Theory of smeared quantum phase transitions

We present an analytical strong-disorder renormalization group theory of the quantum phase transition in the dissipative random transverse-field Ising chain. For Ohmic dissipation, we solve the renormalization flow equations analytically, yielding asymptotically exact results for the low-temperature properties of the system. We find that the interplay between quantum fluctuations and Ohmic dissipation destroys the quantum critical point by smearing. We also determine the phase diagram and the behavior of observables in the vicinity of the smeared quantum phase transition.     

Coherent incoherent transition in the spin boson model with a super-ohmic bath

The temperature effect on tunnelling splitting in the spin--boson model with a super-ohmic bath is studied by the small polaron theory. The coherent--incoherent transition temperature is calculated and its dependence on dissipation strength and bare tunnelling splitting is analysed. In additional to the traditional transition point described in textbooks, a new kind of transition is found in the low dissipation region, showing different temperature dependence in the transition. The relation to the corresponding transition in the polaron--phonon system is also discussed.     

Quantum chaos, thermalization and dissipation in nuclear systems

Nuclei have complex energy-level sequence with statistical properties in agreement with canonical random matrix theory. This agreement appears when the one-particle one-hole states are mixed completely with two-particle two-hole states. In the transition, there is a new universality which we present here, bringing about a relation between dynamics and statistics. We summarize also the role of chaos in thermalization and dissipation in isolated systems like nuclei. The methods used to bring forth this understanding emerge from random matrix theory, semiclassical physics, and the theory of dynamical systems.     

RF-driven Josephson bifurcation amplifier for quantum measurement

We have constructed a new type of amplifier whose primary purpose is the readout of superconducting quantum bits. It is based on the transition of a rf-driven Josephson junction between two distinct oscillation states near a dynamical bifurcation point. The main advantages of this new amplifier are speed, high sensitivity, low backaction, and the absence of on-chip dissipation. Pulsed microwave reflection measurements on nanofabricated Al junctions show that actual devices attain the performance predicted by theory.     

双光子过程耗散耦合腔阵列中的量子相变

基于准玻色方法, 利用平均场理论解析求解了环境作用下双光子过程耦合腔阵列体系的哈密顿量, 得到了体系序参量的解析表达式, 并讨论了耗散对体系超流-Mott绝缘相变的影响. 研究结果表明: 双光子共振情况下系统重铸相干的腔间耦合率临界值为(ZJ/β)= (ZJ/β)_c'≈ 0.34;双光子相互作用过程比单光子过程具有更大的耗散率, 系统维持长程相干状态的时间更短, 而实现重铸相干的腔间耦合率的临界值更大.     

Shot noise spectrum of open dissipative quantum two-level systems

We study the current noise spectrum of qubits under transport conditions in a dissipative bosonic environment. We combine (non-)Markovian master equations with correlation functions in Laplace space to derive a noise formula for both weak and strong coupling to the bath. The coherence-induced reduction of noise is diminished by weak dissipation and/or a large level separation (bias). For weak dissipation, we demonstrate that the dephasing and relaxation rates of the two-level systems can be extracted from noise. In the strong dissipation regime, the localization-delocalization transition becomes visible in the low-frequency noise.     

Entrainment of chemical oscillators and resonance dissipation

Nonlinear chemical oscillators can only exist far from equilibrium and therefore dissipate chemical energy. It has been found earlier that this dissipation can be reduced when the oscillator is driven by a periodic input, provided the driving frequency is near resonance with the autonomous oscillation. This observation, which was based on numerical experimentation is now confirmed analytically within the framework of reductive perturbation theory, i.e. for “weakly nonlinear” oscillations. The analysis explains all qualitative features of the numerical dissipation spectra, notably the enhancement of dissipation at the transition between periodic and quasiperiodic response behavior.     

Atomic spin-sensitive dissipation on magnetic surfaces

We identify the mechanism of energy dissipation relevant to spin-sensitive nanomechanics including the recently introduced magnetic exchange force microscopy, where oscillating magnetic tips approach surface atomic spins. The tip-surface exchange couples spin and atom coordinates, leading to a spin-phonon problem with Caldeira-Leggett-type dissipation. In the overdamped regime, that can lead to a hysteretic flip of the local spin with a large spin-dependent dissipation, even down to the very low experimental tip oscillation frequencies, describing recent observations for Fe tips on NiO. A phase transition to an underdamped regime with dramatic drop of magnetic tip dissipation should in principle be possible by tuning tip-surface distance.     

Generalized hydrodynamic equations and correlation functions for thermoviscoelastic fluids

For very viscous liquids a phenomenological theory of thermoviscoelasticity is formulated, in which the retarded reaction of thermal variables, which arises from structural relaxation, is taken into account. The theory describes the effect of the slowing down of the structural relaxation near a glass transition on the fluctuation spectra of density and entropy; in particular, the intensity of the slow relaxational component of the fluctuation spectra, which is frozen in the glass below the glass transition, is derived. Conditions for positive energy dissipation and symmetry relations are obtained in the framework of thermodynamic relaxation theory, and the memory functions occurring in the Mori-Zwanzig projection operator formalism are calculated.Dedicated to K. Dransfeld on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Free cooling phase-diagram of hard-spheres with short- and long-range interactions

We study the stability, the clustering and the phase-diagram of free cooling granular gases. The systems consist of mono-disperse particles with additional non-contact (long-range) interactions, and are simulated here by the event-driven molecular dynamics algorithm with discrete (short-range shoulders or wells) potentials (in both 2D and 3D). Astonishingly good agreement is found with a mean field theory, where only the energy dissipation term is modified to account for both repulsive or attractive non-contact interactions. Attractive potentials enhance cooling and structure formation (clustering), whereas repulsive potentials reduce it, as intuition suggests. The system evolution is controlled by a single parameter: the non-contact potential strength scaled by the fluctuation kinetic energy (granular temperature). When this is small, as expected, the classical homogeneous cooling state is found. However, if the effective dissipation is strong enough, structure formation proceeds, before (in the repulsive case) non-contact forces get strong enough to undo the clustering (due to the ongoing dissipation of granular temperature). For both repulsive and attractive potentials, in the homogeneous regime, the cooling shows a universal behaviour when the (inverse) control parameter is used as evolution variable instead of time. The transition to a non-homogeneous regime, as predicted by stability analysis, is affected by both dissipation and potential strength. This can be cast into a phase diagram where the system changes with time, which leaves open many challenges for future research.     

Zero temperature phase diagram of a small metallic junction

We discuss the phase diagram for a metal tunnel junction with quasiparticle dissipation. We present some evidences of aT=0 phase transition induced by dissipation, by means of Monte Carlo simulation and studying the problem by means of a selfconsistent harmonic approximation. When the nominal conductance of the junctioin is large the predictions of the spin wave theory turn out to be correct and the algebraic decay of correlations implies quasi-long range order (phase with infinite susceptibility), this situation corresponds to the absence of a Coulomb blockade voltage threshold. The critical value of the nominal junction resistance is estimated to beR _t 0.6 k.     

Scaling,propagation, and kinetic roughening of flame fronts in random media

We introduce a model of two coupled reaction-diffusion equations to describe the dynamics and propagation of flame fronts in random media. The model incorporates heat diffusion, its dissipation, and its production through coupling to the background reactant density. We first show analytically and numerically that there is a finite critical value of the background density below which the front associated with the temperature field stops propagating. The critical exponents associated with this transition are shown to be consistent with meanfield theory of percolation. Second, we study the kinetic roughening associated with a moving planar flame front above the critical density. By numerically calculating the time-dependent width and equal-time height correlation function of the front, we demonstrate that the roughening process belongs to the universality class of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang interface equation. Finally, we show how this interface equation can be analytically derived from our model in the limit of almost uniform background density.     

Switching and nonswitching phases of photomechanical molecules in dissipative environments

We study the effects of dissipation on photoisomerization (PI). The result suggests the existence of two types of environment depending on whether it entangles with the molecule. With entanglement there is a quantum phase transition between a state where PI persists, to a state where PI is quenched by the environment. Without entanglement, the environment only quantitatively modifies the PI behavior. We discuss the relevance of our results to a recent STM experiment, and predict the signature of the quantum phase transition in optical absorption spectra.     

Bulk viscosity, thermoacoustic boundary layers, and adsorption near the critical point of xenon

We present an improved model for the dissipation and dispersion in an acoustic resonator filled with xenon near its critical temperature Tc. We test the model with acoustic measurements in stirred xenon that have a temperature resolution of (T - Tc)/Tc approximately 7 x 10(-6). The model includes the frequency-dependent bulk viscosity calculated numerically from renormalization-group theory and it includes critical-point adsorption. Because the density of adsorbed xenon exceeds the critical density, the bulk viscosity's effect on surface dissipation is reduced, thereby improving the agreement between theory and experiment.     

Large fluctuations in driven dissipative media

We analyze the fluctuations of the dissipated energy in a simple and general model where dissipation, diffusion, and driving are the key ingredients. The full dissipation distribution, which follows from hydrodynamic fluctuation theory, shows non-Gaussian tails and no negative branch, thus violating the fluctuation theorem as expected from the irreversibility of the dynamics. It exhibits simple scaling forms in the weak- and strong-dissipation limits, with large fluctuations favored in the former case but strongly suppressed in the latter. The typical path associated with a given dissipation fluctuation is also analyzed in detail. Our results, confirmed in extensive simulations, strongly support the validity of hydrodynamic fluctuation theory to describe fluctuating behavior in driven dissipative media.     

Diffusion and two-particle correlations

Fluctuation signals of the QCD phase transition in nuclear collisions can be dissipated due to diffusion. Diffusive modes in the standard formulation of relativistic hydrodynamics propagate with infinite speed, violating causality. We develop a causal diffusion equation study the dissipation of net-charge fluctuations. We find that causality restricts the extent to which diffusion can dissipate these fluctuations.     

Dissipation-driven phase transition in two-dimensional Josephson arrays

We analyze the interplay of dissipative and quantum effects in the proximity of a quantum phase transition. The prototypical system is a resistively shunted two-dimensional Josephson junction array, studied by means of an advanced Fourier path-integral Monte Carlo algorithm. The reentrant superconducting-to-normal phase transition driven by quantum fluctuations, recently discovered in the limit of infinite shunt resistance, persists for moderate dissipation strength but disappears in the limit of small resistance. For large quantum coupling our numerical results show that, beyond a critical dissipation strength, the superconducting phase is always stabilized at sufficiently low temperature. Our phase diagram explains recent experimental findings.     

Structure, scaling, and phase transition in the optimal transport network

The structure and properties of optimal networks depend on the cost functional being minimized and on constraints to which the minimization is subject. We show here two different formulations that lead to identical results: minimizing the dissipation rate of an electrical network under a global constraint is equivalent to the minimization of a power-law cost function introduced by Banavar et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4745 (2000)10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.4745]. An explicit scaling relation between the currents and the corresponding conductances is derived, proving the potential flow nature of the latter. Varying a unique parameter, the topology of the optimized networks shows a transition from a tree topology to a very redundant structure with loops; the transition corresponds to a discontinuity in the slope of the power dissipation.