Dynamical Quantum Phase Transitions Research Articles

Dynamical quantum phase transitions in systems with continuous symmetry breaking

Interacting many-body systems that are driven far away from equilibrium can exhibit phase transitions between dynamically emerging quantum phases, which manifest as singularities in the Loschmidt echo. Whether and under which conditions such dynamical transitions occur in higher-dimensional systems with spontaneously broken continuous symmetries is largely elusive thus far. Here, we study the dynamics of the Loschmidt echo in the three dimensional O(N) model following a quantum quench from a symmetry breaking initial state. The O(N) model exhibits a dynamical transition in the asymptotic steady state, separating two phases with a finite and vanishing order parameter, that is associated with the broken symmetry. We analytically calculate the rate function of the Loschmidt echo and find that it exhibits periodic kink singularities when this dynamical steady-state transition is crossed. The singularities arise exactly at the zero-crossings of the oscillating order parameter. As a consequence, the appearance of the kink singularities in the transient dynamics is directly linked to a dynamical transition in the order parameter. Furthermore, we argue, that our results for dynamical quantum phase transitions in the O(N) model are general and apply to generic systems with continuous symmetry breaking.

Probing the role of long-range interactions in the dynamics of a long-range Kitaev chain

We study the role of long-range interactions on the non-equilibrium dynamics considering a long-range Kitaev chain in which superconducting term decays with distance between two sites in a power-law fashion characterised by an exponent $\alpha$. We show that the Kibble-Zurek scaling exponent, dictating the power-law decay of the defect density in the final state reached following a slow quenching of the chemical potential ($\mu$) across a quantum critical point, depends non-trivially on the exponent $\alpha$ as long as $\alpha <2$; on the other hand, for $\alpha >2$, one finds that the exponent saturates to the corresponding well-know value of $1/2$ expected for the short-range model. Furthermore, studying the dynamical quantum phase transitions manifested in the non-analyticities in the rate function of the return possibility ($I(t)$) in subsequent temporal evolution following a sudden change in $\mu$, we show the existence of a new region; in this region, we find three instants of cusp singularities in $I(t)$ associated with a single sector of Fisher zeros. Notably, the width of this region shrinks as $\alpha$ increases and vanishes in the limit $\alpha \to 2$.

Direct Observation of Dynamical Quantum Phase Transitions in an Interacting Many-Body System.

The theory of phase transitions represents a central concept for the characterization of equilibrium matter. In this work we study experimentally an extension of this theory to the nonequilibrium dynamical regime termed dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs). We investigate and measure DQPTs in a string of ions simulating interacting transverse-field Ising models. During the nonequilibrium dynamics induced by a quantum quench we show for strings of up to 10 ions the direct detection of DQPTs by revealing nonanalytic behavior in time. Moreover, we provide a link between DQPTs and the dynamics of other quantities such as the magnetization, and we establish a connection between DQPTs and entanglement production.

Quantum Phase Transitions Go Dynamical

The observation of dynamical quantum phase transitions in an interacting many-body system breaks new ground in the study of matter out of thermal equilibrium.

Entanglement Area Laws for Long-Range Interacting Systems.

We prove that the entanglement entropy of any state evolved under an arbitrary 1/r^{α} long-range-interacting D-dimensional lattice spin Hamiltonian cannot change faster than a rate proportional to the boundary area for any α>D+1. We also prove that for any α>2D+2, the ground state of such a Hamiltonian satisfies the entanglement area law if it can be transformed along a gapped adiabatic path into a ground state known to satisfy the area law. These results significantly generalize their existing counterparts for short-range interacting systems, and are useful for identifying dynamical phase transitions and quantum phase transitions in the presence of long-range interactions.

Emergent topology and dynamical quantum phase transitions in two-dimensional closed quantum systems

We introduce the notion of a dynamical topological order parameter (DTOP) that characterises dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) occurring in the subsequent temporal evolution of "two dimensional" closed quantum systems, following a quench (or ramping) of a parameter of the Hamiltonian, {which generalizes the notion of DTOP introduced in Budich and Heyl, Phys. Rev. B 93, 085416 (2016) for one-dimensional situations}. This DTOP is obtained from the "gauge-invariant" Pancharatnam phase extracted from the Loschmidt overlap, i.e., the modulus of the overlap between the initially prepared state and its time evolved counterpart reached following a temporal evolution generated by the time-independent final Hamiltonian. This generic proposal is illustrated considering DQPTs occurring in the subsequent temporal evolution following a sudden quench of the staggered mass of the topological Haldane model on a hexagonal lattice where it stays fixed to zero or unity and makes a discontinuous jump between these two values at critical times at which DQPTs occur.

Interconnections between equilibrium topology and dynamical quantum phase transitions in a linearly ramped Haldane model

We study the behavior of Fisher Zeros (FZs) and dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) for a linearly ramped Haldane model occurring in the subsequent temporal evolution of the same and probe the intimate connection with the equilibrium topology of the model}. Here, we investigate the temporal evolution of the final state of the Haldane Hamiltonian (evolving with time-independent final Hamiltonian) reached following a linear ramping of the staggered (Semenoff) mass term from an initial to a final value, {first selecting a specific protocol}, so chosen that the system is ramped from one non-topological phase to the other through a topological phase. {We establish the existence of three possible behaviour of areas of FZs corresponding to a given sector: (i) no-DQPT, (ii) one-DQPT (intermediate) and (iii)two-DQPTs (re-entrant), depending on the inverse quenching rate $\tau$. Our study also reveals that the appearance of the areas of FZs is an artefact of the non-zero (quasi-momentum dependent) Haldane mass ($M_H$), whose absence leads to an emergent one-dimensional behaviour indicated by the shrinking of the areas FZs to lines and the non-analyticity in the dynamical "free energy" itself. Moreover, the characteristic rates of crossover between the three behaviour of FZs are determined by the time-reversal invariant quasi-momentum points of the Brillouin zone where $M_H$ vanishes. Thus, we observe that through the presence or absence of $M_H$, there exists an intimate relation to the topological properties of the equilibrium model even when the ramp drives the system far away from equilibrium.

Complex semiclassical analysis of the Loschmidt amplitude and dynamical quantum phase transitions

We propose a new computational method of the Loschmidt amplitude in a generic spin system on the basis of the complex semiclassical analysis on the spin-coherent state path integral. We demonstrate how the dynamical transitions emerge in the time evolution of the Loschmidt amplitude for the infinite-range transverse Ising model with a longitudinal field, exposed by a quantum quench of the transverse field $\Gamma$ from $\infty$ or $0$. For both initial conditions, we obtain the dynamical phase diagrams that show the presence or absence of the dynamical transition in the plane of transverse field after a quantum quench and the longitudinal field. The results of semiclassical analysis are verified by numerical experiments. Experimental observation of our findings on the dynamical transition is also discussed.

Critical Properties of the Many-Body Localization Transition

The transition from a many-body localized phase to a thermalizing one is a dynamical quantum phase transition which lies outside the framework of equilibrium statistical mechanics. We provide a detailed study of the critical properties of this transition at finite sizes in one dimension. We find that the entanglement entropy of small subsystems looks strongly subthermal in the quantum critical regime, which indicates that it varies discontinuously across the transition as the system-size is taken to infinity, even though many other aspects of the transition look continuous. We also study the variance of the half-chain entanglement entropy which shows a peak near the transition, and find substantial variation in the entropy across eigenstates of the same sample. Further, the sample-to-sample variations in this quantity are strongly growing, and larger than the intra-sample variations. We posit that these results are consistent with a picture in which the transition to the thermal phase is driven by an eigenstate-dependent sparse resonant "backbone" of long-range entanglement, which just barely gains enough strength to thermalize the system on the thermal side of the transition as the system size is taken to infinity. This discontinuity in a global quantity --- the presence of a fully functional bath --- in turn implies a discontinuity even for local properties. We discuss how this picture compares with existing renormalization group treatments of the transition.

Solvable model for a dynamical quantum phase transition from fast to slow scrambling

We propose an extension of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model that exhibits a quantum phase transition from the previously identified non-Fermi liquid fixed point to a Fermi liquid like state, while still allowing an exact solution in a suitable large $N$ limit. The extended model involves coupling the interacting $N$-site SYK model to a new set of $pN$ peripheral sites with only quadratic hopping terms between them. The conformal fixed point of the SYK model remains a stable low energy phase below a critical ratio of peripheral sites $p<p_c(n)$ that depends on the fermion filling $n$. The scrambling dynamics throughout the non-Fermi liquid phase is characterized by a universal Lyapunov exponent $\lambda_L\to 2\pi T$ in the low temperature limit, however the temperature scale marking the crossover to the conformal regime vanishes continuously at the critical point $p_c$. The residual entropy at $T\to 0$, non zero in the NFL, also vanishes continuously at the critical point. For $p>p_c$ the quadratic sites effectively screen the SYK dynamics, leading to a quadratic fixed point in the low temperature and frequency limit. The interactions have a perturbative effect in this regime leading to scrambling with Lyapunov exponent $\lambda_L\propto T^2$.

Dynamical quantum phase transitions in the quantum Potts chain

We analyze the dynamics of the return amplitude following a sudden quench in the three-state quantum Potts chain. For quenches crossing the quantum critical point from the paramagnetic to the ferromagnetic phase, the corresponding rate function is non-analytic at critical times and behaves linearly in their vicinity. In particular, we find no indication of a link between the time evolution close to the critical times and the scaling properties of the quantum critical point in the Potts chain.

Nonequilibrium dynamics of a system with two kinds of fermions after a pulse

The nonequilibrium evolution of the system of two kinds of fermions under the action of a pulse of the external field has been studied. The number of fermions of each kind oscillates (with beats and decaying) as a function of the duration of the pulse about the value determined by the magnitude of the pulse, and as a function of the magnitude of the pulse. For low-dimensional systems those oscillations can serve as a non-zero-temperature manifestation of dynamical quantum phase transitions. The response of a Fermi gas or liquid in a tilted magnetic field, an edge state of a topological insulator, a quantum wire with spin-orbit coupling, and a dimerized spin-1/2 chain to the pulse can manifest such dynamical oscillations, which can be observed in experiments.

Quenching a quantum critical state by the order parameter: Dynamical quantum phase transitions and quantum speed limits

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 unrecognized quantum speed limit with unconventional system size dependence. These findings are illustrated for the one-dimensional and the infinitely-connected transverse-field Ising model. The main concepts, however, are general and can be applied also to other critical states. An outlook is given onto the implications of the superextensive energy fluctuations on potential restricted thermalization despite of nonintegrability.

Dynamical quantum phase transitions in presence of a spin bath

We derive an effective time independent Hamiltonian for the transverse Ising model coupled to a spin bath, in the presence of a high frequency AC magnetic field. We show that the spin blocking mechanism that removes the quantum phase transition can be suppressed by the AC field, allowing high tunability of the quantum critical point. Finally, we calculate the phase diagram within the RPA approximation for the case of spin $7/2$ nuclei, appropriate to the $LiHo_{x}Y_{1-x}F_{4}$ system.

Voltage-induced dynamical quantum phase transitions in exciton condensates

We explore non-analytic quantum phase dynamics of dipolar exciton condensates formed in a system of 1D quantum layers subjected to voltage quenches. We map the exciton condensate physics on to the pseudospin ferromagnet model showing an additional oscillatory metastable and paramagnetic phase beyond the well-known ferromagnetic phase by utilizing a time-dependent, non-perturbative theoretical model. We explain the coherent phase of the exciton condensate in quantum Hall bilayers, observed for currents equal to and slightly larger than the critical current, as a stable time-dependent phase characterized by persistent charged meron flow in each of the individual layers with a characteristic AC Josephson frequency. As the magnitude of the voltage quench is further increased, we find that the time-dependent current oscillations associated with the charged meron flow decay, resulting in a transient pseudospin paramagnet phase characterized by partially coherent charge transfer between layers, before the state relaxes to incoherent charge transfer between the layers.

A Floquet model for the many-body localization transition

The nature of the dynamical quantum phase transition between the many-body localized (MBL) phase and the thermal phase remains an open question, and one line of attack on this problem is to explore this transition numerically in finite-size systems. To maximize the contrast between the MBL phase and the thermal phase in such finite-size systems, we argue one should choose a Floquet model with no local conservation laws and rapid thermalization to "infinite temperature" in the thermal phase. Here we introduce and explore such a Floquet spin chain model, and show that standard diagnostics of the MBL-to-thermal transition behave well in this model even at modest sizes. We also introduce a physically motivated spacetime correlation function which peaks at the transition in the Floquet model, but is strongly affected by conservation laws in Hamiltonian models.

Dynamical quantum phase transitions (Review Article)

During recent years the interest to dynamics of quantum systems has grown considerably. Quantum many body systems out of equilibrium often manifest behavior, different from the one predicted by standard statistical mechanics and thermodynamics in equilibrium. Since the dynamics of a many-body quantum system typically involve many excited eigenstates, with a non-thermal distribution, the time evolution of such a system provides an unique way for investigation of non-equilibrium quantum statistical mechanics. Last decade such new subjects like quantum quenches, thermalization, pre-thermalization, equilibration, generalized Gibbs ensemble, etc. are among the most attractive topics of investigation in modern quantum physics. One of the most interesting themes in the study of dynamics of quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium is connected with the recently proposed important concept of dynamical quantum phase transitions. During the last few years a great progress has been achieved in studying of those singularities in the time dependence of characteristics of quantum mechanical systems, in particular, in understanding how the quantum critical points of equilibrium thermodynamics affect their dynamical properties. Dynamical quantum phase transitions reveal universality, scaling, connection to the topology, and many other interesting features. Here we review the recent achievements of this quickly developing part of low-temperature quantum physics. The study of dynamical quantum phase transitions is especially important in context of their connection to the problem of the modern theory of quantum information, where namely non-equilibrium dynamics of many-body quantum system plays the major role.

Dynamical Quantum Phase Transitions: Role of Topological Nodes in Wave Function Overlaps.

A sudden quantum quench of a Bloch band from one topological phase toward another has been shown to exhibit an intimate connection with the notion of a dynamical quantum phase transition (DQPT), where the returning probability of the quenched state to the initial state-i.e., the Loschmidt echo-vanishes at critical times {t^{*}}. Analytical results to date are limited to two-band models, leaving the exact relation between topology and DQPT unclear. In this Letter, we show that, for a general multiband system, a robust DQPT relies on the existence of nodes (i.e., zeros) in the wave function overlap between the initial band and the postquench energy eigenstates. These nodes are topologically protected if the two participating wave functions have distinctive topological indices. We demonstrate these ideas in detail for both one and two spatial dimensions using a three-band generalized Hofstadter model. We also discuss possible experimental observations.

Molecular dissociation in presence of a catalyst: II. The bond breaking role of the transition from virtual to localized states

We address a molecular dissociation mechanism that is known to occur when a H2 molecule approaches a catalyst with its molecular axis parallel to the surface. It is found that molecular dissociation is a form of quantum dynamical phase transition associated to an analytic discontinuity of quite unusual nature: the molecule is destabilized by the transition from non-physical virtual states into actual localized states. Current description complements our recent results for a molecule approaching the catalyst with its molecular axis perpendicular to the surface (Ruderman et al 2015 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 27 315501). Also, such a description can be seen as a further successful implementation of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian in a well defined model.

Quantum spin dynamics in a spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate

Spin-orbit coupled bosons can exhibit rich equilibrium phases at low temperature and in the presence of particle-particle interactions. In the case with a 1D synthetic spin-orbit interaction, it has been observed that the ground state of a Bose gas can be a normal phase, stripe phase, or magnetized phase in different experimentally controllable parameter regimes. The magnetized states are doubly degenerate and consist of a many-particle two-state system. In this work, we investigate the nonequilibrium quantum dynamics by switching on an external perturbation to induce resonant couplings between the magnetized phases, and predict the novel quantum spin dynamics which cannot be obtained in the single-particle systems. In particular, due to particle-particle interactions, the transition of the Bose condensate from one magnetized phase to the other is forbidden when the strength of external perturbation is less than a critical value, and a full transition can occur only when the perturbation exceeds such critical strength. This phenomenon manifests itself a quantum dynamical phase transition, with the critical point behavior being exactly solvable. From the numerical simulations and exact analytic studies we show that the predicted many-body effects can be well observed with the current experiments.