


2019-01-18
ION HANCU
ION HANCU

2019-01-29
MARIA MAFFEI
MARIA MAFFEI

2019-02-13
BORIS BOURDONCLE
BORIS BOURDONCLE

2019-02-15
JORDI MORALES DALMAU
JORDI MORALES DALMAU

2019-02-22
FRANCESCO RICCI
FRANCESCO RICCI

2019-03-06
CLARA GREGORI
CLARA GREGORI

2019-03-26
ALEXIA SALAVRAKOS
ALEXIA SALAVRAKOS

2019-04-12
SENAIDA HERNANDEZ SANTANA
SENAIDA HERNANDEZ SANTANA

2019-04-15
DAVID RAVENTÓS RIBERA
DAVID RAVENTÓS RIBERA

2019-04-16
PETER SCHMIDT
PETER SCHMIDT

2019-04-29
CALLUM O’DONNELL
CALLUM O’DONNELL

2019-05-02
LUCIANA VIDAS
LUCIANA VIDAS

2019-05-03
HANYU YE
HANYU YE

2019-05-10
TANJA DRAGOJEVIC
TANJA DRAGOJEVIC

2019-05-17
FLAVIO BACCARI
FLAVIO BACCARI

2019-06-04
MARTINA GIOVANNELLA
MARTINA GIOVANNELLA

2019-07-02
OZLEM YAVAS
OZLEM YAVAS

2019-07-03
ALESSANDRO SERI
ALESSANDRO SERI

2019-07-11
RENWEN YU
RENWEN YU

2019-09-06
ALEXANDER BLOCK
ALEXANDER BLOCK

2019-10-04
MARCO PAGLIAZZI
MARCO PAGLIAZZI

2019-10-07
RINU MANIYARA
RINU MANIYARA

2019-10-15
ALEJANDRO POZAS-KERSTJENS
ALEJANDRO POZAS-KERSTJENS
Simulation and bulk detection of topological phases of matter


MARIA MAFFEI
January 29th, 2019
MARIA MAFFEI
Quantum Optics Theory
ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences, SPAIN and Università degli Studi di Napoli, ITALY
Differently from the majority of the other phases of matter, which are characterized by local order parameters, the topological phases are characterized by integer or semi-integer numbers, the topological invariants, which are depending on global properties and robust against impurities or deformations. In the last decade, the study of the topological phases of matter has been developing parallel to the field of quantum simulation. Quantum simulators are fully controllable experimental platforms simulating the dynamics of systems of interest by the use of the mapping between the two Hamiltonians. These simulators represent a key resource in the study of topological phases of matter because their observation in natural systems is usually highly problematic and sometimes impossible. Quantum simulators are commonly realized with cold atoms in optical lattices or with photonic systems. The unitary and time-periodic protocols, known as quantum walks, are a versatile class of photonic quantum simulators. The purpose of this PhD thesis is to design feasible protocols to simulate and characterize topological non-interacting crystalline Hamiltonians in 1 and 2 dimensions. Moreover, this thesis contains the description of the experiments that have been completed using the theoretical proposals. In details: i) We demonstrate that the topological invariant associated to chiral symmetric 1D Hamiltonians becomes apparent through the long time limit of a bulk observable, the mean chiral displacement (MCD). This detection method converges rapidly and requires no additional elements (i.e. external fields) or filled bands. The MCD has been used to characterize the topology of a chiral-symmetric 1D photonic quantum walk and to detect a signature of the so-called topological Anderson insulating phase in a disordered chiral symmetric wire simulated with ultracold atoms. ii) We designed the protocol to measure the topological invariant that characterizes a 2D photonic quantum walk simulating a Chern insulator.
Tuesday, January 29. Università degli Studi di Napoli
Thesis Directors: Prof Dr Maciej Lewenstien (ICFO) and Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Marrucci (Università degli Studi di Napoli)
ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences, SPAIN and Università degli Studi di Napoli, ITALY
Differently from the majority of the other phases of matter, which are characterized by local order parameters, the topological phases are characterized by integer or semi-integer numbers, the topological invariants, which are depending on global properties and robust against impurities or deformations. In the last decade, the study of the topological phases of matter has been developing parallel to the field of quantum simulation. Quantum simulators are fully controllable experimental platforms simulating the dynamics of systems of interest by the use of the mapping between the two Hamiltonians. These simulators represent a key resource in the study of topological phases of matter because their observation in natural systems is usually highly problematic and sometimes impossible. Quantum simulators are commonly realized with cold atoms in optical lattices or with photonic systems. The unitary and time-periodic protocols, known as quantum walks, are a versatile class of photonic quantum simulators. The purpose of this PhD thesis is to design feasible protocols to simulate and characterize topological non-interacting crystalline Hamiltonians in 1 and 2 dimensions. Moreover, this thesis contains the description of the experiments that have been completed using the theoretical proposals. In details: i) We demonstrate that the topological invariant associated to chiral symmetric 1D Hamiltonians becomes apparent through the long time limit of a bulk observable, the mean chiral displacement (MCD). This detection method converges rapidly and requires no additional elements (i.e. external fields) or filled bands. The MCD has been used to characterize the topology of a chiral-symmetric 1D photonic quantum walk and to detect a signature of the so-called topological Anderson insulating phase in a disordered chiral symmetric wire simulated with ultracold atoms. ii) We designed the protocol to measure the topological invariant that characterizes a 2D photonic quantum walk simulating a Chern insulator.
Tuesday, January 29. Università degli Studi di Napoli
Thesis Directors: Prof Dr Maciej Lewenstien (ICFO) and Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Marrucci (Università degli Studi di Napoli)