Johannes Knolle

The Ising model serves as a canonical platform for exploring emergent symmetry in quantum critical systems. The critical point of the 1D Ising chain is described by a conformal Ising field theory, which remains integrable in the presence of a magnetic perturbation, leading to massive particles associated with the exceptional Lie algebra E 8 . Weakly coupling two Ising chains into a ladder breaks this integrability and is predicted to bind the elementary kink excitations of the decoupled chains, giving rise to a richer spectrum of excitations described by the D 8 ( 1 ) theory. Experimental signatures of E 8 excitations have arguably been observed in scattering studies of the spin chain material CoNb 2 O 6 , but direct observation of the bound-state spectrum emerging from interchain coupling has remained elusive. Here, we probe these emergent symmetries in a Rydberg atom quantum processing unit, leveraging its tunable geometry to realize both chain and ladder configurations. We identify mass spectra consistent with E 8 at the single-chain critical point and, in the weakly coupled ladder, report the first signatures of the reorganization of Ising excitations into the bound-state spectrum predicted by D 8 ( 1 ) symmetry. Our results demonstrate the power of Rydberg platforms for investigating symmetry emergence in quantum many-body systems and provide a direct window into the interplay of quasiparticle interactions, geometry, and criticality.

We study the nonreciprocal properties of the iron oxide α − Fe 2 O 3 (hematite) in the canted easy-plane antiferromagnetic phase, specifically in the GHz to THz frequency range. First, using the the microscopic spin Hamiltonian, we obtain the correct classical ground state where the canting is induced by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI). The magnon spectrum is simulated using linear spin wave theory. We then compute the polarizability and the subgap optical conductivities using linear response. We find that the conductivity tensor contains frequency peaks at the zero momentum magnon gaps of order 0.1 meV which can be tuned by the DMI and on-site anisotropic spin interactions. Furthermore, we show that the canting-induced net magnetic moment m represents a measure for the effective time-reversal-symmetry breaking and nonreciprocity of the system: A finite m results in a nonzero Hall conductivity. Finally, we discuss the prospective application of hematite in nonreciprocal circulator design, by computing the nonreciprocal circulator transmission amplitude using the conductivities as input.

Sondheimer oscillations (SO) are magnetoresistance oscillations occurring in thin films due to the commensurability between cyclotron motion and sample thickness, and are traditionally regarded as a purely semiclassical size effect. Here we develop a general quantum theory of SO for thin-film conductors in the quantum limit of a large magnetic field. We show that corrections arising from band topology modify the SO frequency, in contrast to Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations where topological information appears only in the phase. As a consequence, quantum SO provide a direct and robust probe of the full Landau level spectrum. Applying our framework to a minimal model with tunable Berry phase, we demonstrate how topology manifests itself in experimentally accessible magneto-oscillation spectra and discuss damping mechanisms including surface roughness.

We investigate thermal Hall transport in magnetic systems, using semiclassical spin dynamics simulations. Building on a linear response framework, we discuss the intricacies of computing the thermal Hall conductivity from real-time energy current correlations and the energy magnetization. We then apply this methodology to two models: a square-lattice chiral magnet with in-plane Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, and the antiferromagnetic Kitaev model in a field. Our results demonstrate the efficiency of semiclassical spin dynamics to study thermal Hall transport capturing quantitative effects beyond the simple intrinsic noninteracting approximation. They can serve as a benchmark for comparison with experiments in regimes where nonlinearities from magnon-magnon interactions and strong thermal fluctuations play a crucial role.

We introduce the rare-earth delafossite compound TlYbSe 2 —extending the search for quantum spin liquids in frustrated triangular lattice magnets. While the dc magnetization suggests magnetic exchange interactions on the order of several kelvin, the zero-field ac magnetization and heat capacity measurements reveal no signs of long-range magnetic order down to 20 mK, indicating a quantum-disordered ground state. We observe a spin-freezing transition near ∼ 30 mK at zero field that is suppressed by an applied magnetic field of ∼ 0.02 T. A broad anomaly in the heat capacity measurements between 2 and 5 K is indicative of short-range spin correlations. Below 350 mK, we observe a robust linear temperature dependence of the heat capacity, accompanied by the complete absence of long-range order at low fields. We propose that a phenomenological theory, based on the interplay between spinons and thermally excited gauge flux excitations, can account for the linear temperature dependence of the heat capacity, and could be widely applicable to similar critical quantum spin liquid candidate materials. The results establish the low-temperature, low-field regime of TlYbSe 2 as a prime candidate for field-tunable triangular quantum spin liquid behavior and highlight the importance of thermally excited gauge field excitations.

The behavior of the paradigmatic J 1 − J 2 triangular lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet in a magnetic field remains unsettled despite decades of study. We map out the phase diagram using three complementary approaches, including self-consistent nonlinear spin-wave theory, density-matrix renormalization group, and variational Monte Carlo. This combined analysis resolves the competition among different field-induced magnetic orders and magnetization plateaus across the classically frustrated parameter range. In particular, there is a finite range in the parameter regime around J 2 / J 1 = 1 8 in which (i) upon the application of the external field, the gapless quantum spin liquid acquires a finite density of monopoles, and (ii) by further increasing the field, two plateaus are clearly obtained at m = 1 3 and m = 1 2 . We discuss the experimental importance of the consecutive magnetization plateau transitions as a signature of an underlying quantum spin-liquid phase.

Quantum oscillations (QOs) are a well-established probe of Fermi-surface (FS) geometry and in the presence of long-range density wave order can display new QO frequencies from reconstructed FS pockets. We show that such reconstructed frequencies can arise even in the absence of long-range density order. Considering electrons coupled to a fluctuating bosonic mode that scatters quasiparticles between sharp hot spots on the FS, we develop a semiclassical theory in which the interaction generates time-dependent tunneling processes analogous to magnetic breakdown. This dynamical magnetic breakdown produces new semiclassical orbits corresponding to reconstructed FS areas despite the absence of static order. Because tunneling probabilities depend on the thermal population of bosonic excitations, the resulting oscillation amplitudes exhibit characteristic deviations from standard Lifshitz-Kosevich behavior. Our results provide a mechanism to probe bosonic fluctuations in quantum critical metals and provide a framework for dynamical magnetic breakdown.

The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition is an archetypal example of a topological phase transition, which is driven by the proliferation of vortices. In this Letter, we analyze the persistence of the BKT transition in the XY model under the influence of long-range algebraically decaying interactions of the form ∼ 1 / r 2 + σ . The model hosts a magnetized low temperature phase for sufficiently small σ . Crucially, in the presence of long-range interactions, spin waves renormalize the interaction between vortices, which stabilizes the BKT transition. As a result, we find that there is no direct transition from the magnetized to the disordered phase and that the BKT transition persists for arbitrary long-range exponents, which is distinct from previous results. The key methodological advance is the inclusion of coupling between spin wave and topological excitations. We do this by developing Landau-Peierls–type arguments and using higher-order renormalization group calculations, obtaining compatible results. We emphasize that Landau-Peierls–type arguments are a powerful tool for analyzing continuous spin models. We discuss the relevance of our findings for current Rydberg atom experiments, and highlight the importance of long-range couplings for other types of topological defects.

Two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy (2DCS) is an established method for characterizing molecules and has been proposed in the terahertz regime as a tool for probing exotic excitations of quantum magnets; however, the precise nature of the coupling between pump field and spin degrees of freedom has remained unclear. Here, we develop a general response theory of 2DCS and show how magnetoelectric as well as polarization couplings contribute to 2DCS in addition to the typically assumed magnetization. We propose experimental protocols to probe the presence of polarization couplings, for instance, from exchange-striction or spin-current mechanism, when the electric field couples to quadratic terms in spin operators. We provide example calculations for the paradigmatic twisted Kitaev chain material CoNb 2 O 6 and highlight the crucial role of contributions from cross-coupling between polarization and magnetic nonlinear susceptibilities. Our work paves the way for systematic studies of light-matter couplings in quantum magnets and for establishing 2DCS as a versatile tool for probing fractional excitations of exotic magnetic quantum phases.

We investigate low-energy excitons in rhombohedral pentalayer graphene encapsulated by hexagonal boron nitride (hBN/R5G/hBN), focusing on the regime at the experimental twist angle θ = 0 . 77 ∘ and with an applied electric field. We introduce a new low-energy two-band model of rhombohedral graphene that captures the band structure more accurately than previous models while keeping the number of parameters low. Using this model, we show that the centres of the Wannier functions are displaced from the moiré unit cell origin —they are instead localized at C 3 -symmetric points on the boundary. We also find that the exciton shift is electrically tunable: by varying the electric field strength, the exciton Wannier center can be exchanged between inequivalent corners of the moiré unit cell. Our results suggest the possibility of detecting excitonic corner or edge modes, as well as novel excitonic crystal defect responses in hBN/R5G/hBN. Lastly, we find that the excitons in hBN/R5G/hBN inherit excitonic Berry curvature from the underlying electronic bands, enriching their semiclassical transport properties. Our results position rhombohedral graphene as a compelling tunable platform for probing exciton topology in moiré materials.