Dynamical Critical Exponent Research Articles

Discrete Laplacian thermostat for flocks and swarms: the fully conserved Inertial Spin Model

Abstract Experiments on bird flocks and midge swarms reveal that these natural systems are well described by an active theory in which conservation laws play a crucial role. By building a symplectic structure that couples the particles’ velocities to the generator of their internal rotations (spin), the Inertial Spin Model (ISM) reinstates a second-order temporal dynamics that captures many phenomenological traits of flocks and swarms. The reversible structure of the ISM predicts that the total spin is a constant of motion, the central conservation law responsible for all the novel dynamical features of the model. However, fluctuations and dissipation introduced in the original model to make it relax, violate the spin conservation law, so that the ISM aligns with the biophysical phenomenology only within finite-size regimes, beyond which the overdamped dynamics characteristic of the Vicsek model takes over. Here, we introduce a novel version of the ISM, in which the irreversible terms needed to relax the dynamics strictly respect the conservation of the spin. We perform a numerical investigation of the fully conservative model, exploring both the fixed-network case, which belongs to the equilibrium class of Model G, and the active case, characterized by self-propulsion of the agents and an out-of-equilibrium reshuffling of the underlying interaction network. Our simulations not only capture the correct spin wave phenomenology of the ordered phase, but they also yield dynamical critical exponents in the near-ordering phase that agree very well with the theoretical predictions.

Entanglement in Lifshitz fermion theories

We study the static entanglement structure in (1+1)-dimensional free Dirac-fermion theory with Lifshitz symmetry and arbitrary integer dynamical critical exponent. This model is different from the one introduced in [Hartmann et al., SciPost Phys.11 (2021) 031] due to a proper treatment of the square Laplace operator. Dirac fermion Lifshitz theory is local as opposed to its scalar counterpart which strongly affects its entanglement structure. We show that there is quantum entanglement across arbitrary subregions in various pure (including the vacuum) and mixed states of this theory for arbitrary integer values of the dynamical critical exponent. Our numerical investigations show that quantum entanglement in this theory is tightly bounded from above. Such a bound and other physical properties of quantum entanglement are carefully explained from the correlation structure in these theories. A generalization to (2+1)-dimensions where the entanglement structure is seriously different is addressed.

Dynamical critical behavior on the Nishimori point of frustrated Ising models.

By considering the quench dynamics of two-dimensional frustrated Ising models through numerical simulations, we investigate the dynamical critical behavior on the multicritical Nishimori point (NP). We calculate several dynamical critical exponents, namely, the relaxation exponent z_{c}, the autocorrelation exponent λ_{c}, and the persistence exponent θ_{c}, after a quench from the high temperature phase to the NP. We confirm their universality with respect to the lattice geometry and bond distribution. For a quench from a power-law correlated initial state to the NP, the aging dynamics are much slower. We also look up the issue of multifractality during the critical dynamics by investigating different moments of the spatial correlation function. We observe a single growth law for all the length scales extracted from different moments, indicating that the equilibrium multifractality at the NP does not affect the dynamics.

Dynamical critical behavior of the two-dimensional three-state Potts model.

We investigate the dynamical critical behavior of the two-dimensional three-state Potts model with single spin-flip dynamics in equilibrium. We focus on the mean-squared deviation of the magnetization M (MSD_{M}) as a function of time, as well as on the autocorrelation function of M. Our simulations reveal the existence of two crossover behaviors at times τ_{1}∼L^{z_{1}} and τ_{2}∼L^{z_{2}}, separating three dynamical regimes. MSD_{M} appears to shift from ordinary diffusion in the first regime, to anomalous diffusion in the second, and finally to be constant in the third regime. The magnetization autocorrelation function, on the other hand, is found to fluctuate between exponential decay, stretched-exponential decay, and then again exponential decay along these three regimes. This behavior is in agreement with the one reported recently for the two-dimensional Ising ferromagnet [Phys. Rev. E 108, 034118 (2023)2470-004510.1103/PhysRevE.108.034118], indicating that the existence of two dynamic critical exponents is not a peculiarity of the Ising model itself. A comparison of both MSD_{M} and the magnetization's autocorrelation function suggests that within our numerical accuracy the exponents z_{1} and z_{2} are shared between the Ising and three-state Potts models at least for the particular case of single spin-flip dynamics studied here, even though their equilibrium universality classes are clearly distinct. Continuity of MSD_{M} requires that α(z_{2}-z_{1})=γ/ν-z_{1}, in which α is the anomalous exponent in the intermediate regime. Since the ratio γ/ν is not shared between the two models, it follows that α is not shared either, an aspect well verified in our simulations. Finally, we also discuss the relevance of our main findings using another useful observable, namely the line magnetization M_{l}.

Inertial spin model of flocking with position-dependent forces.

We propose an extension to the inertial spin model (ISM) of flocking and swarming. The model has been introduced to explain certain dynamic features of swarming (second sound, a lower than expected dynamic critical exponent) while preserving the mechanism for onset of order provided by the Vicsek model. The inertial spin model (ISM) has only been formulated with an imitation ("ferromagnetic") interaction between velocities. Here we show how to add position-dependent forces in the model, which allows to consider effects such as cohesion, excluded volume, confinement, and perturbation with external position-dependent field, and thus study this model without periodic boundary conditions. We study numerically a single particle with an harmonic confining field and compare it to a Brownian harmonic oscillator and to a harmonically confined active Browinian particle, finding qualitatively different behavior in the three cases.

Isotropic Quantum Griffiths Singularity in Nd_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}NiO_{2} Infinite-Layer Superconducting Thin Films.

This work reports on the emergence of quantum Griffiths singularity (QGS) associated with the magnetic field induced superconductor-metal transition (SMT) in unconventional Nd_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}NiO_{2} infinite layer superconducting thin films. The system manifests isotropic SMT features under both in-plane and perpendicular magnetic fields. Importantly, after scaling analysis of the isothermal magnetoresistance curves, the obtained effective dynamic critical exponents demonstrate divergent behavior when approaching the zero-temperature critical point B_{c}^{*}, identifying the QGS characteristics. Moreover, the quantum fluctuation associated with the QGS can quantitatively explain the upturn of the upper critical field around zero temperature for both the in-plane and perpendicular magnetic fields in the phase boundary of SMT. These properties indicate that the QGS in the Nd_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}NiO_{2} superconducting thin film is isotropic. Moreover, a higher magnetic field gives rise to a metallic state with the resistance-temperature relation R(T) exhibiting lnT dependence among the 2-10K range and T^{2} dependence of resistance below 1.5K, which is significant evidence of Kondo scattering. The interplay between isotropic QGS and Kondo scattering in the unconventional Nd_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}NiO_{2} superconductor can illustrate the important role of rare region in QGS and help to uncover the exotic superconductivity mechanism in this system.

Emergence of quantum Griffiths singularity in disordered TiN thin films

The association of quantum Griffiths singularity (QGS) to the magnetic-field-induced superconductor-metal transition predicts the unconventional diverging behaviour of dynamical critical exponent in low disorder crystalline two-dimensional superconductors. But whether this state exists in the superconducting systems exhibiting superconductor-insulator transition remains elusive. Here, we report the emergence of quantum Griffiths singularity in ultrathin disordered TiN thin films with more than two orders of magnitude variation in their normal state resistance. For both superconductor-metal transition and superconductor-insulator transition types, a diverging critical exponent is observed while approaching the quantum phase transition. Further, the magnetoresistance isotherms obey a direct activated scaling governed by an infinite-randomness fixed critical point. Finally, this work establishes the robustness of the QGS phenomenon towards a wide range of temperature and also towards a wide range of disorder strength as correlated with the normal state resistance.

Three-dimensional quantum Griffiths singularity in bulk iron-pnictide superconductors

ABSTRACT The quantum Griffiths singularity (QGS) is a phenomenon driven by quenched disorders that break conventional scaling invariance and result in a divergent dynamic critical exponent during quantum phase transitions (QPT). While this phenomenon has been well-documented in low-dimensional conventional superconductors and in three-dimensional (3D) magnetic metal systems, its presence in 3D superconducting systems and in unconventional high-temperature superconductors (high-Tc SCs) remains unclear. In this study, we report the observation of robust QGS in the superconductor-metal transition (SMT) of both quasi-2D and 3D anisotropic unconventional high-Tc superconductor CaFe1-xNixAsF (x <5%) bulk single crystals, where the QGS states persist to up to 5.3 K. A comprehensive quantum phase diagram is established that delineates the 3D anisotropic QGS of SMT induced by perpendicular and parallel magnetic fields. Our findings reveal the universality of QGS in 3D superconducting systems and unconventional high-Tc SCs, thereby substantially expanding the range of applicability of QGS.

Critical dynamics within the real-time FRG approach

The Schwinger-Keldysh functional renormalization group developed by Y.-y. Tan [Real-time dynamics of the O(4) scalar theory within the fRG approach, ] is employed to investigate critical dynamics related to a second-order phase transition. The effective action of model A is expanded to the order of O(∂2) in the derivative expansion for the O(N) symmetry. By solving the fixed-point equations of effective potential and wave function, we obtain static and dynamic critical exponents for different values of the spatial dimension d and the field component number N. It is found that one has z≥2 in the whole range of 2≤d≤4 for the case of N=1, while in the case of N=4, the dynamic critical exponent turns to z<2 when the dimension approach towards d=2. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Quantum criticality of generalized Aubry-André models with exact mobility edges using fidelity susceptibility.

In this study, we explore the quantum critical phenomena in generalized Aubry-André models, with a particular focus on the scaling behavior at various filling states. Our approach involves using quantum fidelity susceptibility to precisely identify the mobility edges in these systems. Through a finite-size scaling analysis of the fidelity susceptibility, we are able to determine both the correlation-length critical exponent and the dynamical critical exponent at the critical point of the generalized Aubry-André model. Based on the Diophantine equationconjecture, we can determines the number of subsequences of the Fibonacci sequence and the corresponding scaling functions for a specific filling fraction, as well as the universality class. Our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of employing the generalized fidelity susceptibility for the analysis of unconventional quantum criticality and the associated universal information of quasiperiodic systems in cutting-edge quantum simulation experiments.

Effective field theories and finite-temperature properties of zero-dimensional superradiant quantum phase transitions

The existence of zero-dimensional superradiant quantum phase transitions seems inconsistent with conventional statistical physics. This work clarifies this apparent inconsistency. We demonstrate the corresponding effective field theories and finite-temperature properties of light-matter interacting systems, and show how this zero-dimensional quantum phase transition occurs. We first focus on the Rabi model, which is a minimum model that hosts a superradiant quantum phase transition. With the path-integral method, we derive the imaginary-time action of the photon degrees of freedom. We also define a dynamical critical exponent as the rescaling between the temperature and the photon frequency, and perform dimensional analysis to the effective action. The dynamical critical exponent shows that the effective theory of the Rabi model is a free scalar field, where a true second-order quantum phase transition emerges. These results are also verified by numerical simulations of imaginary-time correlation functions of the order parameter. Furthermore, we also generalize this method to the Dicke model. Our results make the zero-dimensional superradiant quantum phase transition compatible with conventional statistical physics, and pave the way to understand it in the perspective of effective field theories. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Pressure-tuned quantum criticality in the large-D antiferromagnet DTN

Strongly correlated spin systems can be driven to quantum critical points via various routes. In particular, gapped quantum antiferromagnets can undergo phase transitions into a magnetically ordered state with applied pressure or magnetic field, acting as tuning parameters. These transitions are characterized by z = 1 or z = 2 dynamical critical exponents, determined by the linear and quadratic low-energy dispersion of spin excitations, respectively. Employing high-frequency susceptibility and ultrasound techniques, we demonstrate that the tetragonal easy-plane quantum antiferromagnet NiCl2 ⋅ 4SC(NH2)2 (aka DTN) undergoes a spin-gap closure transition at about 4.2 kbar, resulting in a pressure-induced magnetic ordering. The studies are complemented by high-pressure-electron spin-resonance measurements confirming the proposed scenario. Powder neutron diffraction measurements revealed that no lattice distortion occurs at this pressure and the high spin symmetry is preserved, establishing DTN as a perfect platform to investigate z = 1 quantum critical phenomena. The experimental observations are supported by DMRG calculations, allowing us to quantitatively describe the pressure-driven evolution of critical fields and spin-Hamiltonian parameters in DTN.

Quantum Griffiths Singularity in Ordered Artificial Superconducting-Islands-Array on Graphene.

Quantum Griffiths phase (QGP) is a novel quantum phenomenon of quantum phase transition in two-dimensional (2D) superconductors, and the emergence of inhomogeneous superconducting rare regions immersed in a metallic matrix is theoretically related to the quantum Griffiths singularity (QGS). However, the theoretical proposal of superconducting rare regions still lacks intuitive experimental verification. Here, we construct an artificial ordered superconducting-islands-array on monolayer graphene with the aid of an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane. The QGS under both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic fields is evidenced by the divergent dynamical critical exponent and is in compliance with the direct activated scaling behavior. The phase diagram clearly shows that the QGP is indeed bred in the rare superconducting regions within isolated superconducting islands with a vanished quantum coherence. Our results reveal the universal features of QGP in artificial heterostructured systems and provide a visualized platform for the theoretical proposal of QGS.

Scale-Free Chaos in the 2D Harmonically Confined Vicsek Model.

Animal motion and flocking are ubiquitous nonequilibrium phenomena that are often studied within active matter. In examples such as insect swarms, macroscopic quantities exhibit power laws with measurable critical exponents and ideas from phase transitions and statistical mechanics have been explored to explain them. The widely used Vicsek model with periodic boundary conditions has an ordering phase transition but the corresponding homogeneous ordered or disordered phases are different from observations of natural swarms. If a harmonic potential (instead of a periodic box) is used to confine particles, then the numerical simulations of the Vicsek model display periodic, quasiperiodic, and chaotic attractors. The latter are scale-free on critical curves that produce power laws and critical exponents. Here, we investigate the scale-free chaos phase transition in two space dimensions. We show that the shape of the chaotic swarm on the critical curve reflects the split between the core and the vapor of insects observed in midge swarms and that the dynamic correlation function collapses only for a finite interval of small scaled times. We explain the algorithms used to calculate the largest Lyapunov exponents, the static and dynamic critical exponents, and compare them to those of the three-dimensional model.

Infinite critical boson non-Fermi liquid on heterostructure interfaces

We study the emergence of non-Fermi liquid on heterostructure interfaces where there exists an infinite number of critical boson modes accounting for the magnetic fluctuations in two spatial dimensions. The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction naturally arises in magnetic interactions due to the absence of inversion symmetry, resulting in a degenerate contour for the low-energy bosonic modes in the momentum space which simultaneously becomes critical near the magnetic phase transition. The itinerant electrons are scattered by the critical boson contour via the Yukawa coupling. When the boson contour is much smaller than the Fermi surface, it is shown that, there exists a regime with a dynamic critical exponent {z=3} while the boson contour still controls the low-energy magnetic fluctuations. Using a self-consistent renormalization calculation for this regime, we uncover a prominent non-Fermi liquid behavior in the resistivity with a characteristic temperature scaling power. These findings open up new avenues for understanding boson-fermion interactions and the novel fermionic quantum criticality.

Critical exponents of master-node network model.

The dynamics of competing opinions in social network plays an important role in society, with many applications in diverse social contexts such as consensus, election, morality, and so on. Here, we study a model of interacting agents connected in networks in order to analyze their decision stochastic process. We consider a first-neighbor interaction between agents in a one-dimensional network with the shape of ring topology. Moreover, some agents are also connected to a hub, or master node, who has preferential choice or bias. Such connections are quenched. As the main results, we observed a continuous nonequilibrium phase transition to an absorbing state as a function of control parameters. By using the finite-size scaling method we analyzed the static and dynamic critical exponents to show that this model probably cannot match any universality class already known.

Exploring the equilibrium and dynamic phase transition properties of the Ising ferromagnet on a decorated triangular lattice.

We study the equilibrium and dynamic phase transition properties of a two-dimensional Ising model on a decorated triangular lattice under the influence of a time-dependent magnetic field composed of a periodic square wave part plus a time-independent bias term. Using Monte Carlo simulations with a standard Metropolis algorithm, we determine the equilibrium critical behavior in zero field. At a fixed temperature corresponding to the multidroplet regime, we locate the relaxation time and the dynamic critical half period at which a dynamic phase transition takes place between ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states. Benefiting from finite-size scaling theory, we estimate the dynamic critical exponent ratios for the dynamic order parameter and its scaled variance, respectively. The response function of the average energy is found to follow a logarithmic scaling as a function of lattice size. At the critical half period and in the vicinity of a small bias field regime, the average of the dynamic order parameter obeys a scaling relation with a dynamic scaling exponent which is very close to the equilibrium critical isotherm value. Finally, in the slow critical dynamics regime, investigation of metamagnetic fluctuations in the presence of bias field reveals a symmetric double-peak behavior for the scaled variance contours of the dynamic order parameter and average energy. Our results strongly resemble those previously reported for kinetic Ising models.

Experimental Observation of Critical Scaling in Magnetic Dynamic Phase Transitions.

We explore the critical behavior of dynamic phase transitions in ultrathin uniaxial Co films. Our data demonstrate the occurrence of critical fluctuations, which define the critical regime, and in which we conduct a scaling analysis of the dynamic order parameter Q, utilizing a dynamic analog to the Arrott-Noakes equation of state. Our results show dynamic critical exponents that agree with the 2D Ising model as theoretically predicted. However, equilibrium critical exponents of our sample agree with the 3D Ising model. We argue that these differences between dynamic and thermodynamic behavior are due to fundamentally different length scales at which dimensional crossovers occur.

Theory of critical phenomena with long-range temporal interaction

We systematically develop theories of critical phenomena with a prior formed memory of a power-law decaying long-range temporal interaction parameterized by a constant θ > 0 for a space dimension d both below and above an upper critical dimension d c = 6 − 2/θ. We first provide more evidences to confirm the previous theory that a dimensional constant is demanded to rectify a hyperscaling law, to produce correct unique mean-field critical exponents via an effective spatial dimension originating from temporal dimension, and to transform the time and change the dynamic critical exponent. Next, for d < d c , we develop a renormalization-group theory by employing the momentum-shell technique to the leading nontrivial order explicitly and to higher orders formally in ϵ = d c − d but to zero order in ε = 1 − θ and find that more scaling laws besides the hyperscaling law are broken due to the breaking of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Moreover, because dynamics and statics are intimately interwoven, even the static critical exponents involve contributions from the dynamics and hence do not restore the short-range exponents even for θ = 1 and the crossover between the short-range and long-range fixed points is discontinuous contrary to the case of long-range spatial interaction. In addition, a new scaling law relating the dynamic critical exponent with the static ones emerges, indicating that the dynamic critical exponent is not independent. However, once is displaced by a series of ϵ and ε such that most values of the critical exponents are changed, all scaling laws are saved again, even though the fluctuation-dissipation theorem keeps violating. Then, for d ≥ d c , we develop an effective-dimension theory by carefully discriminating the corrections of both temporal and spatial dimensions and find three different regions. For d ≥ d c0 = 4, the upper critical dimension of the usual short-range theory, the usual Landau mean-field theory with fluctuations confined to the effective-dimension equal to d c0 correctly describe the critical phenomena with memory, while for d c < d ≤ 4, there exist new universality classes whose critical exponents depend only on the space dimension but not at all on θ. Yet another region consists of d = d c only and the previous theory is retrieved. All these results show that the dimensional constant is the fundamental ingredient of the theories for critical phenomena with memory. However, its value continuously varies with the space dimension and vanishes exactly at d = 4, reflecting the variation of the amount of the temporal dimension that is transferred to the spatial one with the strength of fluctuations. Moreover, special finite-size scaling appears ubiquitously except for d = d c0.

The activated scaling behavior of quantum Griffiths singularity in two-dimensional superconductors

Quantum Griffiths singularity (QGS) is characterized by the divergence of the dynamical critical exponent with the activated scaling law and has been widely observed in various two-dimensional superconductors. Recently, the direct activated scaling analysis with the irrelevant correction was proposed and successfully used to analyze the experimental data of crystalline PdTe2 and polycrystalline -W films, which provides new evidence of QGS. Here we show that the direct activated scaling analysis is applicable to the experimental data in different superconducting films, including tri-layer Ga films and LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface superconductors. When taking the irrelevant correction into account, we calculate the corrected sheet resistance at ultralow temperatures. The scaling behavior of the corrected resistance in a comparably large temperature regime and the theoretical fitting of the phase boundary give unambiguous evidence of QGS. Compared to previous methods based on finite size scaling, the direct activated scaling analysis represents a more direct and precise way to analyze the experimental data of QGS in diverse two-dimensional superconductors.