A non-conventional approach to study the quenched impurity effects on quantum criticality

A non-conventional point of view is used to explore the still unclear role played by the competition between quenched disorder and quantum fluctuations in systems which exhibit a quantum phase transition in the clean limit. The approach consists in averaging over quantum degrees of freedom and next in applying the renormalization group transformation to the resulting effective classical random action. It emerges that, below four dimensions, the quantum criticality appears to be controlled by the classical random fixed point.     

Coulombic Phase Transitions in Dense Plasmas

We give a survey on the predictions of Coulombic phase transitions in dense plasmas (PPT) and derive several new results on the properties of these transitions. In particular we discuss several types of the critical point and the spinodal curves of quantum Coulombic systems. We construct a simple theoretical model which shows (in dependence on the parameter values) either one alkali-type transition (Coulombic and van der Waals forces determine the critical point) or one Coulombic transition and another van der Waals transition. We investigate the conditions to find separate Van der Waals and Coulomb transitions in one system (typical for hydrogen and noble gas-type plasmas). The separated Coulombic transitions which are strongly influenced by quantum effects are the hypothetical PPT, they are in full analogy to the known Coulombic transitions in classical ionic systems. Finally we give a discussion of several numerical and experimental results referring to the PPT in high pressure plasmas.     

182Os核yrast带结构SU(3)→U(5)→SU(3)形状相变的有序性研究

对于发生在同一个原子核中的转动诱导发生基准态结构的量子相变,可以理解为一种从高有序激发模式向着低有序激发模式的演化：被布居到高角动量态的高有序激发核,以E2跃迁的方式先行退耦到yrast带,再退耦到共存区(或临界点)时释放了有序的结构能,诱发价核子对耦合强度改变,重新组合出低有序的激发模式基准态,实现了基准态结构的过渡.对核量子相变的这种描述,与朗道经典热相变理论之间有了某些相似的术语和物理内涵.本文把这种理解推广到了相继的二次相变中.以¹⁸²Os 核为例作了说明,并展 关键词： 量子相变 基态结构演化 F_max方案')" href="#">微观sdIBM-F_max方案 182Os核')" href="#">¹⁸²Os核     

Time reparametrization group and the long time behavior in quantum glassy systems

We study the long time dynamics of a quantum version of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model. Time reparametrizations of the dynamical equations have a parallel with renormalization group transformations; in this language the long time behavior of this model is controlled by a reparametrization group ( R(p)G) fixed point of the classical dynamics. The irrelevance of quantum terms in the dynamical equations in the aging regime explains the classical nature of the out of equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relation.     

Chemical memory erasure; a photochemical model

In this paper we propose an exactly solvable model of a topological insulator defined on a spin- \(\tfrac{1}{2}\) square decorated lattice. Itinerant fermions defined in the framework of the Haldane model interact via the Kitaev interaction with spin- \(\tfrac{1}{2}\) Kitaev sublattice. The presented model, whose ground state is a non-trivial topological phase, is solved exactly. We have found out that various phase transitions without gap closing at the topological phase transition point outline the separate states with different topological numbers. We provide a detailed analysis of the model’s ground-state phase diagram and demonstrate how quantum phase transitions between topological states arise. We have found that the states with both the same and different topological numbers are all separated by the quantum phase transition without gap closing. The transition between topological phases is accompanied by a rearrangement of the spin subsystem’s spectrum from band to flat-band states.     

Entanglement, quantum phase transition and fixed-point bifurcation in the N-atom Jaynes-Cummings model with an additional symmetry breaking term

In the present work we analyze the quantum phase transition (QPT) in the N-atom Jaynes-Cummings model (NJCM) with an additional symmetry breaking interaction term in the Hamiltonian. We show that depending on the type of symmetry breaking term added the transition order can change or not and also the fixed point associated to the classical analogue of the Hamiltonian can bifurcate or not. We present two examples of symmetry broken Hamiltonians and discuss based on them, the interconnection between the transition order, appearance of bifurcation and the behavior of the entanglement.     

Rounding by disorder of first-order quantum phase transitions: emergence of quantum critical points

We give a heuristic argument for disorder rounding of a first-order quantum phase transition into a continuous phase transition. From both weak and strong disorder analysis of the N-color quantum Ashkin-Teller model in one spatial dimension, we find that, for N > or =3, the first-order transition is rounded to a continuous transition and the physical picture is the same as the random transverse field Ising model for a limited parameter regime. The results are strikingly different from the corresponding classical problem in two dimensions where the fate of the renormalization group flows is a fixed point corresponding to N-decoupled pure Ising models.     

Complete wetting in the three-dimensional transverse Ising model

We consider a three-dimensional Ising model in a transverse magnetic fieldh and a bulk fieldH. An interface is introduced by an appropriate choice of boundary conditions. At the point (H=0,h=0) spin configurations corresponding to different positions of the interface are degenerate. By studying the phase diagram near this multiphase point using quantum mechanical perturbation theory, we show that the quantum fluctuations, controlled byh, split the multiphase degeneracy giving rise to an infinite sequence of layering transitions.     

Quantum zigzag transition in ion chains

A string of trapped ions at zero temperature exhibits a structural phase transition to a zigzag structure, tuned by reducing the transverse trap potential or the interparticle distance. The transition is driven by transverse, short wavelength vibrational modes. We argue that this is a quantum phase transition, which can be experimentally realized and probed. Indeed, by means of a mapping to the Ising model in a transverse field, we estimate the quantum critical point in terms of the system parameters, and find a finite, measurable deviation from the critical point predicted by the classical theory. A measurement procedure is suggested which can probe the effects of quantum fluctuations at criticality. These results can be extended to describe the transverse instability of ultracold polar molecules in a one-dimensional optical lattice.     

Finite-size behavior near the critical point of QCD phase-transition

It is pointed out that the finite-size effect is not negligible in locating the critical point of quantum colordynamics (QCD) phase transitions at current relativistic heavy ion collisions. The finite-size scaling form of the critical related observable is suggested. Its fixed point behavior at critical incident energy can be served as a reliable identification of a critical point and nearby boundary of QCD phase transition. How to experimentally find the fixed point behavior is demonstrated by using 3D-Ising model as an example. The validity of the method at finite detector acceptances at RHIC is also discussed.     

Quantum Phase Transitions in Matrix Product States

We present a new general and much simpler scheme to construct various quantum phase transitions （Q, PTs） in spin chain systems with matrix product ground states. By use of the scheme we take into account one kind of matrix product state （MPS） OPT and provide a concrete model. We also study the properties of the concrete example and show that a kind of Q, PT appears, accompanied by the appearance of the discontinuity of the parity absent block physical observable, diverging correlation length only for the parity absent block operator, and other properties which are that the fixed point of the transition point is an isolated intermediate-coupling fixed point of renormalization flow and the entanglement entropy of a half-infinite chain is discontinuous.     

A damage model based on failure threshold weakening

A variety of studies have modeled the physics of material deformation and damage as examples of generalized phase transitions, involving either critical phenomena or spinodal nucleation. Here we study a model for frictional sliding with long-range interactions and recurrent damage that is parameterized by a process of damage and partial healing during sliding. We introduce a failure threshold weakening parameter into the cellular automaton slider-block model which allows blocks to fail at a reduced failure threshold for all subsequent failures during an event. We show that a critical point is reached beyond which the probability of a system-wide event scales with this weakening parameter. We provide a mapping to the percolation transition, and show that the values of the scaling exponents approach the values for mean-field percolation (spinodal nucleation) as lattice size L is increased for fixed R. We also examine the effect of the weakening parameter on the frequency-magnitude scaling relationship and the ergodic behavior of the model.     

Nonadiabatic dynamics of two strongly coupled nanomechanical resonator modes

The Landau-Zener transition is a fundamental concept for dynamical quantum systems and has been studied in numerous fields of physics. Here, we present a classical mechanical model system exhibiting analogous behavior using two inversely tunable, strongly coupled modes of the same nanomechanical beam resonator. In the adiabatic limit, the anticrossing between the two modes is observed and the coupling strength extracted. Sweeping an initialized mode across the coupling region allows mapping of the progression from diabatic to adiabatic transitions as a function of the sweep rate.     

On the Orthocomplementation of State–Property–Systems of Contextual Systems

We adopt an operational approach to quantum mechanics in which a physical system is defined by the mathematical structure of its set of states and properties. We present a model in which the maximal change of state of the system due to interaction with the measurement context is controlled by a parameter which corresponds with the number N of possible outcomes in an experiment. In the case N=2 the system reduces to a model for the spin measurements on a quantum spin-1/2 particle. In the limit N→∞ the system is classical, i.e. the experiments are deterministic and its set of properties is a Boolean lattice. For intermediate situations the change of state due to measurement is neither ‘maximal’ (i.e. quantum) nor ‘zero’ (i.e. classical). We show that two of the axioms used in Piron’s representation theorem for quantum mechanics are violated, namely the covering law and weak modularity. Next, we discuss a modified version of the model for which it is even impossible to define an orthocomplementation on the set of properties. Another interesting feature for the intermediate situations of this model is that the probability of a state transition in general not only depends on the two states involved, but also on the measurement context which induces the state transition.     

Frustrated polyelectrolyte bundles and T= 0 Josephson-junction arrays

We establish a one-to-one mapping between a model for hexagonal polyelectrolyte bundles and a model for two-dimensional, frustrated Josephson-junction arrays. We find that the T = 0 insulator-to-superconductor transition of the quantum system corresponds to a continuous liquid-to-solid transition of the condensed charge in the finite-temperature classical system. We find that the role of the vector potential in the quantum system is played by elastic strain in the classical system. Exploiting this correspondence we show that the transition is accompanied by a spontaneous breaking of a discrete symmetry associated with the chiral patterning of the array and that at the transition the polyelectrolyte bundle adopts a universal response to shear.     

On the nature of the magnetic transition in a Mott insulator

Using a combination of exact enumeration and the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) we study the drastic change of the spectral properties, obtained in the half-filled two-dimensional Hubbard model at a transition from an antiferromagnetic to a paramagnetic Mott insulator, and compare it with the results obtained using the quantum Monte Carlo method. The coherent hole (electron) quasiparticle spin-polaron subbands are gradually smeared out when the AF order disappears, either for increasing Coulomb repulsion U at fixed temperature T, or for increasing T at fixed U. Within the DMFT we present numerical evidence (a continuous disappearence of the order parameter) suggesting that the above magnetic transition is second order both in two and in three dimensions.Received: 20 November 2004, Published online: 9 April 2004PACS: 71.30. + h Metal-insulator transitions and other electronic transitions - 71.10.Fd Lattice fermion models (Hubbard model, etc.) - 79.60.-i Photoemission and photoelectron spectraThis work is dedicated to Professor Ole Krogh Andersen on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Exact exponents for the spin quantum Hall transition in the presence of multiple edge channels

Critical properties of quantum Hall systems are affected by the presence of extra edge channels-those that are present, in particular, at higher plateau transitions. We study this phenomenon for the case of the spin quantum Hall transition. Using supersymmetry, we map the corresponding network model to a classical loop model, whose boundary critical behavior was recently determined exactly. We verify predictions of the exact solution by extensive numerical simulations.     

Quantum adiabatic algorithm and scaling of gaps at first-order quantum phase transitions

Motivated by the quantum adiabatic algorithm (QAA), we consider the scaling of the Hamiltonian gap at quantum first-order transitions, generally expected to be exponentially small in the size of the system. However, we show that a quantum antiferromagnetic Ising chain in a staggered field can exhibit a first-order transition with only an algebraically small gap. In addition, we construct a simple classical translationally invariant one-dimensional Hamiltonian containing nearest-neighbor interactions only, which exhibits an exponential gap at a thermodynamic quantum first-order transition of essentially topological origin. This establishes that (i)?the QAA can be successful even across first-order transitions but also that (ii)?it can fail on exceedingly simple problems readily solved by inspection, or by classical annealing.     

Glauber Dynamics for the Quantum Ising Model in a Transverse Field on a Regular Tree

Motivated by a recent use of Glauber dynamics for Monte Carlo simulations of path integral representation of quantum spin models (Krzakala et al. in Phys. Rev. B 78(13):134428, 2008), we analyse a natural Glauber dynamics for the quantum Ising model with a transverse field on a finite graph G. We establish strict monotonicity properties of the equilibrium distribution and we extend (and improve) the censoring inequality of Peres and Winkler to the quantum setting. Then we consider the case when G is a regular b-ary tree and prove the same fast mixing results established in Martinelli et al. (Commun. Math. Phys. 250(2):301–334, 2004) for the classical Ising model. Our main tool is an inductive relation between conditional marginals (known as the “cavity equation”) together with sharp bounds on the operator norm of the derivative at the stable fixed point. It is here that the main difference between the quantum and the classical case appear, as the cavity equation is formulated here in an infinite dimensional vector space, whereas in the classical case marginals belong to a one-dimensional space.