English

Symmetry breaking bias and the dynamics of a quantum phase transition

Statistical Mechanics 2019-10-02 v2 Quantum Gases Quantum Physics

Abstract

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts the formation of topological defects and other excitations that quantify how much a quantum system driven across a quantum critical point fails to be adiabatic. We point out that, thanks to the divergent linear susceptibility at the critical point, even a tiny symmetry breaking bias can restore the adiabaticity. The minimal required bias scales like τQβδ/(1+zν)\tau_Q^{-\beta\delta/(1+z\nu)}, where β,δ,z,ν\beta,\delta,z,\nu are the critical exponents and τQ\tau_Q is a quench time. We test this prediction by DMRG simulations of the quantum Ising chain. It is directly applicable to the recent emulation of quantum phase transition dynamics in the Ising chain with ultracold Rydberg atoms.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1905.05783,
  title  = {Symmetry breaking bias and the dynamics of a quantum phase transition},
  author = {Marek M. Rams and Jacek Dziarmaga and Wojciech H. Zurek},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.05783},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

5+1 pages, 5+1 figures; close to published version