Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2405.05339

Optical Conductivity in Symmetric Mass Generation Insulators

Meng Zeng, Fu Xu, Da-Chuan Lu, Yi‐Zhuang You

Published May 8, 2024• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Symmetric mass generation (SMG) insulators are interaction-driven, featureless Mott insulating states in quantum many-body fermionic systems. Recent advancements suggest that zeros in the fermion Green's function could lead to non-vanishing negative optical conductivity in SMG insulators, even below the charge excitation gap. This study explores the origin of this unusual behavior through the lens of pole-zero duality, highlighting a critical issue where the current operator becomes unbounded, rendering the response function unphysical. By employing a lattice model, we derive a well-behaved lattice regularization of the current operator, enabling a detailed study of optical conductivity in SMG insulators. Utilizing both analytical and numerical methods, including strong-coupling expansions, we confirm that SMG insulators exhibit no optical conductivity at low energies below the charge gap, effectively resolving the paradox. This work not only deepens our understanding of quantum many-body phenomena but also lays a robust theoretical groundwork for future experimental explorations of SMG materials.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2405.05339

Related papers

Green's function zeros in Fermi surface symmetric mass generation

Da-Chuan Lu, Meng Zeng, Yi‐Zhuang You

The Fermi surface symmetric mass generation (SMG) is an intrinsically interaction-driven mechanism that opens an excitation gap on the Fermi surface without invoking symmetry-breaking or topological order. We explore this phenomenon within a bilayer square lattice model of spin-1/2 fermions, where the system can be tuned from a metallic Fermi liquid phase to a strongly interacting SMG insulator phase by an interlayer spin-spin interaction. The SMG insulator preserves all symmetries and has no mean-field interpretation at the single-particle level. It is characterized by zeros in the fermion Green's function, which encapsulate the same Fermi volume in momentum space as the original Fermi surface, a feature mandated by the Luttinger theorem. Utilizing both numerical and field-theoretical methods, we provide compelling evidence for these Green's function zeros across both strong and weak coupling regimes of the SMG phase. Our findings highlight the robustness of the zero Fermi surface, which offers promising avenues for experimental identification of SMG insulators through spectroscopy experiments despite potential spectral broadening from noise or dissipation.

arXiv:2307.12223•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Nov 13, 2023•6 citations

Fermi surface symmetric mass generation: a quantum Monte-Carlo study

Wei-Xuan Chang, Sibo Guo, Yi‐Zhuang You +1 more

The symmetric mass generation (SMG) phase is an insulator in which a single-particle gap is intrinsically opened by the interaction, without involving symmetry spontaneously breaking or topological order. Here, we perform unbiased quantum Monte-Carlo simulation and systematically investigate a bilayer fermionic model hosting Fermi surface SMG in the strongly interacting regime. With increasing interaction strength, the model undergoes a quantum phase transition from an exciton insulator to an SMG phase, belonging to the (2+1)-dimensional O(4) universality class. We access the spectral properties of the SMG phase, resembling a Mott insulating phase with relatively flat dispersion and pronounced spectral broadening. The dispersion of Green's function zeros is extracted from spectral function, featuring a surface at zero frequency precisely located at the original non-interacting Fermi surface, which constitutes a hallmark of the Fermi surface SMG phase. The bilayer model we study is potentially relevant to the newly discovered high-$T_c$ superconductor $\rm{La}_3 \rm{Ni}_2 \rm{O}_7$. Our results in SMG phase qualitatively capture the salient features of spectral function unveiled in recent ARPES experiments, shedding new insight on the underlying physics of $\rm{La}_3 \rm{Ni}_2 \rm{O}_7$.

arXiv:2311.09970•Nov 16, 2023•1 citation

Superconductivity in doped symmetric mass generation insulator: a quantum Monte-Carlo study

Sibo Guo, Wei-Xuan Chang, Yi-Zhuang You +1 more

Understanding unconventional superconductivity (SC) driven by strong electronic correlations is a central challenge in condensed matter physics. In this work, we employ sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations to systematically investigate a bilayer fermionic model featuring strong interlayer antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange and on-site repulsive Hubbard interactions. This system serves as a prototypical model for realizing a symmetric mass generation (SMG) insulator. Our numerically exact results unambiguously demonstrate that robust superconducting pairing emerges upon doping the SMG phase. Remarkably, we find that the SC order is significantly enhanced by the repulsive Hubbard interaction. Given its potential relevance to the essential features of the high-$T_c$ superconductor $\mathrm{La}_{3}\mathrm{Ni}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{7}$ under pressure, our study establishes a new paradigm for superconductivity arising from a doped SMG parent state and provides key theoretical guidance for future experimental investigations.

arXiv:2601.13108•Jan 19, 2026•0 citations

Green's function Zero and Symmetric Mass Generation

Yichen Xu, Cenke Xu

It is known that, under short-range interactions many topological superconductors (TSC) and topological insulators (TI) are trivialized, which means the boundary state of the system can be trivially gapped out by interaction without leading to symmetry breaking or topological ground state degeneracy. This phenomenon is also referred to as "symmetric mass generation" (SMG), and has attracted broad attentions from both the condensed matter and high energy physics communities. However, after the trivialization caused by interaction, some trace of the nontrivial topology of the system still persists. Previous studies have indicated that interacting topological TSC and TI could be related to the "zero" of Green's function, namely the fermion Green's function $G(\mathrm{i} ω\rightarrow 0) = 0$. In this work, through the general "decorated defect" construction of symmetry protected topological (SPT) states, we demonstrate the existence of Green's function zero after SMG, by mapping the evaluation of the Green's function to the problem of a single particle path integral. This method can be extended to the cases without spatial translation symmetry, where the momentum space which hosts many quantized topological numbers is no longer meaningful. Using the same method one can demonstrate the existence of the Green's function zero at the "avoided topological transition" in the bulk of the system.

arXiv:2103.15865•Mar 29, 2021•2 citations

Momentum-resolved conductivity of strongly interacting bosons in an optical lattice

B. Grygiel, T. A. Zaleski

Motivated by the recent advancements in experimental techniques in the cold atomic systems, we study the dependence of the conductivity on momentum in a system of strongly interacting bosons in an optical lattice. By employing the quantum rotor approach to the Bose-Hubbard model we calculate the current-current correlation function and subsequently obtain the analytic formula for the momentum-dependent longitudinal conductivity. We analyze the behavior of the conductivity for the square and cubic lattices in both, the superfluid and Mott insulator phases. As a consequence of the particle-hole symmetry, the conductivity for a uniformly filled lattice in the superfluid phase exhibits a linear dependence for a surprisingly wide range of momenta around $\mathbf{k}=0$. This allows us to predict the value of the group velocity of the particle excitations. We also consider the impact of finite temperature and discover that it leads to an additional conductivity channel, which is aligned along the direction of the probe field and located within the energy gap.

Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Sep 27, 2021•1 citation

Optical excitations in a one-dimensional Mott insulator

Eric Jeckelmann

The density-matrix renormalization-group (DMRG) method is used to investigate optical excitations in the Mott insulating phase of a one-dimensional extended Hubbard model. The linear optical conductivity is calculated using the dynamical DMRG method and the nature of the lowest optically excited states is investigated using a symmetrized DMRG approach. The numerical calculations agree perfectly with field-theoretical predictions for a small Mott gap and analytical results for a large Mott gap obtained with a strong-coupling analysis. It is shown that four types of optical excitations exist in this Mott insulator: pairs of unbound charge excitations, excitons, excitonic strings, and charge-density-wave (CDW) droplets. Each type of excitation dominates the low-energy optical spectrum in some region of the interaction parameter space and corresponds to distinct spectral features: a continuum starting at the Mott gap (unbound charge excitations), a single peak or several isolated peaks below the Mott gap (excitons and excitonic strings, respectively), and a continuum below the Mott gap (CDW droplets).

arXiv:cond-mat/0208480•Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Feb 14, 2003•82 citations
Symmetric mass generation (SMG) insulators are interaction-driven, featureless Mott insulating states in quantum many-body fermionic systems. Recent advancements suggest that zeros in the fermion Green's function could lead to non-vanishing negative optical conductivity in SMG insulators, even below the charge excitation gap. This study explores the origin of this unusual behavior through the lens of pole-zero duality, highlighting a critical issue where the current operator becomes unbounded, rendering the response function unphysical. By employing a lattice model, we derive a well-behaved lattice regularization of the current operator, enabling a detailed study of optical conductivity in SMG insulators. Utilizing both analytical and numerical methods, including strong-coupling expansions, we confirm that SMG insulators exhibit no optical conductivity at low energies below the charge gap, effectively resolving the paradox. This work not only deepens our understanding of quantum many-body phenomena but also lays a robust theoretical groundwork for future experimental explorations of SMG materials.
The Fermi surface symmetric mass generation (SMG) is an intrinsically interaction-driven mechanism that opens an excitation gap on the Fermi surface without invoking symmetry-breaking or topological order. We explore this phenomenon within a bilayer square lattice model of spin-1/2 fermions, where the system can be tuned from a metallic Fermi liquid phase to a strongly interacting SMG insulator phase by an interlayer spin-spin interaction. The SMG insulator preserves all symmetries and has no mean-field interpretation at the single-particle level. It is characterized by zeros in the fermion Green's function, which encapsulate the same Fermi volume in momentum space as the original Fermi surface, a feature mandated by the Luttinger theorem. Utilizing both numerical and field-theoretical methods, we provide compelling evidence for these Green's function zeros across both strong and weak coupling regimes of the SMG phase. Our findings highlight the robustness of the zero Fermi surface, which offers promising avenues for experimental identification of SMG insulators through spectroscopy experiments despite potential spectral broadening from noise or dissipation.
The symmetric mass generation (SMG) phase is an insulator in which a single-particle gap is intrinsically opened by the interaction, without involving symmetry spontaneously breaking or topological order. Here, we perform unbiased quantum Monte-Carlo simulation and systematically investigate a bilayer fermionic model hosting Fermi surface SMG in the strongly interacting regime. With increasing interaction strength, the model undergoes a quantum phase transition from an exciton insulator to an SMG phase, belonging to the (2+1)-dimensional O(4) universality class. We access the spectral properties of the SMG phase, resembling a Mott insulating phase with relatively flat dispersion and pronounced spectral broadening. The dispersion of Green's function zeros is extracted from spectral function, featuring a surface at zero frequency precisely located at the original non-interacting Fermi surface, which constitutes a hallmark of the Fermi surface SMG phase. The bilayer model we study is potentially relevant to the newly discovered high-TcT_cTc​ superconductor La3Ni2O7\rm{La}_3 \rm{Ni}_2 \rm{O}_7La3​Ni2​O7​. Our results in SMG phase qualitatively capture the salient features of spectral function unveiled in recent ARPES experiments, shedding new insight on the underlying physics of La3Ni2O7\rm{La}_3 \rm{Ni}_2 \rm{O}_7La3​Ni2​O7​.
Understanding unconventional superconductivity (SC) driven by strong electronic correlations is a central challenge in condensed matter physics. In this work, we employ sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations to systematically investigate a bilayer fermionic model featuring strong interlayer antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange and on-site repulsive Hubbard interactions. This system serves as a prototypical model for realizing a symmetric mass generation (SMG) insulator. Our numerically exact results unambiguously demonstrate that robust superconducting pairing emerges upon doping the SMG phase. Remarkably, we find that the SC order is significantly enhanced by the repulsive Hubbard interaction. Given its potential relevance to the essential features of the high-TcT_cTc​ superconductor La3Ni2O7\mathrm{La}_{3}\mathrm{Ni}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{7}La3​Ni2​O7​ under pressure, our study establishes a new paradigm for superconductivity arising from a doped SMG parent state and provides key theoretical guidance for future experimental investigations.
It is known that, under short-range interactions many topological superconductors (TSC) and topological insulators (TI) are trivialized, which means the boundary state of the system can be trivially gapped out by interaction without leading to symmetry breaking or topological ground state degeneracy. This phenomenon is also referred to as "symmetric mass generation" (SMG), and has attracted broad attentions from both the condensed matter and high energy physics communities. However, after the trivialization caused by interaction, some trace of the nontrivial topology of the system still persists. Previous studies have indicated that interacting topological TSC and TI could be related to the "zero" of Green's function, namely the fermion Green's function G(iω→0)=0G(\mathrm{i} ω\rightarrow 0) = 0G(iω→0)=0. In this work, through the general "decorated defect" construction of symmetry protected topological (SPT) states, we demonstrate the existence of Green's function zero after SMG, by mapping the evaluation of the Green's function to the problem of a single particle path integral. This method can be extended to the cases without spatial translation symmetry, where the momentum space which hosts many quantized topological numbers is no longer meaningful. Using the same method one can demonstrate the existence of the Green's function zero at the "avoided topological transition" in the bulk of the system.
Motivated by the recent advancements in experimental techniques in the cold atomic systems, we study the dependence of the conductivity on momentum in a system of strongly interacting bosons in an optical lattice. By employing the quantum rotor approach to the Bose-Hubbard model we calculate the current-current correlation function and subsequently obtain the analytic formula for the momentum-dependent longitudinal conductivity. We analyze the behavior of the conductivity for the square and cubic lattices in both, the superfluid and Mott insulator phases. As a consequence of the particle-hole symmetry, the conductivity for a uniformly filled lattice in the superfluid phase exhibits a linear dependence for a surprisingly wide range of momenta around k=0\mathbf{k}=0k=0. This allows us to predict the value of the group velocity of the particle excitations. We also consider the impact of finite temperature and discover that it leads to an additional conductivity channel, which is aligned along the direction of the probe field and located within the energy gap.
The density-matrix renormalization-group (DMRG) method is used to investigate optical excitations in the Mott insulating phase of a one-dimensional extended Hubbard model. The linear optical conductivity is calculated using the dynamical DMRG method and the nature of the lowest optically excited states is investigated using a symmetrized DMRG approach. The numerical calculations agree perfectly with field-theoretical predictions for a small Mott gap and analytical results for a large Mott gap obtained with a strong-coupling analysis. It is shown that four types of optical excitations exist in this Mott insulator: pairs of unbound charge excitations, excitons, excitonic strings, and charge-density-wave (CDW) droplets. Each type of excitation dominates the low-energy optical spectrum in some region of the interaction parameter space and corresponds to distinct spectral features: a continuum starting at the Mott gap (unbound charge excitations), a single peak or several isolated peaks below the Mott gap (excitons and excitonic strings, respectively), and a continuum below the Mott gap (CDW droplets).