetry breaking Abelian chiral spin liquid. For the Hubbard model, an investigation that includes higher-order itinerancy effects supports the presence of a phase transition inside the insulating region, occurring at $(t/U)_{\rm c}\approx 0.07$ [$(U/t)_{\rm c} \approx 13$] between the three-sublattice magnetically ordered phase at small $t/U$ and this Abelian chiral spin liquid.Comment: 21 pages, 23 figure

Finding the brightest galactic bulge microlensing events with a small aperture telescope and image subtraction

Following the suggestion of Gould and Depoy (1998) we investigate the feasibility of studying the brightest microlensing events towards the Galactic bulge using a small aperture (≈ 10 cm) telescope. We used one of the HAT telescopes to obtain 151 expos

Reddening and Extinction Toward the Galactic Bulge from OGLE-III: The Inner Milky Way's Rv ~ 2.5 Extinction Curve

We combine VI photometry from OGLE-III with VVV and 2MASS measurements of E(J-K_{s}) to resolve the longstanding problem of the non-standard optical extinction toward the Galactic bulge. We show that the extinction is well-fit by the relation A_{I} = 0.7465*E(V-I) + 1.3700*E(J-K_{s}), or, equivalently, A_{I} = 1.217*E(V-I)(1+1.126*(E(J-K_{s})/E(V-I)-0.3433)). The optical and near-IR reddening law toward the inner Galaxy approximately follows an R_{V} \approx 2.5 extinction curve with a dispersion {\sigma}_{R_{V}} \approx 0.2, consistent with extragalactic investigations of the hosts of type Ia SNe. Differential reddening is shown to be significant on scales as small as as our mean field size of 6', with the 1{\sigma} dispersion in reddening averaging 9% of total reddening for our fields. The intrinsic luminosity parameters of the Galactic bulge red clump (RC) are derived to be (M_{I,RC}, \sigma_{I,RC,0}, (V-I)_{RC,0}, \sigma_{(V-I)_{RC}}, (J-K_{s})_{RC,0}) = (-0.12, 0.09, 1.06, 0.121, 0.66). Our measurements of the RC brightness, brightness dispersion and number counts allow us to estimate several Galactic bulge structural parameters. We estimate a distance to the Galactic center of 8.20 kpc, resolving previous discrepancies in distance determinations to the bulge based on I-band observations. We measure an upper bound on the tilt {\alpha} \approx 40{\deg}. between the bar's major axis and the Sun-Galactic center line of sight, though our brightness peaks are consistent with predictions of an N-body model oriented at {\alpha} \approx 25{\deg}. The number of RC stars suggests a total stellar mass for the Galactic bulge of 2.0*10^{10} M_{\odot}, if one assumes a Salpeter IMF.Comment: 61 Pages, 21 Figures, 4 Tables, Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal and modified as per a referee report. Includes reddening, reddening law, differential reddening, mean distance, dispersion in distance, surface density of stars and errors thereof for ~9,000 bulge sightlines. For a brief video explaining the key result of this paper, see http://www.youtube.com/user/OSUAstronom

Experimental evidence of accelerated seismic release without critical failure in acoustic emissions of compressed nanoporous materials

The total energy of acoustic emission (AE) events in externally stressed materials diverges when approaching macroscopic failure. Numerical and conceptual models explain this accelerated seismic release (ASR) as the approach to a critical point that coincides with ultimate failure. Here, we report ASR during soft uniaxial compression of three silica-based (SiO$_2$) nanoporous materials. Instead of a singular critical point, the distribution of AE energies is stationary and variations in the activity rate are sufficient to explain the presence of multiple periods of ASR leading to distinct brittle failure events. We propose that critical failure is suppressed in the AE statistics by dissipation and transient hardening. Some of the critical exponents estimated from the experiments are compatible with mean field models, while others are still open to interpretation in terms of the solution of frictional and fracture avalanche models.Comment: preprint, Main article: 7 pages, 3 figures. Supplementary material included in \anc folder: 6 pages, 3 figure

Is there a no-go theorem for superradiant quantum phase transitions in cavity and circuit QED ?

In cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), the interaction between an atomic transition and the cavity field is measured by the vacuum Rabi frequency $\Omega_0$. The analogous term "circuit QED" has been introduced for Josephson junctions, because superconducting circuits behave as artificial atoms coupled to the bosonic field of a resonator. In the regime with $\Omega_0$ comparable to the two-level transition frequency, "superradiant" quantum phase transitions for the cavity vacuum have been predicted, e.g. within the Dicke model. Here, we prove that if the time-independent light-matter Hamiltonian is considered, a superradiant quantum critical point is forbidden for electric dipole atomic transitions due to the oscillator strength sum rule. In circuit QED, the capacitive coupling is analogous to the electric dipole one: yet, such no-go property can be circumvented by Cooper pair boxes capacitively coupled to a resonator, due to their peculiar Hilbert space topology and a violation of the corresponding sum rule

Avalanches from charged domain wall motion in BaTiO3 during ferroelectric switching

We report two methods for direct observations of avalanches in ferroelectric materials during the motion of domain walls. In the first method, we use optical imaging techniques to derive changes in domain structures under an electric field. All changes occur through small jumps (jerks) that obey avalanche statistics. In the second method, we analyze jerks by their displacement current. Both methods reveal a power law distribution with an energy exponent of 1.6, in agreement with previous acoustic emission measurements, and integrated mean field theory. This new combination of methods allows us to probe both polarization and strain variations during the motion of domain walls and can be used for a much wider class of ferroelectrics, including ceramic samples, than acoustic emission