Topology by dissipation

Topological states of fermionic matter can be induced by means of a suitably engineered dissipative dynamics. Dissipation then does not occur as a perturbation, but rather as the main resource for many-body dynamics, providing a targeted cooling into a topological phase starting from an arbitrary initial state. We explore the concept of topological order in this setting, developing and applying a general theoretical framework based on the system density matrix which replaces the wave function appropriate for the discussion of Hamiltonian ground-state physics. We identify key analogies and differences to the more conventional Hamiltonian scenario. Differences mainly arise from the fact that the properties of the spectrum and of the state of the system are not as tightly related as in a Hamiltonian context. We provide a symmetry-based topological classification of bulk steady states and identify the classes that are achievable by means of quasi-local dissipative processes driving into superfluid paired states. We also explore the fate of the bulk-edge correspondence in the dissipative setting, and demonstrate the emergence of Majorana edge modes. We illustrate our findings in one- and two-dimensional models that are experimentally realistic in the context of cold atoms.Comment: 61 pages, 8 figure

Nonperturbative versus perturbative effects in generalized parton distributions

Generalized parton distributions (GPDs) are studied at the hadronic (nonperturbative) scale within different assumptions based on a relativistic constituent quark model. In particular, by means of a meson-cloud model we investigate the role of nonperturbative antiquark degrees of freedom and the valence quark contribution. A QCD evolution of the obtained GPDs is used to add perturbative effects and to investigate the GPDs' sensitivity to the nonperturbative ingredients of the calculation at larger (experimental) scale.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Quantum Field Theory for the Three-Body Constrained Lattice Bose Gas -- Part I: Formal Developments

We develop a quantum field theoretical framework to analytically study the three-body constrained Bose-Hubbard model beyond mean field and non-interacting spin wave approximations. It is based on an exact mapping of the constrained model to a theory with two coupled bosonic degrees of freedom with polynomial interactions, which have a natural interpretation as single particles and two-particle states. The procedure can be seen as a proper quantization of the Gutzwiller mean field theory. The theory is conveniently evaluated in the framework of the quantum effective action, for which the usual symmetry principles are now supplemented with a ``constraint principle'' operative on short distances. We test the theory via investigation of scattering properties of few particles in the limit of vanishing density, and we address the complementary problem in the limit of maximum filling, where the low lying excitations are holes and di-holes on top of the constraint induced insulator. This is the first of a sequence of two papers. The application of the formalism to the many-body problem, which can be realized with atoms in optical lattices with strong three-body loss, is performed in a related work [14].Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure

Rare processes and coherent phenomena in crystals

We study coherent enhancement of Coulomb excitation of high energy particles in crystals. We develop multiple scattering theory description of coherent excitation which consistently incorporates both the specific resonant properties of particle-crystal interactions and the final/initial state interaction effects typical of the diffractive scattering. Possible applications to observation of induced radiative neutrino transitions are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, LaTe

Number-Phase Wigner Representation for Scalable Stochastic Simulations of Controlled Quantum Systems

Simulation of conditional master equations is important to describe systems under continuous measurement and for the design of control strategies in quantum systems. For large bosonic systems, such as BEC and atom lasers, full quantum field simulations must rely on scalable stochastic methods whose convergence time is restricted by the use of representations based on coherent states. Here we show that typical measurements on atom-optical systems have a common form that allows for an efficient simulation using the number-phase Wigner (NPW) phase-space representation. We demonstrate that a stochastic method based on the NPW can converge over an order of magnitude longer and more precisely than its coherent equivalent. This opens the possibility of realistic simulations of controlled multi-mode quantum systems.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Quantum Kinetic Theory III: Simulation of the Quantum Boltzmann Master Equation

We present results of simulations of a em quantum Boltzmann master equation (QBME) describing the kinetics of a dilute Bose gas confined in a trapping potential in the regime of Bose condensation. The QBME is the simplest version of a quantum kinetic master equations derived in previous work. We consider two cases of trapping potentials: a 3D square well potential with periodic boundary conditions, and an isotropic harmonic oscillator. We discuss the stationary solutions and relaxation to equilibrium. In particular, we calculate particle distribution functions, fluctuations in the occupation numbers, the time between collisions, and the mean occupation numbers of the one-particle states in the regime of onset of Bose condensation.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figure

Coherent control of trapped ions using off-resonant lasers

In this paper we develop a unified framework to study the coherent control of trapped ions subject to state-dependent forces. Taking different limits in our theory, we can reproduce two different designs of a two-qubit quantum gate --the pushing gate [1] and the fast gates based on laser pulses from Ref. [2]--, and propose a new design based on continuous laser beams. We demonstrate how to simulate Ising Hamiltonians in a many ions setup, and how to create highly entangled states and induce squeezing. Finally, in a detailed analysis we identify the physical limits of this technique and study the dependence of errors on the temperature. [1] J.I. Cirac, P. Zoller, Nature, 404, 579, 2000. [2] J.J. Garcia-Ripoll, P. Zoller, J.I. Cirac, PRL 67, 062318, 200