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Motivated by the recent discovery of superconductivity in tetralayer graphene, we investigate the pairing mechanism arising from density-density interactions within the random phase approximation. This approach successfully highlights the dominance of chiral $p$-wave pairing between electrons with the same spin and valley at low electron densities, while also predicting the superconducting range in agreement with experimental findings. Furthermore, we examine the characteristics of distinct superconducting regions: SC1 and SC2 exhibit chiral finite-momentum superconductivity with pronounced phase fluctuations, whereas SC4 displays nematic zero-momentum superconductivity, with its transition temperature constrained by the pairing strength. Additionally, we delve into the exotic features of chiral finite-momentum superconductivity, underscoring its potential significance for realizing a charge-4e exotic metal with time-reversal symmetry.

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) in pressurized La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ has aroused a surge in the exploration of HTSC in the multilayer nickelates. Presently, while HTSC is only found in pressurized circumstance, most of the experimental detections are performed at ambient pressure (AP) due to technical problems. Here we focus on the single-bilayer film of La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ at AP, and propose that an imposed strong perpendicular electric field can strongly enhance its superconducting $T_c$. The reasons lies as follow. Under strong electric field, the layer with lower potential energy will accept electrons flowing from the other layer to fill in the Ni-$3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals in this layer, as the nearly half-filled Ni-$3d_{z^2}$ orbital in this layer cannot accommodate more electrons. With the enhancement of the filling fraction in the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals in this layer, the interlayer s-wave pairing will be subjected to the pair-breaking effect and be suppressed, but the intralayer d-wave pairing in this layer is promptly and strongly enhanced, which mimics the cuprates. Our combined simplified one-orbital study and comprehensive two-orbital one under mean-field treatment consistently verify this idea and yield that an imposed voltage of about $0.1\sim0.2$ volt between the two layers is enough to get the HTSC at AP. Our results appeal for experimental verification., Comment: 4.1 pages, 4 figures, with Appendix

We construct a (1+1)-dimension continuum model of 4-component fermions incorporating the exceptional Lie group symmetry $G_2$. Four gapped and five gapless phases are identified via the one-loop renormalization group analysis. The gapped phases are controlled by four different stable $SO(8)$ Gross-Neveu fixed points, among which three exhibit an emergent triality, while the rest one possesses the self-triality, i.e., invariant under the triality mapping. The gapless phases include three $SO(7)$ critical ones, a $G_2$ critical one, and a Luttinger liquid. Three $SO(7)$ critical phases correspond to different $SO(7)$ Gross-Neveu fixed points connected by the triality relation similar to the gapped SO(8) case. The $G_2$ critical phase is controlled by an unstable fixed point described by a direct product of the Ising and tricritical Ising conformal field theories with the central charges $c=\frac{1}{2}$ and $c=\frac{7}{10}$, respectively, while the latter one is known to possess spacetime supersymmetry. In the lattice realization with a Hubbard-type interaction, the triality is broken into the duality between two $SO(7)$ symmetries and the supersymmetric $G_2$ critical phase exhibits the degeneracy between bosonic and fermionic states, which are reminiscences of the continuum model., Comment: 13+9 pages, 4+1 figures

Unconventional superconductivity arising from electron-electron interaction can manifest exotic symmetry and topological properties. We investigate the superconducting pairing symmetry problem based on the 3D cubic $O_h$ symmetry with both weak- and strong-coupling approaches. The dominant pairing symmetries belong to the two-dimensional $E_g$ representation at low and intermediate doping levels, and the complex mixing gap function of the $d_{3z^2-r^2}+id_{x^2-y^2}$-type is energetically favored in the ground state. Cooper pairs with such a symmetry do not possess orbital angular momentum (OAM) moments, which is different from other time-reversal symmetry breaking pairings such as $p_x+ip_y$ (e.g $^3$He-A) and $d_{x^2-y^2}+id_{xy}$ under the planar hexagonal symmetry. Instead, they develop the octupolar $O_{xyz}$ component of OAM, which results in 8 nodal points along the body diagonal directions exhibiting an alternating distribution of monopole charges $\pm 1$. This leads to an intriguing 3D Weyl topological SC, which accommodates nontrivial surface states of Majorana arcs. Our results appeal for material realizations and experimental tests in optical lattices., Comment: 6+4 pages, 4+1 figures

Spin-orbit coupling in solids is typically a single-body effect arising from relativity. In this work, we propose a spontaneous generation of spin-orbit coupling from symmetry breaking. A spin-dependent electron-phonon coupling model is investigated on a half-filled square lattice, which is solved by sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The phase diagram as function of phonon frequency $\omega$ and coupling constant $\lambda$ is fully investigated. The spin-orbit coupling emerges as an order in the ground state for any $\lambda$ in the adiabatic limit, accompanied by a breathing mode of lattice distortion and a staggered loop spin-current. This phase dominates in the entire range of $\omega$ with $\lambda< \lambda_{\infty}$, a critical value in the $\omega \to \infty$ limit. With increasing $\omega$ and $\lambda > \lambda_{\infty}$, the emergent spin-orbit coupling is suppressed and a phase transition occurs leading to charge-density-wave degenerate with superconductivity order. Our work opens up the possibility of hidden spin-orbit coupling in materials where it is otherwise forbidden by lattice symmetry and paves the way to explore new usable materials or devices in spintronics., Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures

As for the study of Landau level wavefunctions for the quantum Hall effect, the magnetic Bloch wavefunctions based on the magnetic translation symmetry have been extensively investigated in the past few decades. In this article, the electric Floquet-Bloch wavefunctions based on the electric translation symmetry are studied as well as the momentum-frequency Brillouin zone, which is applied to the problem of one dimensional tight-binding model under an external electric field. The spectrum of electric Floquet-Bloch states can be generated by the projective representation of electric translation group, and the topological properties of these states are investigated., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures

We construct a minimal model of interacting fermions establishing a ferromagnetic insulating phase. It is based on the Hubbard model on a trimerized triangular lattice in the regime of $U\gg t\gg |t^\prime|$ with $t>0$ and $t^\prime$ the intra- and inter-trimer hopping amplitudes, respectively. At the $\frac{1}{3}$-filling, each trimer becomes a triplet spin-1 moment, and the inter-trimer superexchange is ferromagnetic with $J =- \frac{2}{27}\frac{t^{\prime 2}}{t}$ in the limit of $U/t=+\infty$. As $U/t$ becomes finite, the antiferromagnetic superexchange competes with the ferromagnetic one. The system enters into a frustrated antiferromagnetic insulator when $\lambda>U/t\gg 1$ where $\lambda \sim 10$. In contrast, a similar analysis performed on the trimerized Kagome lattice shows that only antiferromagnetic superchange exits at 1/3-filling.

We present an explicit Bethe-ansatz wavefunction to a 1D spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ interacting fermion system, manifesting a many-body resonance resulting from the interplay between interaction and non-Hermitian spin-orbit coupling. In the dilute limit, the wavefunction is greatly simplified and then factorized into Slater determinants and a Jastrow factor. An effective thermodynamic distribution is constructed with an effective Hamiltonian including a repulsion resulting from Pauli's exclusion principle and a distinctive zigzag potential arising from the resonance. The competition between these effects leads to a transition from a uniformly distributed configuration to a phase separation. The connection to the recent cold atom experimental efforts of realizing on-site atom-loss is discussed., Comment: 6+4 pages, 2+2 figures

Understanding the evolution of the superconducting transition temperature in relation to doping and interaction strengths is one of the most challenging problems in high temperature superconductivity. By refining determinant quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, we characterize the parameter dependence of the superconducting transition temperature within a bilayer Hubbard model, which is sign-problem-free at arbitrary filling. A striking feature of this model is its similarities to the bilayer nickelate-based superconductor $\mathrm{La}_{3}\mathrm{Ni}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{7}$, where superconductivity emerge from the bilayer $\mathrm{Ni}\mathrm{O}_{2}$ planes. We find that interlayer spin-exchange $J$ is critical to interlayer pairing, ant that on-site interaction $U$ contributes negatively to superconductivity at low doping levels but positively to it at high doping levels. Our findings identify the key parameter dependent superconducting transition temperature in nickelate-based superconductors and provide a new understanding of the high temperature superconductivity., Comment: 6 pages and 6 figures

Recently, signature of superconductivity (SC) in the trilayer compound La$_{4}$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$ has ignited significant interest. In this study, we propose a trilayer $E_g$ orbital $t$-$J_{\parallel}$-$J_{\perp}$ model to gain insights into the superconducting behavior in this material. In the strong coupling limit, each layer is described by a $t$-$J_{\parallel}$ model with intra-layer exchange $J_{\parallel}$, while electrons can hop between layers and interact through inter-layer exchange $J_{\perp}$. Notably, the inner-layer $3d_{z^2}$-orbital electrons exhibit the potential to form bonding bands with those in the upper or lower layer. The superconducting behavior is predominantly driven by the $3d_{z^2}$ orbital, resulting in an intra-layer extended $s$-wave pairing in the outer layers, along with an inter-layer pairing. Furthermore, electron doping tends to enhance the superconductivity, while hole doping suppresses it. These findings shed light on the intriguing SC of La$_{4}$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$ and its response to charge doping., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

Nickelate superconductors have attracted a great deal of attention over the past few decades due to their similar crystal and electronic structures with high-temperature cuprate superconductors. Here, we report the superconductivity in a pressurized Ruddlesden-Popper phase single crystal, La4Ni3O10 (n = 3), and its interplay with the density wave order in the phase diagram. With increasing pressure, the density wave order as indicated by the anomaly in the resistivity is progressively suppressed, followed by the emergence of the superconductivity around 25 K. Our angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal that the electronic structure of La4Ni3O10 is very similar to that of La3Ni2O7, suggesting unified electronic properties of nickelates in Ruddlesden-Popper phases. Moreover, theoretical analysis unveils that antiferromagnetic (AFM) super-exchange interactions can serve as the effective pairing interaction for the emergence of superconductivity (SC) in pressurized La4Ni3O10. Our research provides a new platform for the investigation of the unconventional superconductivity mechanism in Ruddlesden-Popper trilayer perovskite nickelates., Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures

The discovery of high-$T_c$ superconductivity (SC) in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ (LNO) has aroused a great deal of interests. Previously, it was proposed that the Ni-$3d_{z^2}$ orbital is crucial to realize the high-$T_c$ SC in LNO: The preformed Cooper pairs therein acquire coherence via hybridization with the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital to form the SC. However, we held a different viewpoint that the interlayer pairing $s$-wave SC is induced by the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital, driven by the strong interlayer superexchange interaction. To include effects from both $E_g$-orbitals , we establish a two-orbital bilayer $t$-$J$ model. Our calculations reveal that due to the no-double-occupancy constraint, the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ band and the $3d_{z^2}$ bonding band are flattened by a factor of about 2 and 10, respectively, which is consistent with recent angle-resolved-photo-emission-spectroscopy measurements. Consequently, a high temperature SC can be hardly induced in the $3d_{z^2}$-orbital due to the difficulty to develop phase coherence. However, it can be easily achieved by the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital under realistic interaction strength. With electron doping, the $3d_{z^2}$-band gradually dives below the Fermi level, but $T_c$ continues to enhance, suggesting that it is not necessary for the high-$T_c$ SC in LNO. With hole doping, $T_c$ initially drops and then rises, accompanied by the crossover from the BCS to BEC-type superconducting transitions., Comment: 9.3 pages, 6 figures, with Appendix

Recently, high temperature ($T_c\approx 80$K) superconductivity (SC) has been discovered in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ (LNO) under pressure. Question arises whether the transition temperature $T_c$ could be further enhanced under suitable conditions. A possible route for realizing higher $T_c$ is element substitution. Similar SC could appear in rare-earth (RE) R$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ (RNO, R=RE element) material series under pressure. The electronic properties in the RNO materials are dominated by the Ni $3d$ orbitals in the bilayer NiO$_2$ plane. In the strong coupling limit, the SC could be fully characterized by a bilayer single $3d_{x^2-y^2}$-orbital $t$-$J_{\parallel}$-$J_{\perp}$ model. Under RE element substitution from La to RE element, the lattice constant decreases and the electronic hopping increases, leading to stronger superexchanges between the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals. Based on the slave-boson mean-field theory, we explore the pairing nature and the evolution of $T_c$ in RNO materials. Consequently, it is found that the element substitution does not alter the pairing nature, i.e. the inter-layer $s$-wave pairing is always favored in RNO. However, the $T_c$ increases from La to Sm and a nearly doubled $T_c$ is achieved for SmNO. This work provides evidence for possible higher $T_c$ R$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ materials, which may be realized in further experiments., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

The interplay among frustrated lattice geometry, nontrivial band topology and correlation yields rich quantum states of matter in Kagome systems. A series of recent members in this family, AV3Sb5 (A= K, Rb, Cs), exhibit a cascade of symmetry-breaking transitions, involving the 3Q chiral charge ordering, electronic nematicity, roton pair-density-wave and superconductivity. The nature of the superconducting order is yet to be resolved. Here, we report an indication of chiral superconducting domains with boundary supercurrents in intrinsic CsV3Sb5 flakes. Magnetic field-free superconducting diode effect is observed with polarity modulated by thermal histories, suggesting dynamical superconducting order domains in a spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking background. Strikingly, the critical current exhibits the double-slit superconducting interference patterns when subjected to an external magnetic field. Characteristics of the patterns are modulated by thermal cycling. These phenomena are proposed as a consequence of periodically modulated supercurrents flowing along certain domain boundaries constrained by fluxoid quantization. Our results imply a chiral superconducting order, opening a potential for exploring exotic physics, e.g. Majorana zero modes, in this intriguing topological Kagome system., Comment: 17 pages,13 figures

The recently discovered nickelate superconductor La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ has a high transition temperature near 80 K under pressure, which offers additional avenues of unconventional superconductivity. Here with state-of-the-art tensor-network methods, we study a bilayer $t$-$J$-$J_\perp$ model for La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ and find a robust $s$-wave superconductive (SC) order mediated by interlayer magnetic couplings. Large-scale density matrix renormalization group calculations find algebraic pairing correlations with Luttinger parameter of $K_{\rm SC} \simeq 1$. Infinite projected entangled-pair state method obtains a nonzero SC order directly in the thermodynamic limit, and estimates a strong pairing strength $\bar{\Delta}_z \sim \mathcal{O}(0.1)$. Tangent-space tensor renormalization group simulations further determine a high SC temperature $T_c^*/J \sim \mathcal{O}(0.1)$ and clarify the temperature evolution of SC order. Because of the intriguing orbital selective behaviors and strong Hund's rule coupling in the compound, $t$-$J$-$J_\perp$ model has strong interlayer spin exchange (while negligible interlayer hopping), which greatly enhances the SC pairing in the bilayer system. Such a magnetically mediated strong pairing has also been observed recently in the optical lattice of ultracold atoms. Our accurate and comprehensive tensor-network calculations reveal robust SC order in the bilayer $t$-$J$-$J_\perp$ model and shed light on the high-$T_c$ superconductivity in the pressurized nickelate La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$., Comment: 5 + 6 pages, 4 + 8 figures

The newly discovered high-temperature superconductivity in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ under pressure has attracted a great deal of attentions. The essential ingredient characterizing the electronic properties is the bilayer NiO$_2$ planes coupled by the interlayer bonding of $3d_{z^2}$ orbitals through the intermediate oxygen-atoms. In the strong coupling limit, the low energy physics is described by an intralayer antiferromagnetic spin-exchange interaction $J_{\parallel}$ between $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals and an interlayer one $J_{\perp}$ between $3d_{z^2}$ orbitals. Taking into account Hund's rule on each site and integrating out the $3d_{z^2}$ spin degree of freedom, the system reduces to a single-orbital bilayer $t$-$J$ model based on the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital. By employing the slave-boson approach, the self-consistent equations for the bonding and pairing order parameters are solved. Near the physically relevant $\frac{1}{4}$-filling regime (doping $\delta=0.3\sim 0.5$), the interlayer coupling $J_{\perp}$ tunes the conventional single-layer $d$-wave superconducting state to the $s$-wave one. A strong $J_{\perp}$ could enhance the inter-layer superconducting order, leading to a dramatically increased $T_c$. Interestingly, there could exist a finite regime in which an $s+id$ state emerges., Comment: Version accepted by Phys. Rev. Lett

We employ the sign-problem-free projector determinant quantum Monte Carlo method to study a microscopic model of SU($N$) fermions with singlet-bond and triplet-current interactions on the square lattice. We find the gapped singlet $p_x$ and gapless triplet $d_{x^2-y^2}$ density wave states in the half-filled $N=4$ model. Specifically, the triplet $d_{x^2-y^2}$ density wave order is observed in the weak triplet-current interaction regime. As the triplet-current interaction strength is further increased, our simulations demonstrate a transition to the singlet $p_x$ density wave state, accompanied by a gapped mixed-ordered area where the two orders coexist. With increasing singlet-bond interaction strength, the triplet $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave order persists up to a critical point after which the singlet $p_x$ density wave state is stabilized, while the ground state is disordered in between the two ordered phases. The analytical continuation is then performed to derive the single-particle spectrum. In the spectra of triplet $d_{x^2-y^2}$ and singlet $p_x$ density waves, the anisotropic Dirac cone and the parabolic shape around the Dirac point are observed, respectively. As for the mixed-ordered area, a single-particle gap opens and the velocities remain anisotropic at the Dirac point., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures

The material realization of the charge-4e/6e superconductivity (SC) is a big challenge. Here we propose realization of the charge-4e SC and chiral metal through stacking a homo-bilayer with the largest twist angle, forming the twist-bilayer quasi-crystal (TB-QC), exampled by the 45$^\circ$-twisted bilayer cuprates and 30$^\circ$-twisted bilayer graphene. When each mononlayer hosts a pairing state with the largest pairing angular momentum, previous studies yield that the second-order interlayer Josephson coupling would drive chiral topological SC (TSC) in the TB-QC. Here we propose that, above the $T_c$ of the chiral TSC, either the total- or relative- pairing phase of the two layers can be unilateral quasi-ordered or ordered, leading to the charge-4e SC or the chiral metal phase. Based on a thorough symmetry analysis to get the low-energy effective Hamiltonian, we conduct a combined renormalization-group and Monte-Carlo study and obtain the phase diagram, which includes the charge-4e SC and chiral metal phases., Comment: Accepted by Nat. Commun

Understanding strongly correlated quantum materials, such as high $T_\textrm{c}$ superconductors, iron-based superconductors, and twisted bilayer graphene systems, remains to be one of the outstanding challenges in condensed matter physics. Quantum simulation with ultra-cold atoms in particular optical lattices, which provide orbital degrees of freedom, is a powerful tool to contribute new insights to this endeavor. Here, we report the experimental realization of an unconventional Bose-Einstein condensate of $^{87}$Rb atoms populating degenerate $p$-orbitals in a triangular optical lattice, exhibiting remarkably long coherence times. Using time-of-flight spectroscopy, we observe that this state spontaneously breaks the rotational symmetry and its momentum spectrum agrees with the theoretically predicted coexistence of exotic stripe and loop current orders. Like certain strongly correlated electronic systems with intertwined orders, as high-$T_\textrm{c}$ cuprate superconductors, twisted bilayer graphene, and the recently discovered chiral density-wave state in kagome superconductors $\textrm{AV}_3 \textrm{Sb}_5$ (A=K, Rb, Cs), the newly demonstrated quantum state, in spite of its markedly different energy scale and the bosonic quantum statistics, exhibits multiple symmetry breakings at ultralow temperatures. These findings hold the potential to enhance our comprehension of the fundamental physics governing these intricate quantum materials., Comment: 7+10 pages, 3+12 figures

Dirac materials, starting with graphene, have drawn tremendous research interest in the past decade. Instead of focusing on the $p_z$ orbital as in graphene, we move a step further and study orbital-active Dirac materials, where the orbital degrees of freedom transform as a two-dimensional irreducible representation of the lattice point group. Examples of orbital-active Dirac materials occur in a broad class of systems, including transition-metal-oxide heterostructures, transition-metal dichalcogenide monolayers, germanene, stanene, and optical lattices. Different systems are unified based on symmetry principles. The band structure of orbital-active Dirac materials features Dirac cones at $K(K')$ and quadratic band touching points at $\Gamma$, regardless of the origin of the orbital degrees of freedom. In the strong anisotropy limit, i.e., when the $\pi$-bonding can be neglected, flat bands appear due to the destructive interference. These features make orbital-active Dirac materials an even wider playground for searching for exotic states of matter, such as the Dirac semi-metal, ferromagnetism, Wigner crystallization, quantum spin Hall state, and quantum anomalous Hall state., Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures

The superconducting state typically favors a uniform spatial distribution akin to ferromagnetism. Nevertheless, the pair-density-wave state exhibits sign changes in the pairing order, leading to potential frustrations in phase coherence.We propose a mechanism to the sextetting order stemming from the frustrations in the phase coherence of a pair-density-wave state, whose spatial modulation manifests a vortex-antivortex honeycomb lattice. The classical ground state configurations are mapped to Baxter's three-coloring model, revealing a macroscopic degeneracy accompanied by extensive entropy. The phase coherence problem intertwines the U(1) phases and the vorticity variables. While the resultant color and phase fluctuations suppress the pair-density-wave order, they maintain the sextetting order above the superconducting transition temperature ($T_{\text{c}}$). The $1/3$-fractional vortex emerges as the fundamental topological defect in the sextetting order. This novel mechanism of frustrated superconductivity provides an alternative explanation for the experimental observed fractional oscillations in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures

It is necessary to break both time-reversal and parity symmetries to realize a Josephson, or superconducting, diode exhibiting nonreciprocal critical direct-currents (DC). In fact, these conditions are still insufficient. The dependencies of the free energy on the phase difference across the junction and the magnetic field are classified, exhibiting the current-reversion (JR), field-reversion, and field-current reversion conditions, respectively. To exhibit the DC Josephson diode effect, all symmetries satisfying the JR condition need to be broken. The relations of critical currents with respect to the magnetic field are classified into five classes, including three exhibiting the diode effect. These symmetry considerations are applied to concrete examples. Our work reveals that the DC Josephson diode effect is a natural consequence of the JR symmetry breaking, hence, providing a guiding principle to understand or design a DC Josephson diode., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table

We derive the relativistic velocity addition law, the transformations of electromagnetic fields and space-time intervals by examining the drift velocities in a crossed electromagnetic field configuration. The postulate of the light velocity invariance is not taken as a priori, but is derived as the universal upper limit of physical drift velocities. The key is that a physical drift of either an electric charge or a magnetic charge remains a drift motion by inertial reference frame transformations. Such a simple fact is incompatible with the Galilean velocity addition. This derivation provides a way to introduce relativity via elementary electromagnetism.

Symmetry distills the simplicity of natural laws from the complexity of physical phenomena. The symmetry principle is of vital importance in various aspects of modern physics, including analyzing atomic spectra, determining fundamental interactions in the Standard Model, and unifying physics at different energy scales. In this chapter, novel applications of this principle are reviewed in condensed matter physics and cold atom physics for exploring new states of matter.

Mott insulators with large and active (or multiflavor) local Hilbert spaces widely occur in quantum materials and ultracold atomic systems, and are dubbed "multiflavor Mott insulators". For these multiflavored Mott insulating materials, the spin-only description with the quadratic spin interactions is often insufficient to capture the major physical processes. In the situation with active orbitals, the Kugel-Khomskii superexchange model was then proposed. We briefly review this historical model and discuss the modern developments beyond the original spin-orbital context. These include and are not restricted to the $4d$/$5d$ transition metal compounds with the spin-orbit-entangled $J=3/2$ quadruplets, the rare-earth magnets with two weakly-separated crystal field doublets, breathing magnets and/or the cluster and molecular magnets, et al. We explain the microscopic origin of the emergent Kugel-Khomskii physics in each realization with some emphasis on the $J=3/2$ quadruplets, and refer the candidate multiflavor Mott insulators as "$J=3/2$ Mott insulators". For the ultracold atoms, we review the multiflavor Mott insulator realization with the ultracold alkaline and alkaline-earth atoms on the optical lattices. Despite a large local Hilbert space from the atomic hyperfine spin states, the system could naturally realize a large symmetry group such as the Sp($N$) and SU($N$) symmetries. These ultracold atomic systems lie in the large-$N$ regime of these symmetry groups and are characterized by strong quantum fluctuations. The Kugel-Khomskii physics and the exotic quantum ground states with the "baryon-like" physics can appear in various limits. We conclude with our vision and outlook on this subject., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures. To appear in NPJ Quantum materials

The newly synthesized strontium doped RNiO$_2$ (R=Nd, La) superconductors have stimulated extensive interests in understanding their pairing mechanism and pairing nature. Here we study the pairing mechanism in this family from a two-orbital model comprising the Ni- $3d_{x^2-y^2}$- and $3d_{xy}$- orbitals, equipped with extended Hubbard interactions and induced low-energy effective superexchange interactions. We then study the pairing symmetry in this system by using large scale variational Monte Carlo approach. Our results yield the intraorbital $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave singlet pairing as the leading pairing symmetry in the nickelates, which is analogous to the cuprates. However, there exist two important differences between the physical properties of the two families due to the fact that at the low Sr-doping regime, while the Ni-$3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals remain half-filled and singly-occupied to form a Mott-insulating background, the Ni-$3d_{xy}$ orbitals accommodate nearly all the extra doped holes, which move freely on this background. The first difference lies in the single-particle aspect: while the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ degree of freedom remains Mott insulating with spectra weight pinned down at zero at low dopings, the $3d_{xy}$ one behaves as Fermi liquid with spectra weight near 1. The second difference lies in the pairing aspect: while the huge intra-$3d_{x^2-y^2}$-orbital pairing gap is actually a pseudo gap which has nothing to do with the SC, the small intra-$3d_{xy}$-orbital pairing gap serves as the true superconducting pairing gap, which is related to the $T_c$ via the BCS relation. Both differences can be verified by the angle-resolved photo-emission spectrum., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 2 appendixes

Multipolar orderings in degenerate orbital systems offer unique opportunities for emergent topological phases. The phase diagram of interacting spinless fermions in a $p$-band diamond lattice at unit filling is first studied to elucidate the essential role of orbital multipolar orderings in the evolution of multifold degenerate band nodes. The free band structure around the Brillouin zone center is described by two quadratic band nodes each with a threefold degeneracy, which are spanned by the bonding and anti-bonding $p$-orbital multiplets, respectively. Upon switching on interactions, the triply degenerate band node is split into a pair of Weyl fermions with opposite chirality due to the onset of orbital multipolar orderings. Further raising interactions ultimately drives the system into an insulating phase with the orbital quadrupolar ordering. Our study is then generalized to spin-$1/2$ fermions, which has direct relevance with solid-state materials. The system develops full spin polarization through a ferromagnetic transition at tiny interactions, leaving the remaining orbital sector activated. The ensuing transitions take place in the orbital sector as a natural consequence, qualitatively recovering the phase diagram of spinless fermions. Our findings shed new light on the realization of emergent novel fermions with a prospect being a frontier at the confluence of topology, orbital physics and strong correlation., Comment: 5+3 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

We study the planar magnetic textures in an insulating magnetic film coupled to the Dirac surface state of a topological insulator. It is shown that the radial vortex with winding number $w=\pm1$ leads to the confinement of Dirac states, where an exact mapping to the Schr\"{o}dinger equation of a two-dimensional hydrogen atom is found. The fully spin polarized zero energy bound state resembles the zeroth Landau level of Dirac electrons in a uniform out-of-plane magnetic field. Interestingly, when the hybrid system is proximity coupled to an $s$-wave superconductor, the existence of Majorana zero modes at Abrikosov vortex depends only on the relative value of the magnetic exchange coupling and the pairing strength. We conclude with a brief discussion on the physical realization with such magnetic textures., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures with supplementary material

The interplay among topology, superconductivity, and magnetism promises to bring a plethora of exotic and unintuitive behaviors in emergent quantum materials. The family of Fe-chalcogenide superconductors FeTexSe1-x are directly relevant in this context due to their intrinsic topological band structure, high-temperature superconductivity, and unconventional pairing symmetry. Despite enormous promise and expectation, the local magnetic properties of FeTexSe1-x remain largely unexplored, which prevents a comprehensive understanding of their underlying material properties. Exploiting nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, here we report nanoscale quantum sensing and imaging of magnetic flux generated by exfoliated FeTexSe1-x flakes, providing clear evidence of superconductivity-induced ferromagnetism in FeTexSe1-x. The coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism in an established topological superconductor opens up new opportunities for exploring exotic spin and charge transport phenomena in quantum materials. The demonstrated coupling between NV centers and FeTexSe1-x may also find applications in developing hybrid architectures for next-generation, solid-state-based quantum information technologies., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures

Two dimensional lattices are an important stage for studying many aspects of quantum physics, in particular the topological phases. The valley Hall and anomalous Hall effects are two representative topological phenomena. Here we show that they can be unified in a strained honeycomb lattice, where the hopping strengths between neighboring sites are designed by mimicking those between the Fock states in a three-mode Jaynes-Cummings model. Such a strain induces an effective magnetic field which results in quantized Landau levels. The eigenstates in the zeroth Landau level can be represented by the eigenstates of a large pseudo-spin. We find that the valley Hall current and the chiral edge current in the Haldane model correspond to the spin precession around different axes. Our study sheds light on connection between seemingly unrelated topological phases in condensed matter physics., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

Spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking plays an important role in studying strongly correlated unconventional superconductors. When two superconducting gap functions with different symmetries compete, the relative phase channel ($\theta_-\equiv \theta_1-\theta_2$) exhibits an Ising-type $Z_2$ symmetry due to the second order Josephson coupling, where $\theta_{1,2}$ are the phases of two gap functions respectively. In contrast, the $U(1)$ symmetry in the channel of $\theta_+\equiv \frac{\theta_1+\theta_2}{2}$ is intact. The phase locking, i.e., ordering of $\theta_-$, can take place in the phase fluctuation regime before the onset of superconductivity, i.e. when $\theta_+$ is disordered. If $\theta_-$ is pinned at $\pm\frac{\pi}{2}$, then time-reversal symmetry is broken in the normal state, otherwise, if $\theta_-=0$, or, $\pi$, rotational symmetry is broken, leading to a nematic normal state. In both cases, the order parameters possess a 4-fermion structure beyond the scope of mean-field theory, which can be viewed as a high order symmetry breaking. We employ an effective two-component $XY$-model assisted by a renormalization group analysis to address this problem. As a natural by-product, we also find the other interesting intermediate phase corresponds to ordering of $\theta_+$ but with $\theta_-$ disordered. This is the quartetting, or, charge-4e, superconductivity, which occurs above the low temperature $Z_2$-breaking charge-2e superconducting phase. Our results provide useful guidance for studying novel symmetry breaking phases in strongly correlated superconductors., Comment: 7 pages + appendix, 2 figures. References are added

Recently, several experiments on La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (LSCO) challenged the Fermi liquid picture for overdoped cuprates, and stimulated intensive debates [1]. In this work, we study the magnetotransport phenomena in such systems based on the Fermi liquid assumption. The Hall coefficient $R_H$ and magnetoresistivity $\rho_{xx}$ are investigated near the van Hove singularity $x_{\tiny\text{VHS}}\approx0.2$ across which the Fermi surface topology changes from hole- to electron-like. Our main findings are: (1) $R_H$ depends on the magnetic field $B$ and drops from positive to negative values with increasing $B$ in the doping regime $x_{\tiny\text{VHS}}

As the smallest exceptional Lie group and the automorphism group of the non-associative algebra of octonions, G$_2$ is often employed for describing exotic symmetry structures. We prove a G$_2$ symmetry in a Hubbard-like model with spin-$\frac{3}{2}$ fermions in a bipartite lattice, which lies in the intersection of two SO(7) algebras connected by the structure constants of octonions. Depending on the representations of the order parameters, the G$_2$ symmetry can be spontaneously broken into either an SU(3) one associated with an $S^6$ Goldstone manifold, or, into an SU(2)$\times$U(1) with a Grassmannian Goldstone manifold $\mbox{Gr}_5^+(\mathbb{R}^7)$. In the quantum disordered states, quantum fluctuations generate the effective SU(3) and SU(2)$\times$U(1) gauge theories for low energy fermions., Comment: 4+ pages

We study a superconducting hetro-junction with one side characterized by the unconventional chiral $p$-wave gap function $p_x\pm ip_y$ and the other side the conventional $s$-wave one. Though a relative phase of $\pm \frac{\pi}{2}$ between any two components of gap functions is favored in the junction region, mutual phase differences cannot achieve $\pm \frac{\pi}{2}$ simultaneously, which results in frustration. Based on a Ginzburg-Landau free energy analysis, the frustrated pattern is determined to be $s+ i\eta_1 (e^{ i\eta_2 \varphi/2}p_x +\eta_3 e^{- i\eta_2 \varphi/2}p_y)$ with $\eta_j=\pm 1$ ($j=1,2,3$), where $\varphi$ is the phase difference between the $p_x$- and $p_y$-wave gap functions. Furthermore, we find that the junction exhibits an anisotropic magnetoelectric effect, manifesting itself as an anisotropic spin magnetization along the edge of the junction., Comment: 12 pages

In this paper, we study the itinerant ferromagnetic phase in multi-component fermionic systems with symplectic (Sp(4), or isomorphically SO(5)) symmetry. Two different microscopic models have been considered and an effective field theory has been proposed to study the critical behavior of the nonmagnetism-magnetism phase transition. It has been shown that such systems exhibit intriguing ferromagnetism and critical behavior that different from those in spin-$\frac 12$ fermionic systems, or in high-spin systems with SU(N) symmetry. An extension of our results to higher spin systems with Sp(2N) symmetry has also been discussed.

We employ the large-scale quantum Monte-Carlo simulations to investigate the Mott-insulating states of the half-filled SU(4) Hubbard model on the square lattice with a staggered-flux pattern. The noninteracting band structure that evolves from a nested Fermi surface at zero flux to isotropic Dirac cones at $\pi$ flux, exhibits anisotropic Dirac cones as the flux varies in between. Our simulations show transitions between the three phases of Dirac semimetal, antiferromagnet and valence-bond solid. A direct continuous transition between the antiferromagnetic phase and the valence-bond-solid phase is realized via varying the flux in the Mott regime. The simulated critical exponents remarkably agree with those of SU(4) $J$-$Q$ model. Inside the valence-bond-solid phase induced by the flux, the plaquette valence-bond state with vanishing single-particle gap is identified. At strong coupling, the valence-bond-solid phase disappears and the Mott-insulating state is always accompanied by antiferromagnetic ordering, regardless of the magnitude of the flux., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures

We perform the projector quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulation to study the trion formation and quantum phase transition in the half-filled attractive SU(3) Hubbard model on a honeycomb lattice. With increasing attractive Hubbard interaction, our simulations demonstrate a continuous quantum phase transition from the semimetal to charge density wave (CDW) at the critical coupling $U_c/t=-1.52(2)$. The critical exponents $\nu=0.82(3)$ and $\eta=0.58(4)$ determined by the QMC simulation remarkably disagree with those of the $N=3$ chiral Ising universality class suggested by the effective Gross-Neveu-Yukawa (GNY) theory, but coincide with the $N=1$ chiral Ising universality class. In the CDW phase, we show that on-site and off-site trions coexist and the off-site trion forms a local bond state. Our work not only illustrates the formation of off-site trions in two-dimensional Hubbard model, but also raises doubts about the extent of applicability of GNY model on the attractive SU(3) Dirac fermions., Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures

We introduce the topological mirror excitonic insulator as a new type of interacting topological crystalline phase in one dimension. Its mirror-symmetry-protected topological properties are driven by exciton physics, and it manifests in the quantized bulk polarization and half-charge modes on the boundary. And the bosonization analysis is performed to demonstrate its robustness against strong correlation effects in one dimension. Besides, we also show that Rashba nanowires and Dirac semimetal nanowires could provide ideal experimental platforms to realize this new topological mirror excitonic insulating state. Its experimental consequences, such as quantized tunneling conductance in the tunneling measurement, are also discussed., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Comments are welcome!

Quaternion, an extension of complex number, is the first discovered non-commutative division algebra by William Rowan Hamilton in 1843. In this article, we review the recent progress on building up the connection between the mathematical concept of quaternoinic analyticity and the physics of high-dimensional topological states. Three- and four-dimensional harmonic oscillator wavefunctions are reorganized by the SU(2) Aharanov-Casher gauge potential to yield high-dimensional Landau levels possessing the full rotational symmetries and flat energy dispersions. The lowest Landau level wavefunctions exhibit quaternionic analyticity, satisfying the {\it Cauchy-Riemann-Fueter} condition, which generalizes the two-dimensional complex analyticity to three and four dimensions. It is also the Euclidean version of the helical Dirac and the chiral Weyl equations. After dimensional reductions, these states become two- and three-dimensional topological states maintaining time-reversal symmetry but exhibiting broken parity. We speculate that quaternionic analyticity can provide a guiding principle for future researches on high-dimensional interacting topological states. Other progresses including high-dimensional Landau levels of Dirac fermions, their connections to high energy physics, and high-dimensional Landau levels in the Landau-type gauges, are also reviewed. This research is also an important application of the mathematical subject of quaternion analysis in theoretical physics, and provides useful guidance for the experimental explorations on novel topological states of matter.

Phase singularities in quantum states play a significant role both in the state properties and in the transition between the states. For instance, a transition to two-dimensional superfluid state is governed by pairing of vortices and, in turn, unpaired vortices can cause dissipations for particle fluxes. Vortices and other phase defects can be revealed by characteristic features in interference patterns produced by the quantum system. We present dislocation-like phase singularities in interference patterns in a condensate of indirect excitons measured by shift-interferometry. We show that the observed dislocations in interference patterns are not associated with conventional phase defects: neither with vortices, nor with polarization vortices, nor with half-vortices, nor with skyrmions, nor with half-skyrmions. We present the origin of these new phase singularities in condensate interference patterns: the observed interference dislocations originate from converging of the condensate matter waves propagating from different sources., Comment: 5+ pages, 4 figures

The recently discovered superconductivity in Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$ provides a new opportunity for studying strongly correlated unconventional superconductivity. The single-hole Ni$^+$ ($3d^9$) configuration in the parent compound NdNiO$_2$ is similar to that of Cu$^{2+}$ in cuprates. We suggest that after doping, the intra-orbital spin-singlet and inter-orbital spin-triplet double-hole (doublon) configurations of Ni$^{2+}$ are competing, and we construct a two-band Hubbard model by including both the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ and $3d_{xy}$-orbitals. The effective spin-orbital super-exchange model in the undoped case is a variant of the $SU(4)$ Kugel-Khomskii model augmented by symmetry breaking terms. Upon doping, the effective exchange interactions between spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ single-holes, spin-1 (triplet) doublons, and singlet doublons are derived. Possible superconducting pairing symmetries are classified in accordance to the $D_{4h}$ crystalline symmetry, and their connections to the superexchange interactions are analyzed., Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev. Research

We perform large scale projector determinant quantum Monte-Carlo simulations to study the insulating states of the half-filled SU(6) Hubbard model on the square lattice. The transition from the antiferromagnetic state to the valence bond solid state occurs as increasing the Hubbard $U$. In contrast, in the SU(2) and SU(4) cases antiferromagnetism persists throughout the entire interaction range. In the SU(6) case, antiferromagnetism starts to develop in the weak interacting regime based on the Slater mechanism of Fermi surface nesting. As $U$ passes a crossover value $U^*/t\approx 9$, the single-particle gap scales linearly with $U$, marking the onset of Mott physics. In the Mott regime, antiferromagnetism becomes to be suppressed as $U$ increases, and vanishes after $U$ passes the critical value $U_{\rm AF,c}/t=13.3\pm 0.05$. The critical exponents are obtained via critical scalings as $\nu_{\rm AF}=0.60\pm 0.02$ and $\eta_{\rm AF}=0.44\pm 0.03$. As $U$ further increases, the valence bond solid ordering appears exhibiting the anomalous dimension $\eta_{\rm VBS}=0.98\pm 0.01$., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

The symmetries of superconducting gap functions remain an important question of iron-based superconductivity. Motivated by the recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopic measurements on iron-chalcogenide superconductors, we investigate the influence of pairing symmetries on the topological surface state. If the surface Dirac cone becomes gapped in the superconducting phase, it implies magnetization induced from time-reversal symmetry breaking pairing via spin-orbit coupling. Based on the crystalline symmetry constraints on the Ginzburg-Landau free energy, the gap function symmetries are among the possibilities of $A_{1g(u)}\pm iA_{2g(u)}$, $B_{1g(u)}\pm iB_{2g(u)}$, or, $E_{g(u)}\pm i E_{g(u)}$. This time-reversal symmetry breaking effect can exist in the normal state very close to $T_c$ with the relative phase between two gap functions locked at $\pm \frac{\pi}{2}$. The coupling between magnetization and superconducting gap functions is calculated based on a three-orbital model for the band structure of iron-chalcogenides. This study provides the connection between the gap function symmetries and topological properties of the surface state., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. Comments are welcome!

The quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE) has formed the seed for contemporary research on topological quantum states of matter. Since its discovery in HgTe/CdTe quantum wells and AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures, all such systems have so far been suffering from extremely low operating temperatures, rendering any technological application out of reach. We formulate a theoretical paradigm to accomplish the high temperature QSHE in monolayer-substrate heterostructures. Specifically, we explicate our proposal for hexagonal compounds formed by monolayers of heavy group-V elements (As, Sb, Bi) on a SiC substrate. We show how orbital filtering due to substrate hybridization, a tailored multi-orbital density of states at low energies, and large spin-orbit coupling can conspire to yield QSH states with bulk gaps of several hundreds of meV. Combined with the successful realization of Bi/SiC (0001), with a measured bulk gap of 800 meV reported previously [Reis et al., 10.1126/science.aai8142 (2017)], our paradigm elevates the QSHE from an intricate quantum phenomenon at low temperatures to a scalable effect amenable to device design and engineering., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures

How superconductivity emerges in the vicinity of an antiferromagnetic insulating state is a long-standing issue of strong correlation physics. We study the transition from an antiferromagnetic insulator to a superconductor by hole-doping based on a bilayer generalization of a Hubbard-like model. The projector quantum Monte-Carlo simulations are employed, which are sign-problem-free both at and away from half-filling. An anisotropic Ising antiferromagnetic Mott insulating phase occurs at half-filling, which is weakened by hole-doping. Below a critical doping value, antiferromagnetism coexists with the singlet superconductivity, which is a pairing across each rung with an extended $s$-wave symmetry. As further increasing doping, the antiferromagnetic order vanishes, leaving only a superconducting phase. These results provide important information on how superconductivity appears upon doping the parent Mott-insulating state., Comment: Somre more data are added and some figures are updated