Related papers: When Wannier centers jump: Critical points between…
The defining feature of topological insulators is that their valence states are not continuously deformable to a suitably defined atomic limit without breaking the symmetry or closing the energy gap. When the atomic limit is given by…
We report on the observation of quantum criticality forming at the transition point between topological Anderson insulator phases in a one-dimensional photonic quantum walk with spin. The walker's probability distribution reveals a…
The continuous quantum phase transition between noninteracting, time-reversal symmetric topological and trivial insulators in three dimensions is described by the massless Dirac fermion. We address the stability of this quantum critical…
In the presence of crystalline symmetries, second-order topological insulators can be featured by the polarization which is believed identical to the Wannier center. In this Letter, we show that second-order topological insulators are…
Fathoming interplay between symmetry and topology of many-electron wave-functions has deepened understanding of quantum many body systems, especially after the discovery of topological insulators. Topology of electron wave-functions…
Quantum entanglement can be an effective diagnostic tool for probing topological phases protected by global symmetries. Recently, the notion of nontrivial topology in critical systems has been proposed and is attracting growing attention.…
We investigate superconductor-insulator quantum phase transitions in ultrathin capacitively coupled superconducting nanowires with proliferating quantum phase slips. We derive a set of coupled Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless-like…
Compact quantum electrodynamics in 2+1 dimensions often arises as an effective theory for a Mott insulator, with the Dirac fermions representing the low-energy spinons. An important and controversial issue in this context is whether a…
Topological insulators (TIs) are an important family of quantum materials that exhibit a Dirac point (DP) in the surface band structure but have a finite band gap in bulk. A large degree of spin-orbit interaction and low bandgap is a…
We investigate the interaction-driven instability of a quadratic band crossing arising for ultracold bosonic atoms loaded into a two-dimensional optical lattice. We consider the case when the degenerate point becomes a local minimum of both…
We study a topological phase of interacting bosons in (3+1) dimensions which is protected by charge conservation and time-reversal symmetry. We present an explicit lattice model which realizes this phase and which can be studied in…
Quantum phase transitions are central to our understanding of why matter at very low temperatures can exhibit starkly different properties upon small changes of microscopic parameters. Accurately locating those transitions is challenging…
Non-equilibrium phase transitions exist in damped-driven open quantum systems, when the continuous tuning of an external parameter leads to a transition between two robust steady states. In second-order transitions this change is abrupt at…
We study various Mott insulating phases of interacting spin-3/2 fermionic ultracold atoms in two-dimensional square optical lattices at half filling. Using a generalized one-band Hubbard model with hidden SO(5) symmetry, we identify two…
The study of geometrically frustrated many-body quantum systems is of central importance to uncover novel quantum mechanical effects. We design a scheme where ultracold bosons trapped in a one-dimensional state-dependent optical lattice are…
Thin films of Amorphous indium oxide undergo a magnetic field driven superconducting to insulator quantum phase transition. In the insulating phase, the current-voltage characteristics show large current discontinuities due to overheating…
Ultra-cold atoms in 1D bi-chromatic lattices constitute a surprisingly simple system for the study of topological insulators. We show that topological phase transitions constitute a general feature of bosons in 1D bi-chromatic lattices, and…
We study symmetry breaking quantum phase transitions in topological insulators and superconductors where the single electron gap remains open in the bulk. Specifically, we consider spontaneous breaking of the symmetry that protects the…
In this work, we present evidence for the spontaneous breaking of a continuous symmetry in a nearest-neighbour interacting spin-1 chain tuned to a quantum critical point at $T=0$ between two XY quasi-long-range order phases differing by the…
Our understanding of topological insulators is based on an underlying crystalline lattice where the local electronic degrees of freedom at different sites hybridize with each other in ways that produce nontrivial band topology, and the…