No Arabic abstract
We consider the smallest eigenvalues of perturbed Hermitian operators with zero modes, either topological or system specific. To leading order for small generic perturbation we show that the corresponding eigenvalues broaden to a Gaussian random matrix ensemble of size $ utimes u$, where $ u$ is the number of zero modes. This observation unifies and extends a number of results within chiral random matrix theory and effective field theory and clarifies under which conditions they apply. The scaling of the former zero modes with the volume differs from the eigenvalues in the bulk, which we propose as an indicator to identify them in experiments. These results hold for all ten symmetric spaces in the Altland-Zirnbauer classification and build on two facts. Firstly, the broadened zero modes decouple from the bulk eigenvalues and secondly, the mixing from eigenstates of the perturbation form a Central Limit Theorem argument for matrices.
Hermitian operators with exact zero modes subject to non-Hermitian perturbations are considered. Specific focus is on the average distribution of the initial zero modes of the Hermitian operators. The broadening of these zero modes is found to follow an elliptic Gaussian random matrix ensemble of fixed size, where the symmetry class of the perturbation determines the behaviour of the modes. This distribution follows from a central limit theorem of matrices, and is shown to be robust to deformations of the average.
We prove that quantum information encoded in some topological excitations, including certain Majorana zero modes, is protected in closed systems for a time scale exponentially long in system parameters. This protection holds even at infinite temperature. At lower temperatures the decay time becomes even longer, with a temperature dependence controlled by an effective gap that is parametrically larger than the actual energy gap of the system. This non-equilibrium dynamical phenomenon is a form of prethermalization, and occurs because of obstructions to the equilibriation of edge or defect degrees of freedom with the bulk. We analyze the ramifications for ordered and topological phases in one, two, and three dimensions, with examples including Majorana and parafermionic zero modes in interacting spin chains. Our results are based on a non-perturbative analysis valid in any dimension, and they are illustrated by numerical simulations in one dimension. We discuss the implications for experiments on quantum-dot chains tuned into a regime supporting end Majorana zero modes, and on trapped ion chains.
Using a family of modified Weibull distributions, encompassing both sub-exponentials and super-exponentials, to parameterize the marginal distributions of asset returns and their natural multivariate generalizations, we give exact formulas for the tails and for the moments and cumulants of the distribution of returns of a portfolio make of arbitrary compositions of these assets. Using combinatorial and hypergeometric functions, we are in particular able to extend previous results to the case where the exponents of the Weibull distributions are different from asset to asset and in the presence of dependence between assets. We treat in details the problem of risk minimization using two different measures of risks (cumulants and value-at-risk) for a portfolio made of two assets and compare the theoretical predictions with direct empirical data. While good agreement is found, the remaining discrepancy between theory and data stems from the deviations from the Weibull parameterization for small returns. Our extended formulas enable us to determine analytically the conditions under which it is possible to ``have your cake and eat it too, i.e., to construct a portfolio with both larger return and smaller ``large risks.
A pair of Majorana zero modes (MZMs) constitutes a nonlocal qubit whose entropy is $log 2$. Upon strongly coupling one of the constituent MZMs to a reservoir with a continuous density of states, a universal entropy change of $frac{1}{2}log 2$ is expected to be observed across an intermediate temperature plateau. We adapt the entropy-measurement scheme that was the basis of a recent experiment [Hartman et. al., Nat. Phys. 14, 1083 (2018)] to the case of a proximitized topological system hosting MZMs, and propose a method to measure this $frac{1}{2}log 2$ entropy change --- an unambiguous signature of the nonlocal nature of the topological state. This approach offers an experimental strategy to distinguish MZMs from non-topological states.
I explicitly construct a strong zero mode in the XYZ chain or, equivalently, Majorana wires coupled via a four-fermion interaction. The strong zero mode is an operator that pairs states in different symmetry sectors, resulting in identical spectra up to exponentially small finite-size corrections. Such pairing occurs in the Ising/Majorana fermion chain and possibly in parafermionic systems and strongly disordered many-body localized phases. The proof here shows that the strong zero mode occurs in a clean interacting system, and that it possesses some remarkable structure -- despite being a rather elaborate operator, it squares to the identity. Eigenstate phase transitions separate regions with different types of pairing.