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SciPost Physics

SciPost Physics Vol. 1 issue 2 (November - December 2016)

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One step replica symmetry breaking and extreme order statistics of logarithmic REMs

Xiangyu Cao, Yan V. Fyodorov, Pierre Le Doussal

SciPost Phys. 1, 011 (2016) · published 19 December 2016 | · pdf

Building upon the one-step replica symmetry breaking formalism, duly understood and ramified, we show that the sequence of ordered extreme values of a general class of Euclidean-space logarithmically correlated random energy models (logREMs) behave in the thermodynamic limit as a randomly shifted decorated exponential Poisson point process. The distribution of the random shift is determined solely by the large-distance ("infra-red", IR) limit of the model, and is equal to the free energy distribution at the critical temperature up to a translation. the decoration process is determined solely by the small-distance ("ultraviolet", UV) limit, in terms of the biased minimal process. Our approach provides connections of the replica framework to results in the probability literature and sheds further light on the freezing/duality conjecture which was the source of many previous results for log-REMs. In this way we derive the general and explicit formulae for the joint probability density of depths of the first and second minima (as well its higher-order generalizations) in terms of model-specific contributions from UV as well as IR limits. In particular, we show that the second min statistics is largely independent of details of UV data, whose influence is seen only through the mean value of the gap. For a given log-correlated field this parameter can be evaluated numerically, and we provide several numerical tests of our theory using the circular model of $1/f$-noise.
Finite-size corrections for universal boundary entropy in bond percolation

Jan de Gier, Jesper Lykke Jacobsen, Anita Ponsaing

SciPost Phys. 1, 012 (2016) · published 19 December 2016 | · pdf

We compute the boundary entropy for bond percolation on the square lattice in the presence of a boundary loop weight, and prove explicit and exact expressions on a strip and on a cylinder of size $L$. For the cylinder we provide a rigorous asymptotic analysis which allows for the computation of finite-size corrections to arbitrary order. For the strip we provide exact expressions that have been verified using high-precision numerical analysis. Our rigorous and exact results corroborate an argument based on conformal field theory, in particular concerning universal logarithmic corrections for the case of the strip due to the presence of corners in the geometry. We furthermore observe a crossover at a special value of the boundary loop weight.
Symmetric Wilson Loops beyond leading order

Xinyi Chen-Lin

SciPost Phys. 1, 013 (2016) · published 21 December 2016 | · pdf

We study the circular Wilson loop in the symmetric representation of U(N) in $\mathcal{N} = 4$ super-Yang-Mills (SYM). In the large N limit, we computed the exponentially-suppressed corrections for strong coupling, which suggests non-perturbative physics in the dual holographic theory. We also computed the next-to-leading order term in 1/N, and the result matches with the exact result from the k-fundamental representation.
Universal front propagation in the quantum Ising chain with domain-wall initial states

Viktor Eisler, Florian Maislinger, Hans Gerd Evertz

SciPost Phys. 1, 014 (2016) · published 30 December 2016 | · pdf

We study the melting of domain walls in the ferromagnetic phase of the transverse Ising chain, created by flipping the order-parameter spins along one-half of the chain. If the initial state is excited by a local operator in terms of Jordan-Wigner fermions, the resulting longitudinal magnetization profiles have a universal character. Namely, after proper rescalings, the profiles in the noncritical Ising chain become identical to those obtained for a critical free-fermion chain starting from a step-like initial state. The relation holds exactly in the entire ferromagnetic phase of the Ising chain and can even be extended to the zero-field XY model by a duality argument. In contrast, for domain-wall excitations that are highly non-local in the fermionic variables, the universality of the magnetization profiles is lost. Nevertheless, for both cases we observe that the entanglement entropy asymptotically saturates at the ground-state value, suggesting a simple form of the steady state.
Exact correlations in the Lieb-Liniger model and detailed balance out-of-equilibrium

Jacopo De Nardis, Miłosz Panfil

SciPost Phys. 1, 015 (2016) · published 30 December 2016 | · pdf

We study the density-density correlation function of the 1D Lieb-Liniger model and obtain an exact expression for the small momentum limit of the static correlator in the thermodynamic limit. We achieve this by summing exactly over the relevant form factors of the density operator in the small momentum limit. The result is valid for any eigenstate, including thermal and non-thermal states. We also show that the small momentum limit of the dynamic structure factors obeys a generalized detailed balance relation valid for any equilibrium state.
Nonlinear modes disentangle glassy and Goldstone modes in structural glasses

Luka Gartner, Edan Lerner

SciPost Phys. 1, 016 (2016) · published 31 December 2016 | · pdf

One outstanding problem in the physics of glassy solids is understanding the statistics and properties of the low-energy excitations that stem from the disorder that characterizes these systems' microstructure. In this work we introduce a family of algebraic equations whose solutions represent collective displacement directions (modes) in the multi-dimensional configuration space of a structural glass. We explain why solutions of the algebraic equations, coined nonlinear glassy modes, are quasi-localized low-energy excitations. We present an iterative method to solve the algebraic equations, and use it to study the energetic and structural properties of a selected subset of their solutions constructed by starting from a normal mode analysis of the potential energy of a model glass. Our key result is that the structure and energies associated with harmonic glassy vibrational modes and their nonlinear counterparts converge in the limit of very low frequencies. As nonlinear modes never suffer hybridizations, our result implies that the presented theoretical framework constitutes a robust alternative definition of `soft glassy modes' in the thermodynamic limit, in which Goldstone modes overwhelm and destroy the identity of low-frequency harmonic glassy modes.