Long lived quasi-stationary states (QSSs) are a signature characteristic of long-range interacting systems both in the classical and in the quantum realms. Often, they emerge after a sudden quench of the Hamiltonian internal parameters and present a macroscopic life-time, which increases with the system size. Despite their ubiquity, the fundamental mechanism at their root remains unknown. Here, we show that the spectrum of systems with power-law decaying couplings remains discrete up to the thermodynamic limit. As a consequence, several traditional results on the chaotic nature of the spectrum in many-body quantum systems are not satisfied in presence of long-range interactions. In particular, the existence of QSSs may be traced back to the finiteness of Poincaré recurrence times. This picture justifies and extends known results on the anomalous magnetization dynamics in the quantum Ising model with power-law decaying couplings. The comparison between the discrete spectrum of long-range systems and more conventional examples of pure point spectra in the disordered case is also discussed.
By generalising concepts from classical stochastic dynamics, we establish the basis for a theory of metastability in Markovian open quantum systems. Partial relaxation into long-lived metastable states - distinct from the asymptotic stationary state - is a manifestation of a separation of timescales due to a splitting in the spectrum of the generator of the dynamics. We show here how to exploit this spectral structure to obtain a low dimensional approximation to the dynamics in terms of motion in a manifold of metastable states constructed from the low-lying eigenmatrices of the generator. We …
In this work, we introduce an information-theoretic approach for considering changes in dynamics of finitely dimensional open quantum systems governed by master equations. This experimentally motivated approach arises from considering how the averages of system observables change with time and quantifies how non-stationary the system is during a given time regime. By drawing an analogy with the exponential decay, we are able to further investigate regimes when such changes are negligible according to the logarithmic scale of time, and thus the system is approximately stationary. While this is …
We establish a link between metastability and a discrete time-crystalline phase in a periodically driven open quantum system. The mechanism we highlight requires neither the system to display any microscopic symmetry nor the presence of disorder, but relies instead on the emergence of a metastable regime. We investigate this in detail in an open quantum spin system, which is a canonical model for the exploration of collective phenomena in strongly interacting dissipative Rydberg gases. Here, a semi-classical approach reveals the emergence of a robust discrete time-crystalline phase in the ther…
The semiclassical Euclidean path integral method is applied to compute the low temperature quantum decay rate for a particle placed in the metastable minimum of a cubic potential in a {\it finite} time theory. The classical path, which makes a saddle for the action, is derived in terms of Jacobian elliptic functions whose periodicity establishes the one-to-one correspondence between energy of the classical motion and temperature (inverse imaginary time) of the system. The quantum fluctuation contribution has been computed through the theory of the functional determinants for periodic boundary …
We explore the long-time dynamics of Rabi model in a driven-dissipative setting and show that, as the atom-cavity coupling strength becomes larger than the cavity frequency, a new time scale emerges. This time scale, much larger than the natural relaxation time of the atom and the cavity, leads to long-lived metastable states susceptible to being observed experimentally. By applying a Floquet-Liouville approach to the time-dependent master equation, we systematically investigate the set of possible metastable states. We find that the properties of the metastable states can differ drastically f…
In this paper we investigate quantum metastability of a particle trapped in between an infinite wall and a square barrier, with either a time-periodically oscillating barrier (Model A) or bottom of the well (Model B). Based on the Floquet theory, we derive in each case an equation which determines the stability of the metastable system. We study the influence on the stability of two Floquet states when their Floquet energies (real part) encounter a direct or an avoided crossing at resonance. The effect of the amplitude of oscillation on the nature of crossing of Floquet energies is also discus…
We consider the non-equilibrium behavior of a central spin system where the central spin is periodically reset to its ground state. The quantum mechanical evolution under this effectively dissipative dynamics is described by a discrete-time quantum map. Despite its simplicity this problem shows surprisingly complex dynamical features. In particular, we identify several metastable time-crystal resonances. Here the system does not relax rapidly to a stationary state but undergoes long-lived oscillations with a period that is an integer multiple of the reset period. At these resonances the evolut…
In this paper, we develop spectral analysis of a discrete non-Hermitian quantum system that is a discrete counterpart of some continuous quantum systems on a complex contour. In particular, simple conditions for discreteness of the spectrum are established.
Hitherto, it is well known that complex PT-symmetric Scarf II has real discrete spectrum in the parametric domain of unbroken PT-symmetry. We reveal new interesting complex, non-PT-symmetric parametric domains of this versatile potential, $V(x)$, where the spectrum is again discrete and real. Showing that the Hamiltonian, $p^2/2m+V(x)$, in the new cases is pseudo-Hermitian could be challenging, if possible.
The decoherence of quantum fluctuations into classical perturbations during inflation is discussed. A simple quantum mechanical argument, using a spatial particle wavefunction rather than a field description, shows that observable correlations from inflation must have a discrete spectrum, since they originate and freeze into the metric within a compact region. The number of discrete modes is estimated using a holographic bound on the number of degrees of freedom. The discreteness may be detectable in some models; for example, if there is a fundamental universal frequency spectrum, the inflatio…
We prove Cwikel-Lieb-Rosenbljum and Lieb-Thirring type bounds on the discrete spectrum of a two-body pair operator and calculate spectral asymptotics for the eigenvalue moments and the local spectral density in the pseudo-relativistic limit.
Coherent states for general systems with discrete spectrum, such as the bound states of the hydrogen atom, are discussed. The states in question satisfy: (1) continuity of labeling, (2) resolution of unity, (3) temporal stability, and (4) an action identity. This set of reasonable physical requirements uniquely specify coherent states for the (bound state portion of the) hydrogen atom.
We consider magnetic Schrödinger operator $H=(i \nabla +A)^2-αδ_Γ$ with an attractive singular interaction supported by a piecewise smooth curve $Γ$ being a local deformation of a straight line. The magnetic field $B$ is supposed to be nonzero and local. We show that the essential spectrum is $[-\frac14α^2,\infty)$, as for the non-magnetic operator with a straight $Γ$, and demonstrate a sufficient condition for the discrete spectrum of $H$ to be empty.
In this work, we construct different classes of coherent states related to a quantum system, recently studied in [1], of an electron moving in a plane in uniform external magnetic and electric fields which possesses both discrete and continuous spectra. The eigenfunctions are realized as an orthonormal basis of a suitable Hilbert space appropriate for building the related coherent states. These latter are achieved in the context where we consider both spectra purely discrete obeying the criteria that a family of coherent states must satisfies.
