Profil of Björn Sbierski.

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Tübingen University

Research Website

In science, I have a chance to explore and understand the ways in which nature works and which were previously hidden in the unknown. It is this pioneering spirit that drives me forward as a researcher.

Description

My planned research for the START-fellowship combines two timely topics related to the MCQST research units B (Quantum Simulation) and F (Quantum Matter). In the first part, I propose a functional renormalization group approach for the challenging numerical treatment of Rydberg atom arrays. The second part is concerned with two open problems in the field of disordered nodal quantum matter.


Research focus

  • Systems: disordered systems, topological insulators and superconductors, semimetals and Dirac systems, frustrated quantum magnets and spin liquids, cold atom quantum simulators.
  • Phenomena: topological physics, quantum transport and Anderson localization, quantum critical behavior and universality.
  • Methods: scattering matrix formalism, diagrammatic and functional methods, RG approaches (Wilsonian and functional RG, epsilon expansions).

Group website: Theoretical Solid State Physics


Featured


Cuurent position

Postdoc at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

Publications

High-temperature series expansion of the dynamic Matsubara spin correlator

R. Burkard, B. Schneider, B. Sbierski

Physical Review B 113 (7), 75102 (2026).

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The high-temperature series expansion for quantum spin models is a well-established tool to compute thermodynamic quantities and equal-time spin correlations, in particular for frustrated interactions. We extend the scope of this expansion to the dynamic Matsubara spin-spin correlator and develop an algorithm that yields exact expansion coefficients in the form of rational numbers. We focus on Heisenberg models with a single coupling constant J and spin lengths S E {1/2, 1}. The expansion coefficients up to 12th order in J/T are precomputed on all possible ,106 graphs embeddable in arbitrary lattices and are provided in a repository. This enables calculation of static momentum-resolved susceptibilities for arbitrary site pairs or wave vectors. We test our results for the antiferromagnetic S = 1/2 chain and triangular lattice model. An important application that we discuss in a companion letter is the calculation of real-frequency dynamic structure factors. This is achieved by identifying the high-frequency expansion coefficients of the Matsubara correlator with frequency moments of the spectral function.

10.1103/1l92-z6qd

Dynamic Correlations of Frustrated Quantum Spins from High-Temperature Expansion

R. Burkard, B. Schneider, B. Sbierski

Physical Review Letters 136 (5), 56501 (2026).

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For quantum spin systems in equilibrium, the dynamic structure factor (DSF) is among the most featurepacked experimental observables. However, from a theory perspective it is often hard to simulate in an unbiased and accurate way, especially for frustrated and high-dimensional models at intermediate temperature. To address this challenge, we compute the DSF from a dynamic extension of the hightemperature expansion to frequency moments. We focus on nearest-neighbor Heisenberg models with spin lengths S = 1/2 and 1. We provide comprehensive benchmarks and consider a variety of frustrated twoand three-dimensional antiferromagnets as applications. In particular we shed new light on the anomalous intermediate temperature regime of the S = 1/2 triangular lattice model and reproduce the DSF measured recently for the S = 1 pyrochlore material NaCaNi2F7. An open-source numerical implementation for arbitrary lattice geometries is also provided.

10.1103/jtjk-x2lw

Taming Spin Susceptibilities in Frustrated Quantum Magnets: Mean-Field Form and Approximate Nature of the Quantum-to-Classical Correspondence

B. Schneider, B. Sbierski

Physical Review Letters 134 (17), 176502 (2025).

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In frustrated magnetism, the empirically found quantum-to-classical correspondence (QCC) matches the real-space static susceptibility pattern of a quantum spin-1=2 model with its classical counterpart computed at a certain elevated temperature. This puzzling relation was observed via bold line diagrammatic Monte Carlo simulations in dimensions two and three. The matching was within error bars and seemed valid down to the lowest accessible temperatures T about an order of magnitude smaller than the exchange coupling J. Here, we employ resummed spin diagrammatic perturbation theory to show analytically that the QCC breaks weakly at fourth order in J=T and provide the approximate mapping between classical and quantum temperatures. Our treatment further reveals that QCC is an indication of the surprising accuracy with which static correlators can be approximated by a simple renormalized mean-field form. We illustrate this for all models discussed in the context of QCC so far, including a recent example of the S = 1 material K2Ni2(SO4)3. The success of the mean-field form is traced back to partial diagrammatic cancellations.

10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.176502

Pseudo-Majorana functional renormalization for frustrated XXZ spin-1/2 models with field or magnetization along the spin-Z direction at finite temperature

F. Bippus, B. Schneider, B. Sbierski

Physical Review B 111 (5), 54420 (2025).

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The numerical study of high-dimensional frustrated quantum magnets remains a challenging problem. Here we present an extension of the pseudo-Majorana functional renormalization group to spin-1/2 XXZ-type Hamiltonians with field or magnetization along spin-Z direction at finite temperature. We consider a U(1) symmetry-adapted fermionic spin representation and derive the diagrammatic framework and its renormalization group flow equations. We discuss benchmark results and application to two antiferromagnetic triangular lattice materials recently studied in experiments with applied magnetic fields: First, we numerically reproduce the magnetization data measured for CeMgAl11O19 confirming model parameters previously estimated from inelastic neutron spectrum in high fields. Second, we showcase the accuracy of our method by studying the thermal phase transition into the spin solid up-up-down phase of Na2BaCo(PO4)2 in good agreement with experiment.

10.1103/PhysRevB.111.054420

Dipolar ordering transitions in many-body quantum optics: Analytical diagrammatic approach to equilibrium quantum spins

B. Schneider, R. Burkard, B. Olmos, I. Lesanovsky, B. Sbierski

Physical Review A 110 (6), 63301 (2024).

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Quantum spin models with a large number of interaction partners per spin are frequently used to describe modern many-body quantum optical systems such as arrays of Rydberg atoms, atom-cavity systems, or trapped ion crystals. For theoretical analysis the mean-field (MF) ansatz is routinely applied. However, besides special cases of all-to-all or strong long-range interactions, the MF ansatz provides only approximate results. Here we present a systematic correction to MF theory based on diagrammatic perturbation theory for quantum spin correlators in thermal equilibrium. Our analytic results are universally applicable for any lattice geometry and spin-length S. We provide precomputed and easy-to-use building blocks for Ising, Heisenberg and transverse field Ising models in the symmetry-unbroken regime. We showcase the quality and simplicity of the method by computing magnetic phase boundaries and excitations gaps. We also treat the Dicke-Ising model of ground-state superradiance where we show that corrections to the MF phase boundary vanish.

10.1103/PhysRevA.110.063301

Temperature flow in pseudo-Majorana functional renormalization for quantum spins

B. Schneider, J. Reuther, M. G. Gonzalez, B. Sbierski, N. Niggemann

Physical Review B 109 (12), 195109 (2024).

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We implement the temperature flow scheme first proposed by Honerkamp and Salmhofer [Phys. Rev. B 64, 184516 (2001)] into the pseudo-Majorana functional renormalization group method for quantum spin systems. Since the renormalization group parameter in this approach is a physical quantity, the temperature T, the numerical efficiency increases significantly compared to more conventional renormalization group parameters, especially when computing finite-temperature phase diagrams. We first apply this method to determine the finite-temperature phase diagram of the J1-J2 Heisenberg model on the simple cubic lattice, where our findings support claims of a vanishingly small nonmagnetic phase around the high frustration point J2 = 0.25J1. Perhaps most importantly, we find the temperature flow scheme to be advantageous in detecting finite-temperature phase transitions as, by construction, a phase transition is never encountered at an artificial, unphysical cutoff parameter. Finally, we apply the temperature flow scheme to the dipolar XXZ model on the square lattice, where we find a rich phase diagram with a large nonmagnetic regime down to the lowest accessible temperatures. Wherever a comparison with error-controlled (quantum) Monte Carlo methods is applicable, we find excellent quantitative agreement with less than 5% deviation from the numerically exact results.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.109.195109

Magnetism in the two-dimensional dipolar XY model

B. Sbierski, M. Bintz, S. Chatterjee, M. Schuler, N. Y. Yao, L. Pollet

Physical Review B 109 (14), 144411 (2024).

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Motivated by a recent experiment on a square-lattice Rydberg atom array realizing a long-range dipolar properties. We obtain the phase diagram, critical properties, entropies, variance of the magnetization, and site-resolved correlation functions. We consider both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions and apply quantum Monte Carlo and pseudo-Majorana functional renormalization group techniques, generalizing the latter to a U (1) symmetric setting. Our simulations perform extensive thermometry in dipolar Rydberg atom arrays and establish conditions for adiabaticity and thermodynamic equilibrium. On the ferromagnetic side of the experiment, we determine the entropy per particle S/N approximate to 0.5, close to the one at the critical temperature, Sc/N = 0.585(15). The simulations suggest the presence of an out-of-equilibrium plateau at large distances in the correlation function, thus motivating future studies on the nonequilibrium dynamics of the system.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.109.144411

Pseudo-fermion functional renormalization group for spin models

T. Mueller, D. Kiese, N. Niggemann, B. Sbierski, J. Reuther, S. Trebst, R. Thomale, Y. Iqbal

Reports on Progress in Physics 87 (3), 36501 (2024).

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For decades, frustrated quantum magnets have been a seed for scientific progress and innovation in condensed matter. As much as the numerical tools for low-dimensional quantum magnetism have thrived and improved in recent years due to breakthroughs inspired by quantum information and quantum computation, higher-dimensional quantum magnetism can be considered as the final frontier, where strong quantum entanglement, multiple ordering channels, and manifold ways of paramagnetism culminate. At the same time, efforts in crystal synthesis have induced a significant increase in the number of tangible frustrated magnets which are generically three-dimensional in nature, creating an urgent need for quantitative theoretical modeling. We review the pseudo-fermion (PF) and pseudo-Majorana (PM) functional renormalization group (FRG) and their specific ability to address higher-dimensional frustrated quantum magnetism. First developed more than a decade ago, the PFFRG interprets a Heisenberg model Hamiltonian in terms of Abrikosov pseudofermions, which is then treated in a diagrammatic resummation scheme formulated as a renormalization group flow of m-particle pseudofermion vertices. The article reviews the state of the art of PFFRG and PMFRG and discusses their application to exemplary domains of frustrated magnetism, but most importantly, it makes the algorithmic and implementation details of these methods accessible to everyone. By thus lowering the entry barrier to their application, we hope that this review will contribute towards establishing PFFRG and PMFRG as the numerical methods for addressing frustrated quantum magnetism in higher spatial dimensions.

DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/ad208c

Spectral representation of Matsubara n-point functions: Exact kernel functions and applications

J. Halbinger, B. Schneider, B. Sbierski

Scipost Physics 15 (5), 183 (2023).

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In the field of quantum many-body physics, the spectral (or Lehmann) representation simplifies the calculation of Matsubara n-point correlation functions if the eigensystem of a Hamiltonian is known. It is expressed via a universal kernel function and a system-and correlator-specific product of matrix elements. Here we provide the kernel functions in full generality, for arbitrary n, arbitrary combinations of bosonic or fermionic operators and an arbitrary number of anomalous terms. As an application, we consider bosonic 3-and 4-point correlation functions for the fermionic Hubbard atom and a free spin of length S, respectively.

DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.15.5.183

Taming pseudofermion functional renormalization for quantum spins: Finite temperatures and the Popov-Fedotov trick

B. Schneider, D. Kiese, B. Sbierski

Physical Review B 106 (23), 235113 (2022).

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The pseudofermion representation for S = 1/2 quantum spins introduces unphysical states in the Hilbert space, which can be projected out using the Popov-Fedotov trick. However, state-of-the-art implementation of the functional renormalization group method for pseudofermions have so far omitted the Popov-Fedotov projection. Instead, restrictions to zero temperature were made and the absence of unphysical contributions to the ground state was assumed. We question this belief by exact diagonalization of several small-system counterexamples where unphysical states do contribute to the ground state. We then introduce Popov-Fedotov projection to pseudofermion functional renormalization, enabling finite-temperature computations with only minor technical modifications to the method. At large and intermediate temperatures, our results are perturbatively controlled and we confirm their accuracy in benchmark calculations. At lower temperatures, the accuracy degrades due to truncation errors in the hierarchy of flow equations. Interestingly, these problems cannot be alleviated by switching to the parquet approximation. We introduce the spin projection as a method-intrinsic quality check. We also show that finite-temperature magnetic-ordering transitions can be studied via finite-size scaling.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.235113

Scaling Collapse of Longitudinal Conductance near the Integer Quantum Hall Transition

E. J. Dresselhaus, B. Sbierski, I. A. Gruzberg

Physical Review Letters 129 (2), 26801 (2022).

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Within the mature field of Anderson transitions, the critical properties of the integer quantum Hall transition still pose a significant challenge. Numerical studies of the transition suffer from strong corrections to scaling for most observables. In this Letter, we suggest to overcome this problem by using the longitudinal conductance g of the network model as the scaling observable, which we compute for system sizes nearly 2 orders of magnitude larger than in previous studies. We show numerically that the sizable corrections to scaling of g can be accounted for in a remarkably simple form, which leads to an excellent scaling collapse. Surprisingly, the scaling function turns out to be indistinguishable from a Gaussian. We propose a cost-function-based approach and estimate v = 2.609(7) for the localization length exponent, consistent with previous results, but considerably more precise than in most works on this problem. Extending previous approaches for Hamiltonian models, we also confirm our finding using integrated conductance as a scaling variable.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.026801

Quantitative functional renormalization for three-dimensional quantum Heisenberg models

N. Niggemann, J. Reuther, B. Sbierski

Scipost Physics 12 (5), 156 (2022).

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We employ a recently developed variant of the functional renormalization group method for spin systems, the so-called pseudo Majorana functional renormalization group, to investigate three-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg models at finite temperatures. We study unfrustrated and frustrated Heisenberg systems on the simple cubic and pyrochlore lattices. Comparing our results with other quantum many-body techniques, we demonstrate a high quantitative accuracy of our method. Particularly, for the unfrustrated simple cubic lattice antiferromagnet ordering temperatures obtained from finite-size scaling of one-loop data deviate from error controlled quantum Monte Carlo results by similar to 5% and we confirm consistency of our data with established critical exponents nu and eta of the three-dimensional Heisenberg universality class. As the PMFRG yields results in good agreement with QMC, but remains applicable when the system is frustrated, we next treat the pyrochlore Heisenberg antiferromagnet as a paradigmatic magnetically disordered system and find nearly perfect agreement of our two-loop static homogeneous susceptibility with other methods. We further investigate the broadening of pinch points in the spin structure factor as a result of quantum and thermal fluctuations and confirm a finite width in the extrapolated limit T -> 0. While extensions towards higher loop orders 'seem to systematically improve our approach for magnetically disordered systems we also discuss subtleties when increasing ` in the presence of magnetic order. Overall, the pseudo Majorana functional renormalization group is established as a powerful many-body technique in quantum magnetism with a wealth of possible future applications. Published by the SciPost Foundation.

DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.12.5.156

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