We present a formulation for investigating quench dynamics across quantum phase transitions in the presence of decoherence. We formulate decoherent dynamics induced by continuous quantum non-demolition measurements of the instantaneous Hamiltonian. We generalize the well-studied universal Kibble-Zurek behavior for linear temporal drive across the critical point. We identify a strong decoherence regime wherein the decoherence time is shorter than the standard correlation time, which varies as the inverse gap above the groundstate. In this regime, we find that the freeze-out time $\bar{t}\simτ^{{2νz}/({1+2νz})}$ for when the system falls out of equilibrium and the associated freeze-out length $\barξ\simτ^{ν/({1+2νz})}$ show power-law scaling with respect to the quench rate $1/τ$, where the exponents depend on the correlation length exponent $ν$ and the dynamical exponent $z$ associated with the transition. The universal exponents differ from those of standard Kibble-Zurek scaling. We explicitly demonstrate this scaling behavior in the instance of a topological transition in a Chern insulator system. We show that the freeze-out time scale can be probed from the relaxation of the Hall conductivity. Furthermore, on introducing disorder to break translational invariance, we demonstrate how quenching results in regions of imbalanced excitation density characterized by an emergent length scale which also shows universal scaling. We perform numerical simulations to confirm our analytical predictions and corroborate the scaling arguments that we postulate as universal to a host of systems.
We numerically investigated the quantum-classical transition in rf-SQUID systems coupled to a dissipative environment. It is found that chaos emerges and the degree of chaos, the maximal Lyapunov exponent $λ_{m}$, exhibits non-monotonic behavior as a function of the coupling strength $D$. By measuring the proximity of quantum and classical evolution with the uncertainty of dynamics, we show that the uncertainty is a monotonic function of $λ_{m}/D$. In addition, the scaling holds in SQUID systems to a relatively smaller $\hbar_{eff}$, suggesting the universality for this scaling.
The quantum to classical transition has been shown to depend on a number of parameters. Key among these are a scale length for the action, $\hbar$, a measure of the coupling between a system and its environment, $D$, and, for chaotic systems, the classical Lyapunov exponent, $λ$. We propose computing a measure, reflecting the proximity of quantum and classical evolutions, as a multivariate function of $(\hbar,λ,D)$ and searching for transformations that collapse this hyper-surface into a function of a composite parameter $ζ= \hbar^αλ^βD^γ$. We report results for the quantum Cat Map, showing ex…
The quantum and classical behaviors of two-dimensional (2D) alternative quantum walk (AQW) in the presence of decoherence have been discussed in detail. For any kinds of decoherence, the analytic expressions for the moments of position distribution of AQW have been obtained. Taking the broken line noise and coin-decoherence as examples of decoherence, we find that when the decoherence only emerges in one direction, the anisotropic position distribution pattern appears, and not all the motions of quantum walkers exhibit the transition from quantum to classical behaviors. The correlations betwee…
A number of recent studies have investigated the introduction of decoherence in quantum walks and the resulting transition to classical random walks. Interestingly, it has been shown that algorithmic properties of quantum walks with decoherence such as the spreading rate are sometimes better than their purely quantum counterparts. Not only quantum walks with decoherence provide a generalization of quantum walks that naturally encompasses both the quantum and classical case, but they also give rise to new and different probability distribution. The application of quantum walks with decoherence …
We present a model for decoherence in time-dependent transport. It boils down into a form of wave function that undergoes a smooth stochastic drift of the phase in a local basis, the Quantum Drift (QD) model. This drift is nothing else but a local energy fluctuation. Unlike Quantum Jumps (QJ) models, no jumps are present in the density as the evolution is unitary. As a first application, we address the transport through a resonant state $\left\vert 0\right\rangle $ that undergoes decoherence. We show the equivalence with the decoherent steady state transport in presence of a Büttiker's voltage…
We study the dynamical quantum phase transition of the critical quantum quench, in which the prequenched Hamiltonian, or the postquenched Hamiltonian, or both of them are set to be the critical points of equilibrium quantum phase transitions, we find half-quantized or unquantized dynamical topological order parameter and dynamical Chern number; these results and also the existence of dynamical quantum phase transition are all closely related to the singularity of the Bogoliubov angle at the gap-closing momentum. The effects of the singularity may also be canceled out if both the prequenched an…
We study the magnetic field dependence of the entanglement entropy in quantum phase transition induced by a quench of the XX, XXX and the LMG model. The entropy for a block of $L$ spins with the rest follows a logarithmic scaling law where the block size $L$ is restricted due to the dependence of the prefactor on the quench time. Within this restricted region the entropy undergoes a renormalization group (RG) flow. From the RG flow equation we have analytically determined the magnetic field dependence of the entropy. The anisotropy parameter dependence of the entropy for the XY and the LMG mod…
Quantum critical states exhibit strong quantum fluctuations and are therefore highly susceptible to perturbations. In this work we study the dynamical stability against a sudden coupling to these strong fluctuations by quenching the order parameter of the underlying transition. Such a quench can generate superextensive energy fluctuations. This leads to a dynamical quantum phase transition (DQPT) with nonanalytic real-time behavior in the resulting decay of the initial state. By establishing a general connection between DQPTs and quantum speed limits, this allows us to obtain a yet unrecognize…
The ground state of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model at unit filling undergoes the Mott-superfluid quantum phase transition. It belongs to the Kosterlitz-Thouless universality class with an exponential divergence of the correlation length in place of the usual power law. We present numerical simulations of a linear quench both from the Mott insulator to superfluid and back. The results satisfy the scaling hypothesis that follows from the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM). In the superfluid-to-Mott quenches there is no significant excitation in the superfluid phase despite its gaplessness. Sin…
Dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) are characterized by nonanalytic behaviors of physical observables as functions of time. When a system is subject to time-periodic modulations, the nonanalytic signatures of its observables could recur periodically in time, leading to the phenomena of Floquet DQPTs. In this work, we systematically explore Floquet DQPTs in a class of periodically quenched one-dimensional system with chiral symmetry. By tuning the strength of quench, we find multiple Floquet DQPTs within a single driving period, with more DQPTs being observed when the system is initial…
A crossover between different power-law relaxation behaviors of many-body periodically driven integrable systems has come to light in recent years. We demonstrate using integrable quantum systems, that similar kinds of dynamical transitions may also occur in the relaxation of such systems following a sudden quench. Particularly, we observe two distinct power-law relaxation behaviors following a sudden quench in the integrable XY model, depending upon whether the quenched Hamiltonian lies in the commensurate or the incommensurate phase. The relaxation behavior for quenches at and near the bound…
The study of quantum phase transitions requires the preparation of a many-body system near its ground state, a challenging task for many experimental systems. The measurement of quench dynamics, on the other hand, is now a routine practice in most cold atom platforms. Here we show that quintessential ingredients of quantum phase transitions can be probed directly with quench dynamics in integrable and nearly integrable systems. As a paradigmatic example, we study global quench dynamics in a transverse-field Ising model with either short-range or long-range interactions. When the model is integ…
We study the structure of the eigenstates and the dynamics of a system that undergoes an excited state quantum phase transition (ESQPT). The analysis is performed for two-level pairing models characterized by a U(n+1) algebraic structure. They exhibit a second order phase transition between two limiting dynamical symmetries represented by the U(n) and SO(n+1) subalgebras. They are, or can be mapped onto, models of interacting bosons. We show that the eigenstates with energies very close to the ESQPT critical point, E_{ESQPT}, are highly localized in the U(n)-basis. Consequently, the dynamics o…
Several mean-field computations have revealed the existence of an out of equilibrium dynamical transition induced by quantum quenching an isolated system starting from its symmetry broken phase. In this work we focus on the quantum phi^4 N-component field theory. By taking into account dynamical fluctuations at the Hartree-Fock level, corresponding to the leading order of the 1/N expansion, we derive the critical properties of the dynamical transition beyond mean-field theory (including at finite temperature). We find diverging time and length-scales, dynamic scaling and aging. Finally, we unv…
In this work we revisit collapse and revival oscillations in superfluids suddenly quenched by strong local interactions for the case of a one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model. As the main result we identify the inherent nonequilibrium quantum many-body character of these oscillations by revealing that they are controlled by a sequence of underlying dynamical quantum phase transitions in the real-time evolution after the quench, which manifest as temporal nonanalyticities in return probabilities or Loschmidt echos. Specifically, we find that the time scale of the collapse and revival oscillations…
We study the quench dynamics of the topological quantum phase transition in the two-dimensional transverse Wen-plaquette model, which has a phase transition from a Z2 topologically ordered to a spin-polarized state. By mapping the Wen-plaquette model onto a one-dimensional quantum Ising model, we calculate the expectation value of the plaquette operator Fi during a slowly quenching process from a topologically ordered state. A logarithmic scaling law of quench dynamics near the quantum phase transition is found, which is analogous to the well-known static critical behavior of the specific heat…
This dissertation describes the effect of quenched randomness on first order phase transitions in lattice systems, classical and quantum. It is proven that a large class of quantum lattice systems in low dimension (d <= 2 or, with suitable continuous symmetry, d <= 4) cannot exhibit first-order phase transitions in the presence of suitable ("direct") quenched disorder.
The dynamics of a quantum system following a sudden, highly non-adiabatic change of its control parameter (quantum quench) is studied with quasiclassical techniques. Recent works have shown, using exact quantum mechanical approach, that equilibration after quantum quench exhibits specific features in the presence of excited-state quantum phase transitions. In this paper, we demonstrate that these features can be understood from the classical evolution of the Wigner function in phase space.
By deriving a general framework and analyzing concrete examples, we demonstrate a class of dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) in one-dimensional two-band systems going through double-quench processes. When this type of DQPT occurs, the Loschmidt amplitude vanishes and the rate function remains singular after the second quench, meaning the final state continually has no overlap with the initial state. This type of DQPT is named metamorphic DQPT to differentiate it from ordinary DQPTs that only exhibit zero Loschmidt amplitude and singular rate function at discrete time points. The meta…
Dynamics of a system exhibits non-adiabaticity even for slow quenches near critical points. We analyze the response to disorder in quenches on a non-adiabaticity quantifier for the quantum Rabi model, which possesses a phase transition between normal and superradiant phases. We consider a disordered version of a quench in the Rabi model, in which the system residing in the ground state of an initial Hamiltonian of the normal phase is quenched to the final Hamiltonian corresponding to the critical point. The disorder is inserted either in the total time the quench or in the quench parameter its…
We study phase transition from the Mott insulator to superfluid in a periodic optical lattice. Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts buildup of winding number through random walk of BEC phases, with the step size scaling as a the third root of transition rate. We confirm this and demonstrate that this scaling accounts for the net winding number after the transition.
We analyze excited-state quantum phase transitions (ESQPTs) in three schematic (integrable and nonintegrable) models describing a single-mode bosonic field coupled to a collection of atoms. It is shown that the presence of the ESQPT in these models affects the quantum relaxation processes following an abrupt quench in the control parameter. Clear cut evidence of the ESQPT effects is presented in integrable models, while in the nonintegrable model the evidence is blurred due to chaotic behavior of the system in the region around the critical energy.
The (Loschmidt) overlap between the state at different times after a quantum quench is attracting increasing interest, as it was recently shown that in the thermodynamic limit its logarithm per unit of length has a non-analytic behavior if a Hamiltonian parameter is quenched across a critical point. This phenomenon was called a "dynamical phase transition" in analogy with the behavior of the canonical partition function at an equilibrium phase transition. We distinguish between local and nonlocal contributions to the aforementioned quantity and derive an analytic expression for the time evolut…
The dynamics of a dimer coupled to two different environments each in a spin star configuration under the influence of decoherence is studied. The exact analytical expression for the transition probability in the dimer system is obtained for different situations, i.e., independent and correlated environments. In all cases considered, it is shown that there exist well-defined ranges of parameters for which decoherent interaction with the environment assists energy transfer in the dimer system. In particular, we find that correlated environments can assist energy transfer more efficiently than s…
Dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) represent a counterpart in non-equilibrium quantum time evolution of thermal phase transitions at equilibrium, where real time becomes analogous to a control parameter such as temperature. In quenched quantum systems, recently the occurrence of DQPTs has been demonstrated, both with theory and experiment, to be intimately connected to changes of topological properties. Here, we contribute to broadening the systematic understanding of this relation between topology and DQPTs to multi-orbital and disordered systems. Specifically, we provide a detailed …
We study the dynamical evolution of a two-dimensional Bose gas after a disorder potential quench. Depending on the initial conditions, the system evolves either to a thermal or a superfluid state. Using extensive quasi-exact numerical simulations, we show that the two phases are separated by a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. The thermalization time is shown to be longer in the superfluid phase, but no critical slowing down is observed at the transition. The long-time phase diagram is well reproduced by a simple theoretical model. The spontaneous emergence of Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions fol…
We study the quantum quench dynamics in an extended version of the Dicke model where an additional parameter allows a smooth transition to the integrable Tavis-Cummings regime. We focus on the influence of various quantum phases and excited-state quantum phase transitions (ESQPTs) on the survival probability of the initial state. We show that, depending on the quench protocol, an ESQPT can either stabilize the initial state or, on the contrary, speed up its decay to the equilibrated regime. Quantum chaos smears out the manifestations of ESQPTs in quench dynamics, therefore significant effects …
Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge（剑桥大学卡文迪许实验室）；State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking University（北京大学物理学院介观物理国家重点实验室及纳米光电前沿科学中心）；Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde（斯特拉斯克莱德大学物理系）
We study a quantum mechanical toy model that mimics some features of a quenched phase transition. Both by virtue of a time-dependent Hamiltonian or by changing the temperature of the bath we are able to show that even after classicalization has been reached, the system may display quantum behaviour again. We explain this behaviour in terms of simple non-linear analysis and estimate relevant time scales that match the results of numerical simulations of the master-equation. This opens new possibilities both in the study of quantum effects in non-equilibrium phase transitions and in general time…
Simulating the real-time evolution of quantum spin systems far out of equilibrium poses a major theoretical challenge, especially in more than one dimension. We experimentally explore the dynamics of a two-dimensional Ising spin system with transverse and longitudinal fields as we quench it across a quantum phase transition from a paramagnet to an antiferromagnet. We realize the system with a near unit-occupancy atomic array of over 200 atoms obtained by loading a spin-polarized band insulator of fermionic lithium into an optical lattice and induce short-range interactions by direct excitation…
The topology of one-dimensional chiral systems is captured by the winding number of the Hamiltonian eigenstates. Here we show that this invariant can be read-out by measuring the mean chiral displacement of a single-particle wavefunction that is connected to a fully localized one via a unitary and translational-invariant map. Remarkably, this implies that the mean chiral displacement can detect the winding number even when the underlying Hamiltonian is quenched between different topological phases. We confirm experimentally these results in a quantum walk of structured light.
The presence of nonanalyticity in observables is a manifestation of phase transitions. Through the study of two paradigmatic topological models in one and two dimensions, in this work we show that the circuit complexity based on our specific quantification can reveal the occurrence of topological phase transitions, both in and out of equilibrium, by the presence of nonanalyticity. By quenching the system out of equilibrium, we find that the circuit complexity grows linearly or quadratically in the short-time regime if the quench is finished instantaneously or in a finite time, respectively. No…
The many-body localization (MBL) transition is a quantum phase transition involving highly excited eigenstates of a disordered quantum many-body Hamiltonian, which evolve from "extended/ergodic" (exhibiting extensive entanglement entropies and fluctuations) to "localized" (exhibiting area-law scaling of entanglement and fluctuations). The MBL transition can be driven by the strength of disorder in a given spectral range, or by the energy density at fixed disorder - if the system possesses a many-body mobility edge. Here we propose to explore the latter mechanism by using "quantum-quench spectr…
Recently, quantum simulation of low-dimensional lattice gauge theories (LGTs) has attracted many interests, which may improve our understanding of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems. Here, we propose an implementation to approximate $\mathbb{Z}_2$ LGT on superconducting quantum circuits, where the effective theory is a mixture of a LGT and a gauge-broken term. Using matrix product state based methods, both the ground state properties and quench dynamics are systematically investigated. With an increase of the transverse (electric) field, the system displays a quantum phase transitio…
The exact description of the time evolution of open correlated quantum systems remains one of the major challenges of the condensed matter theory, specially for asymptotic long times where most numerical methods fail. Here, the post-quench dynamics of the $N$-component Bose-Anderson impurity model is studied in the $N\to\infty$ limit. The equilibrium phase diagram is similar to that of the Bose-Hubbard model in that it contains local versions of the Mott and Bose phases. Using a numerically exact procedure we are able to study the real time evolution including asymptotic long time regimes. The…
We report dynamical quantum phase transition portrait in the alternating field transverse XY spin chain with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction by investigating singularities in the Loschmidt echo and the corresponding rate function after a sudden quench of system parameters. Unlike the Ising model, the analysis of Loschmidt echo yields non-uniformly spaced transition times in this model. Comparative study between the equilibrium and the dynamical quantum phase transitions in this case reveals that there are quenches where one occurs without the other, and the regimes where they co-exist. Howev…
Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians are relevant to describe the features of a broad class of physical phenomena, ranging from photonics and atomic and molecular systems to nuclear physics and mesoscopic electronic systems. An important question relies on the understanding of the influence of curved background on the static and dynamical properties of non-Hermitian systems. In this work, we study the interplay of geometry and non-Hermitian dynamics by unveiling the existence of curvature-dependent non-Hermitian phase transitions. We investigate a prototypical model of Dirac fermions on a sphere with an…
