Quantum double-well chain: Ground-state phases and applications to hydrogen-bonded materials.

Abstract

Extrapolating the results of hybrid quantum Monte Carlo simulations to the zero temperature and infinite-chain-length limits, we calculate the ground-state phase diagram of a system of quantum particles on a chain of harmonically coupled, symmetric, quartic double-well potentials. We show that the ground state of this quantum chain depends on two parameters, formed from the ratios of the three natural energy scales in the problem. As a function of these two parameters, the quantum ground state can exhibit either broken symmetry, in which the expectation values of the particle's coordinate are all nonzero (as would be the case for a classical chain), or restored symmetry, in which the expectation values of the particle's coordinate are all zero (as would be the case for a single quantum particle). In addition to the phase diagram as a function of these two parameters, we calculate the ground-state energy, an order parameter related to the average position of the particle, and the susceptibility associated with this order parameter. Further, we present an approximate analytic estimate of the phase diagram and discuss possible physical applications of our results, emphasizing the behavior of hydrogen halides under pressure.