English

How order melts after quantum quenches

Statistical Mechanics 2020-01-29 v1 Quantum Physics

Abstract

Injecting a sufficiently large energy density into an isolated many-particle system prepared in a state with long-range order will lead to the melting of the order over time. Detailed information about this process can be derived from the quantum mechanical probability distribution of the order parameter. We study this process for the paradigmatic case of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg XXZ chain. We determine the full quantum mechanical distribution function of the staggered subsystem magnetization as a function of time after a quantum quench from the classical N\'eel state. This provides a detailed picture of how the N\'eel order melts and reveals the existence of an interesting regime at intermediate times that is characterized by a very broad probability distribution.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1901.04402,
  title  = {How order melts after quantum quenches},
  author = {Mario Collura and Fabian H. L. Essler},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1901.04402},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

10 pages (including Supplementary Material), 7 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-23T07:11:17.504Z