Condensed Matter

Quantum Monte Carlo methods, when applicable, offer reliable ways to extract the nonperturbative physics of strongly-correlated many-body systems. However, there are some bottlenecks to the applicability of these methods including the sign problem and algorithmic update inefficiencies. Using the t-V model Hamiltonian as the example, I demonstrate how the Fermion Bag Approach--originally developed in the context of lattice field theories--has aided in solving the sign problem for this model as well as aided in developing a more efficient algorithm to study the model. Finally, I discuss some other potential uses for the new algorithm, including for a broader class of models known to be sign-problem-free due to fermion bag ideas.

In this talk, I will discuss how to assign geometries, such as metric tensors, to certain tensor networks using quantum entanglement and tensor Radon transform. In addition, we show that behaviour similar to linearized gravity can naturally emerge in said tensor networks, provided a modified version of Jacobson's entanglement equilibrium is satisfied. Since the aforementioned properties can be reached without relying on AdS/CFT, the approach also shows promise towards constructing tensor network models for cosmological spacetimes. 

Periodically driven (Floquet) systems can display entirely new many-body phases of matter that have no analog in stationary systems. One such phase is the Floquet time crystal, which spontaneously breaks a discrete time-translation symmetry. In this talk, I will survey the physics of these new phases of matter. I explain how they can be stabilized either through strong quenched disorder (many-body localization), or alternatively in clean systems in a "prethermal" regime which persists until a time that is exponentially long in a small parameter.