Browsing by Author "Stubbs, Kevin"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    On discrete Wigner transforms
    Cai, Zhenning; Lu, Jianfeng; Stubbs, Kevin
    In this work, we derive a discrete analog of the Wigner transform over the space $(\mathbb{C}^p)^{\otimes N}$ for any prime $p$ and any positive integer $N$. We show that the Wigner transform over this space can be constructed as the inverse Fourier transform of the standard Pauli matrices for $p=2$ or more generally of the Heisenberg-Weyl group elements for $p > 2$. We connect our work to a previous construction by Wootters of a discrete Wigner transform by showing that for all $p$, Wootters' construction corresponds to taking the inverse symplectic Fourier transform instead of the inverse Fourier transform. Finally, we discuss some implications of these results for the numerical simulation of many-body quantum spin systems.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    On Exponentially Localized Wannier Functions in Non-Periodic Insulators
    (2021) Stubbs, Kevin

    Exponentially localized Wannier functions (ELWFs) are an orthogonal basis for the low energy states of a material consisting of functions which decay exponentially quickly in space. When a material is insulating and periodic, conditions which guarantee the existence of ELWFs in dimensions one, two, and three are well-known and methods for constructing ELWFs numerically are well-developed. In this dissertation, we consider the case where the material is insulating but not necessarily periodic and develop an algorithm for calculating ELWFs.

    In Chapter 3, we propose an optimization-free algorithm for constructing Wannier functions in both periodic and non-periodic insulating systems. In this chapter, we rigorously prove that under the assumption of ``uniform spectral gaps'', a technical assumption we introduce, that our algorithm constructs ELWFs.

    While the uniform spectral gaps assumption is not always met in practice, in Chapter 4, we prove that for a wide class of systems (both periodic and non-periodic) it is always possible to modify our algorithm so that the uniform spectral gaps assumption holds. As a consequence of this result, we conclude that for both periodic and non-periodic systems our algorithm can construct ELWFs whenever they exist.

    The results in this dissertation open the door for extending the theory of topological insulators, a recently discovered class of materials, to fully non-periodic systems.