By using numerical and semiclassical methods, we evaluate the quantum breaking, or Ehrenfest time for a wave packet localized around classical equilibrium points of autonomous one-dimensional systems with polynomial potentials. We find that the Ehrenfest time diverges logarithmically with the inverse of the Planck constant whenever the equilibrium point is exponentially unstable. For stable equilibrium points, we have a power law divergence with exponent determined by the degree of the potential near the equilibrium point.
We study the current-carrying steady-state of a transverse field Ising chain coupled to magnetic thermal reservoirs and obtain the non-equilibrium phase diagram as a function of the magnetization potential of the reservoirs. Upon increasing the magnetization bias we observe a discontinuous jump of the magnetic order parameter that coincides with a divergence of the correlation length. For steady-states with a non-vanishing conductance, the entanglement entropy at zero temperature displays a bias dependent logarithmic correction that violates the area law and differs from the well-known equilib…
The SCAN (strongly constrained and appropriately normed) meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA), which satisfies all 17 exact constraints that a meta-GGA can satisfy, accurately describes equilibrium bonds that are normally correlated. With symmetry breaking, it also accurately describes some sd equilibrium bonds that are strongly correlated. While sp equilibrium bonds are nearly always normally correlated, the C2 singlet ground state is known to be a rare case of strong correlation in an sp equilibrium bond. Earlier work that calculated atomization energies of the molecular sequen…
The paradigm of second-order phase transitions (PTs) induced by spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) in thermal and quantum systems is a pillar of modern physics that has been fruitfully applied to out-of-equilibrium open quantum systems. Dissipative phase transitions (DPTs) of second order are often connected with SSB, in close analogy with well-known thermal second-order PTs in closed quantum and classical systems. That is, a second-order DPT should disappear by preventing the occurrence of SSB. Here, we prove this statement to be wrong, showing that, surprisingly, SSB is not a necessary cond…
We investigate topological signatures in the short-time non-equilibrium dynamics of symmetry protected topological (SPT) systems starting from initial states which break the protecting symmetry. Naïvely, one might expect that topology loses meaning when a protecting symmetry is broken. Defying this intuition, we illustrate, in an interacting Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model, how this combination of symmetry breaking and quench dynamics can give rise to both single-particle and many-body signatures of topology. From the dynamics of the symmetry broken state, we find that we are able to dynamica…
Quantum thermalization mechanism and the emergence of symmetry-breaking phases
Universidad Complutense de Madrid（马德里康普顿斯大学）；Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, IEM-CSIC（物质结构研究所，西班牙国家研究委员会）；Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University（查理大学数学物理学院）
We show that the symmetry-breaking gap of the quantum Ising model in the transverse field can be extracted from free evolution of the longitudinal magnetization taking place after a gradual quench of the magnetic field. We perform for this purpose numerical simulations of the Ising chains with either periodic or open boundaries. We also study the condition for adiabaticity of evolution of the longitudinal magnetization finding excellent agreement between our simulations and the prediction based on the Kibble-Zurek theory of non-equilibrium phase transitions. Our results should be relevant for …
We show that no matter how slowly a quantum-to-classical symmetry breaking process is driven, the adiabatic limit can never be reached in a macroscopic body. Massive defect formation preempts an adiabatic quantum-classical crossover and triggers the appearance of a symmetric non-equilibrium state that recursively collapses into the classical state, breaking the symmetry at punctured times. The presence of this state allows the quantum-classical transition to be investigated and controlled in mesoscopic devices by supplying externally the proper dynamical symmetry breaking perturbation.
We unveil the universal (model-independent) symmetry satisfied by Schwinger-Keldysh quantum field theories whenever they describe equilibrium dynamics. This is made possible by a generalization of the Schwinger-Keldysh path-integral formalism in which the physical time can be re-parametrized to arbitrary contours in the complex plane. Strong relations between correlation functions, such as the fluctuation-dissipation theorems, are derived as immediate consequences of this symmetry of equilibrium. In this view, quantum non-equilibrium dynamics -- e.g. when driving with a time-dependent potentia…
We show that finite systems with conical intersections can exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking which manifests itself in spatial localization of eigenstates. This localization has a geometric phase origin and is robust against variation of model parameters. The transition between localized and delocalized eigenstate regimes resembles a continuous phase transition. The localization slows down the low-energy quantum nuclear dynamics at zero and low temperatures.
Energy level splitting from the unitary limit of contact interactions to the near unitary limit for a few identical atoms in an effectively one-dimensional well can be understood as an example of symmetry breaking. At the unitary limit in addition to particle permutation symmetry there is a larger symmetry corresponding to exchanging the $N!$ possible orderings of $N$ particles. In the near unitary limit, this larger symmetry is broken, and different shapes of traps break the symmetry to different degrees. This brief note exploits these symmetries to present a useful, geometric analogy with gr…
Dynamical response functions are standard tools for probing local physics near the equilibrium. They provide information about relaxation properties after the equilibrium state is weakly perturbed. In this paper we focus on systems which break the assumption of thermalization by exhibiting persistent temporal oscillations. We provide rigorous bounds on the Fourier components of dynamical response functions in terms of extensive or local dynamical symmetries, i.e. extensive or local operators with periodic time dependence. Additionally, we discuss the effects of spatially inhomogeneous dynamica…
In this article a non-perturbative time-dependent technique is used to treat the initial value problem, in Quantum Mechanics context, for a non-equilibrium self-interacting fermionic system in the presence of an external magnetic field. Particularly, in mean-field regime, we study the dynamical symmetry breaking phenomenon, identifying the physical processes associated.
We study the Caldeira-Leggett model where a quantum Brownian particle interacts with an environment or a bath consisting of a collection of harmonic oscillators in the path integral formalism. Compared to the contours that the paths take in the conventional Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, the paths in our study are deformed in the complex time plane as suggested by the recent study [C. Aron, G. Biroli and L. F. Cugliandolo, SciPost Phys.\ {\bf 4}, 008 (2018)]. This is done to investigate the connection between the symmetry properties in the Schwinger-Keldysh action and the equilibrium or non-equi…
We conjecture that non-equilibrium boundary conditions generically trigger long range order in non-equilibrium steady states of locally interacting quantum chains. Our result is based on large scale density matrix renormalization group simulations of several models of quantum spin 1/2 chains which are driven far from equilibrium by coupling to a pair of unequal Lindblad reservoirs attached locally to the ends of the chain. In particular, we find a phase transition from exponentially decaying to long range spin-spin correlations in integrable Heisenberg XXZ chain by changing the anisotropy para…
We investigate the influence of spontaneous symmetry breaking on the decoherence of a many-particle quantum system. This decoherence process is analyzed in an exactly solvable model system that is known to be representative of symmetry broken macroscopic systems in equilibrium. It is shown that spontaneous symmetry breaking imposes a fundamental limit to the time that a system can stay quantum coherent. This universal timescale is $t_{spon} \simeq 2πN \hbar / (k_B T)$, given in terms of the number of microscopic degrees of freedom $N$, temperature $T$, and the constants of Planck ($\hbar$) and…
Critical points and phase transitions are characterized by diverging susceptibilities, reflecting the tendency of the system toward spontaneous symmetry breaking. Equilibrium statistical mechanics bounds these instabilities to occur at zero frequency, giving rise to static order parameters. In this work we introduce a new class of dynamical transitions in a quantum many body system far from thermal equilibrium, characterized by a susceptibility diverging at a finite non-zero frequency, an emerging scale set by interactions and non-equilibrium effects. In the broken-symmetry phase the correspon…
We show that, when a finite anisotropic Heisenberg spin-1/2 chain in the gapped regime is driven far from equilibrium, oppositely polarized ferromagnetic domains build up at the edges of the chain, thus suppressing quantum spin transport. As a consequence, a negative differential conductivity regime arises, where increasing the driving decreases the current. The above results are explained in terms of magnon localization and are shown to be structurally stable against breaking of integrability.
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a fundamental concept in many areas of physics, ranging from cosmology and particle physics to condensed matter. A prime example is the breaking of spatial translation symmetry, which underlies the formation of crystals and the phase transition from liquid to solid. Analogous to crystals in space, the breaking of translation symmetry in time and the emergence of a "time crystal" was recently proposed, but later shown to be forbidden in thermal equilibrium. However, non-equilibrium Floquet systems subject to a periodic drive can exhibit persistent time-correlati…
