A second order phase transition induced by a rapid quench can lock out topological defects with densities far exceeding their equilibrium expectation values. We use quantum kinetic theory to show that this mechanism, originally postulated in the cosmological context, and analysed so far only on the mean field classical level, should allow spontaneous generation of vortex lines in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates of simple topology, or of winding number in toroidal condensates.
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.
It is now widely accepted that quenches through the critical region of quantum phase transitions result in post-transition states populated with topological defects -- analogs of the classical topological defects. However, consequences of the very non-classical fact that the state after a quench is a {\it superposition} of distinct, broken-symmetry vacua with different numbers and locations of defects have remained largely unexplored. We identify coherent quantum oscillations induced by such superpositions in observables complementary to the one involved in symmetry breaking. These oscillation…
Nontrivial topology in lattices is characterized by invariants--such as the Zak phase for one dimensional (1D) lattices--derived from wave functions covering the Brillouin zone. We realized the 1D bipartite Rice-Mele (RM) lattice using ultracold $^{87}$Rb and focus on lattice configurations possessing various combinations of chiral, time-reversal and particle-hole symmetries. We quenched between configurations and used a form of quantum state tomography, enabled by diabatically tuning lattice parameters, to directly follow the time evolution of the Zak phase as well as a chiral winding number.…
We study the quench dynamics of entanglement spectra in the Kitaev chain with variable-range pairing quantified by power-law decay rate $α$. Considering the post-quench Hamiltonians with flat bands, we demonstrate that the presence of entanglement-spectrum crossings during its dynamics is able to characterize the topological phase transitions (TPTs) in both short-range ($α$ > 1) or long-range ($α$ < 1) sector. Properties of entanglement-spectrum dynamics are revealed for the quench protocols in the long-range sector or with $α$ as the quench parameter. In particular, when the lowest upper-half…
The dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) and the associated winding numbers have been extensively studied in the context Hermitian system. We consider the non-Hermitian analogue of $p$-wave superconductor, supporting Hermitian gapless phase with complex hopping, in presence of on-site or superconducting loss term. This allows us to investigate the effect of non-Hermitian gapless phases on the DQPTs in addition to the Hermitian gapless phases. Our findings indicate that contour analysis of the underlying Hamiltonian, enclosing the origin and/or exceptional points, can predict the occurre…
Programmable quantum processors are suitable platforms for simulating quantum systems, of which topological phases are of particular interest. We simulate the quench dynamics of a one-dimensional system on IBM Q devices. The topological properties of the dynamics are described by the dynamical topological invariants, the dynamical winding number and the time-dependent Berry phase, which are simulated with the quantum circuit model. The results show that despite the noise present in the current quantum computers, the dynamical topological invariants are robust. Moreover, to investigate the infl…
In closed quantum systems, a dynamical phase transition is identified by nonanalytic behaviors of the return probability as a function of time. In this work, we study the nonunitary dynamics following quenches across exceptional points in a non-Hermitian lattice realized by optical resonators. Dynamical quantum phase transitions with topological signatures are found when an isolated exceptional point is crossed during the quench. A topological winding number defined by a real, noncyclic geometric phase is introduced, whose value features quantized jumps at critical times of these phase transit…
Dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) are manifested by time-domain nonanalytic behaviors of many-body systems.Introducing a quench is so far understood as a typical scenario to induce DQPTs.In this work, we discover a novel type of DQPTs, termed "Floquet DQPTs", as intrinsic features of systems with periodic time modulation.Floquet DQPTs occur within each period of continuous driving, without the need for any quenches.In particular, in a harmonically driven spin chain model, we find analytically the existence of Floquet DQPTs in and only in a parameter regime hosting a certain nontrivia…
Dynamical Topological Order Parameters far from Equilibrium
我们引入了一个拓扑量子数-创造动力学拓扑序参量（DTOP）-这是动态定义的实时演化的量子多体系统和表示的动量空间缠绕数的Pancharatnam几何相位。我们的建设在概念上超越了标准的拓扑不变量的概念，表征系统的波函数，这是在相干时间演化的运动常数。特别是，我们表明，DTOP可以改变它的整数值在离散的时间，所谓的动态量子相变发生，从而作为一个动态模拟的序参量。有趣的是，研究量子猝灭在一维两带Bogoliubov de Gennes模型，我们发现，DTOP是能够解决，如果系统的拓扑结构的哈密顿量已经改变了淬火。此外，我们调查的DTOP的动态的字符串序参量的特点，这种系统的拓扑结构在热平衡的关系。
Lattice gauge theories are a fascinating and rich class of theories relating to the most fundamental models of particle physics, and as experimental control on the quantum level increases there is a growing interest in non-equilibrium effects such as dynamical quantum phase transitions. To demonstrate how these physical theories can be accessed in near-term quantum devices, we study the dynamics of a (1+1)D U(1) quantum link model following quenches of its mass-term. We find that the system undergoes dynamical quantum phase transitions for all system sizes considered, even the smallest where t…
