Periodic Table of the Ordinary and Supersymmetric Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Models.

We develop a unified minimal scheme to classify quantum chaos in the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) and supersymmetric (SUSY) SYK models and also work out the structure of the energy levels in one periodic table. The SYK with even q-body or SUSY SYK with odd q-body interaction, with N even or odd number of sites, are put on an equal footing in the minimal Hilbert space; N (mod 8), q (mod 4) double Bott periodicity, and a reflection condition are identified. Exact diagonalizations (EDs) are performed to study both the bulk energy level statistics and hard-edge behaviors. Excellent agreements between the ED results and the symmetry classifications are demonstrated. Our compact and systematic methods can be transformed to map out more complicated periodic tables of SYK models with more degrees of freedom, tensor models, or symmetry protected topological phases.

Goldstone and Higgs modes of photons inside a cavity.

Goldstone and Higgs modes have been detected in various condensed matter, cold atom and particle physics experiments. Here, we demonstrate that the two modes can also be observed in optical systems with only a few (artificial) atoms inside a cavity. We establish this connection by studying the U(1)/Z2 Dicke model where N qubits (atoms) coupled to a single photon mode. We determine the Goldstone and Higgs modes inside the super-radiant phase and their corresponding spectral weights by performing both 1/J = 2/N expansion and exact diagonalization (ED) study at a finite N. We find nearly perfect agreements between the results achieved by the two approaches when N gets down even to N = 2. The quantum finite size effects at a few qubits make the two modes quite robust against an effectively small counterrotating wave term. We present a few schemes to reduce the critical coupling strength, so the two modes can be observed in several current available experimental systems by just conventional optical measurements.

Topological quantum phase transition in synthetic non-Abelian gauge potential: gauge invariance and experimental detections.

The method of synthetic gauge potentials opens up a new avenue for our understanding and discovering novel quantum states of matter. We investigate the topological quantum phase transition of Fermi gases trapped in a honeycomb lattice in the presence of a synthetic non-Abelian gauge potential. We develop a systematic fermionic effective field theory to describe a topological quantum phase transition tuned by the non-Abelian gauge potential and explore its various important experimental consequences. Numerical calculations on lattice scales are performed to compare with the results achieved by the fermionic effective field theory. Several possible experimental detection methods of topological quantum phase transition are proposed. In contrast to condensed matter experiments where only gauge invariant quantities can be measured, both gauge invariant and non-gauge invariant quantities can be measured by experimentally generating various non-Abelian gauges corresponding to the same set of Wilson loops.

Angle-resolved photoluminescence spectrum of the exciton condensate in electron-hole semiconductor bilayers.

The electron-hole semiconductor bilayer system is one of the most promising systems to search for exciton superfluid. The exciton superfluid is metastable and will eventually decay through emitting photons. Here we show that the angle-resolved photon spectrum, momentum distribution curve, energy distribution curve, and quasiparticle excitation spectrum in the exciton superfluid show many unique and unusual features not shared by any other atomic or condensed matter systems. Observing all these salient features in the photoluminescence experiments can provide convincing evidence for exciton superfluid in electron-hole semiconductor bilayers. We also comment on relevant experimental data in both exciton and exciton-polariton systems and also suggest possible future experiments to test our theoretical predictions.

Quantum phase transitions in bilayer quantum hall systems at a total filling factor nuT=1.

We construct a quantum Ginsburg-Landau theory to study the quantum phase transition from the excitonic superfluid to a possible pseudospin density wave (PSDW) at some intermediate distances driven by the magnetoroton minimum collapsing at a finite wave vector. We explicitly show that the PSDW takes a square lattice structure. We suggest the existence of zero-point quantum fluctuation generated vacancies in the PSDW and that correlated hopping of vacancies in the active and passive layers in the PSDW state leads to very large and temperature dependent drag consistent with the experimental data. Comparisons with previous numerical calculations are made. Further experimental implications are given.

Ginzburg-Landau theory of a supersolid.

We develop a simple Ginsburg-Landau theory to study all the possible phases and phase transitions in 4He, analyze the condition for the existence of the supersolid (SS) and map out its global phase diagram from a unified framework. If the condition favors the existence of the SS, we use the GL theory to address several experimental facts and also make some predictions that are amenable to experimental tests. A key prediction is that the x-ray scattering intensity from the SS ought to have an additional modulation over that of the normal solid. The modulation amplitude is proportional to the nonclassical rotational-inertial observed in the torsional oscillator experiments.

Fractional charges and quantum phase transitions in imbalanced bilayer quantum Hall systems.

We extend the composite boson theory to study slightly imbalanced bilayer quantum Hall systems. In the global U(1) symmetry breaking excitonic superfluid side, as the imbalance increases, the system supports continuously changing fractional charges. In the translational symmetry breaking pseudospin density wave (PSDW) side, there are two quantum phase transitions from the commensurate PSDW to an incommensurate PSDW and then to the excitonic superfluid state. We compare our theory with experimental data and also the previous microscopic calculations.