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.     

Phase bifurcation and quantum fluctuations in Sr3Ru2O7

The bilayer ruthenate Sr3Ru2O7 has been cited as a textbook example of itinerant metamagnetic quantum criticality. However, recent studies of the ultrapure system have revealed striking anomalies in magnetism and transport in the vicinity of the quantum critical point. Drawing on fresh experimental data, we show that the complex phase behavior reported here can be fully accommodated within the framework of a simple Landau theory. We discuss the potential physical mechanisms that underpin the phenomenology, and assess the capacity of the ruthenate system to realize quantum tricritial behavior.     

Ideal soft mode-type quantum phase transition and phase coexistence at quantum critical point in 18O-exchanged SrTiO3

The quantum ferroelectric phase transition of 18O-exchanged SrTiO3 (x% exchanged SrTiO3 is abbreviated as STO18-x) was investigated by Raman scattering as a function of x. The result indicates the ideal soft mode-type quantum ferroelectric phase transition of STO18-x, where the 18O exchange enhances the softening of the soft mode by the suppression of quantum fluctuation. In the vicinity of the quantum critical point (x approximately xc=33%), the system results in the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase coexistence state, in clear contrast to the homogeneous ferroelectric phase in STO18-x, whose x is sufficiently larger than xc. Simultaneously, the softening of the soft mode becomes strongly rounded with the underdamped oscillation. The present result indicates that the sensitivity of the soft phonon vibration to the mass disorder is dramatically enhanced in the vicinity of the quantum critical point.     

Nonperturbative microscopic theory of superconducting fluctuations near a quantum critical point

We consider an anisotropic gap superconductor in the vicinity of the disorder-driven quantum critical point. Starting with the BCS Hamiltonian, we derive the Ginzburg-Landau action, which is a critical theory with the dynamic critical exponent, z=2. This allows us to use the parquet method to calculate the nonperturbative effect of quantum superconducting fluctuations on thermodynamics. We derive a general expression for the fluctuation magnetic susceptibility, which exhibits a crossover from the logarithmic dependence, chi proportional, variantlndeltan, valid beyond the Ginzburg region to chi proportional, variantln(1/5)deltan valid in the immediate vicinity of the transition (where deltan is the deviation from the critical disorder concentration). These nonperturbative results may describe the quantum critical behavior of overdoped high-temperature cuprates, disordered p-wave superconductors, and conventional superconducting films with magnetic impurities.     

Entropy majorization, thermal adiabatic theorem, and quantum phase transitions

Let a general quantum many-body system at a low temperature adiabatically cross through the vicinity of the system’s quantum critical point. We show that the system’s temperature is significantly suppressed due to both the entropy majorization theorem in quantum information science and the entropy conservation law in reversible adiabatic processes. We take the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model and the spinless fermion system as concrete examples to show that the inverse temperature might become divergent around the systems’ critical points. Since the temperature is a measurable quantity in experiments, it can be used, via reversible adiabatic processes at low temperatures, to detect quantum phase transitions in the perspectives of quantum information science and quantum statistical mechanics.     

Monogamy quantum correlation near the quantum phase transitions in the two-dimensional XY spin systems

We investigate the role of quantum correlation around the quantum phase transitions by using quantum renormalization group theory. Numerical analysis indicates that quantum correlation as well as quantum nonlocality can efficiently detect the quantum critical point in the two-dimensional XY systems. The nonanalytic behavior of the first derivative of quantum correlation is observed at the critical point as the size of the model increases. Furthermore, we discuss the quantum correlation distribution in this system based on the square of concurrence(SC) and square of quantum discord(SQD). The monogamous properties of SC and SQD are obtained. Particularly, we prove that the quantum critical point can also be achieved by monogamy score.     

Low-temperature phase transitions in systems with fermion condensate

Phase transitions observed in electronic systems of solids in the vicinity of the quantum critical point where the effective mass diverges are analyzed within the framework of the theory of fermion condensation. It is shown that the disordered phase contains a fermion condensate. Its entropy is finite at T → 0 and initiates a chain of transitions occurring at extremely low temperatures. The results are in agreement with experiment.     

MaxEnt and dynamical information

The presence of a quantum critical point can significantly affect the thermodynamic properties of a material at finite temperatures. This is reflected, e.g., in the entropy landscape S(T, c) in the vicinity of a quantum critical point, yielding particularly strong variations for varying the tuning parameter c such as magnetic field. In this work we have studied the thermodynamic properties of the quantum compass model in the presence of a transverse field. The specific heat, entropy and cooling rate under an adiabatic demagnetization process have been calculated. During an adiabatic (de)magnetization process temperature drops in the vicinity of a field-induced zero-temperature quantum phase transitions. However close to field-induced quantum phase transitions we observe a large magnetocaloric effect.     

Effects of geometry on transfer matrices,spin chains and critical behaviour

We consider two-dimensional Ising models bounded by general parabolic curves and study their transfer matrices and associated quantum spin chains. We derive their eigenvalue spectra numerically and analytically, both at the critical point and in its vicinity. From this we find how the geometrical form of the system is reflected in the spectrum and how it influences the critical behaviour near the tip.     

Dynamics of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering in Quantum Spin Environment

We explore the dynamics of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering (EPR), measured by steering robustness, for two spin-qubits coupled to a general XY spin chain environment. The evolution process is numerically investigated in the vicinity of critical point for the spin environment. The results show an obvious suppression of steering robustness when the environment undergoes a quantum phase transition. The scaling behavior for the dynamics of EPR steering is also revealed and analyzed around the critical point. Furthermore, we find that steering robustness power (i.e. the average value of steering robustness within a certain time) can indicate the quantum criticality of the environment directly.

     

Anisotropy-induced quantum critical behavior of magnetite nanoparticles at low temperatures

The classical, thermally driven transition from ferrimagnets to superparamagnets in Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles can be converted into another quantum phase by a transverse microwave magnetic field or by a strong internal anisotropic field. These fields, perpendicular to the Ising axis, can destroy the magnetic long-range order to quantum paramagnets as the fields exceed some critical values. We have exploited the spin resonance spectrometer to determine the dynamic spin susceptibility and the critical exponent γ, which is a power-law dependent spanning of the quantum critical point. Quantum phase transition observed at low temperatures for small magnetite nanoparticles induced by strong surface anisotropic field illustrates the fascinating interplay between thermal and quantum fluctuations in the vicinity of a quantum critical point.     

Classical behavior of strongly correlated electron systems of solids near a quantum critical point

The spectra of collective excitations of electron systems situated near a Fermi-liquid quantum critical point are analyzed. Phonon-like soft and weakly damped branches of the transverse zero-sound mode are found that have extremely low effective Debye temperatures. Their contributions to the collision integral are shown to drive electron transport in the vicinity of the critical point toward a classical regime.     

Quantum criticality and minimal conductivity in graphene with long-range disorder

We consider the conductivity sigma of graphene with negligible intervalley scattering at half filling. We derive the effective field theory, which, for the case of a potential disorder, is a symplectic-class sigma model including a topological term with theta=pi. As a consequence, the system is at a quantum critical point with a universal value of the conductivity of the order of e(2)/h. When the effective time-reversal symmetry is broken, the symmetry class becomes unitary, and sigma acquires the value characteristic for the quantum Hall transition.     

非平衡相变的临界标度理论及普适性

综述了作者近年来在非平衡相变临界（ Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ） 标度理论及普适性研究的进展。主要包括一般 Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ 系统规格化模型,局域序参量的概率分布,广义势的临界渐近形式,空时有关函数及其临界奇异行为。论证了 Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ 系统的临界可标度性,导出了一组普适的 Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ 标度关系,由之计算出的４ 种 Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ 普适类的临界指数与目前已知的实验及理论结果吻合得非常好。此外,还讨论了非平衡相变临界标度理论的普适性,将平衡相变临界标度理论作为一种特殊极限情况含于同一理论体系中。     

非平衡相变的临界标度理论及普适性

综述了作者近年来在非平衡相变临界（ Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ） 标度理论及普适性研究的进展。主要包括一般 Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ 系统规格化模型,局域序参量的概率分布,广义势的临界渐近形式,空时有关函数及其临界奇异行为。论证了 Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ 系统的临界可标度性,导出了一组普适的 Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ 标度关系,由之计算出的４ 种 Ｎ Ｐ Ｃ 普适类的临界指数与目前已知的实验及理论结果吻合得非常好。此外,还讨论了非平衡相变临界标度理论的普适性,将平衡相变临界标度理论作为一种特殊极限情况含于同一理论体系中。     

Theory of superconductivity for Dirac electrons in graphene

Phonon-exchange-induced superconducting pairing of effectively ultrarelativistic electrons in graphene is investigated. The Eliashberg equation obtained for describing pairing in the Cooper channel with allowance for delayed interaction are matrix equations with indices corresponding to the valence and conduction bands. The equations are solved in the high doping limit, in which pairing is effectively a single-band process, and in the vicinity of a critical quantum point of underdoped graphene for a value of the coupling constant for which pairing is an essentially multiband process. For such cases, analytic estimates are obtained for the superconducting transition temperature of the system. It is shown that the inclusion of dynamic effects makes it possible to determine the superconducting transition temperature, as well as the critical coupling constant for underdoped graphene, more accurately than in the static approximation of the BCS type. Estimates of the constants of electron interaction with the scalar optical phonon mode in graphene indicate that an appreciable superconducting transition temperature can be attained under a high chemical doping level of graphene.     

Spin orthogonality catastrophe in two-dimensional antiferromagnets and superconductors

We compute the spectral function of a spin S hole injected into a two-dimensional antiferromagnet or superconductor in the vicinity of a magnetic quantum critical point. We show that, near Van Hove singularities, the problem maps onto that of a static vacancy carrying excess spin S. The hole creation operator is characterized by a new boundary anomalous dimension and a vanishing quasiparticle residue at the critical point. We discuss possible relevance to photoemission spectra of cuprate superconductors near the antinodal points.     

Quantum critical behavior near a density-wave instability in an isotropic fermi liquid

We study the quantum critical behavior in an isotropic Fermi liquid in the vicinity of a zero-temperature density-wave transition at a finite wave vector qc. We show that, near the transition, the Landau damping of the soft bosonic mode yields a crossover in the fermionic self-energy from Sigma(k,omega) approximately Sigma(k) to Sigma(k,omega) approximately Sigma(omega), where k and omega are momentum and frequency. Because of this self-generated locality, the fermionic effective mass diverges right at the quantum critical point, not before; i.e., the Fermi liquid survives up to the critical point.     

A Compensation Temperature Induced by Transverse Fields in a Mixed Spin-1 and Spin-3/2 Ising Ferrimagnetic System

A mean-field theory is developed for a mixed Ising ferrimagnetic system consisting of spin 1 and spin 3/2 with different transverse fields. The phase diagram and the thermal behaviour of magnetizations are studied. We find that a compensation point induced by different transverse fields can be observed, although the system never exhibits any compensation point for either zero or uniform transverse fields. The anomalous behaviour of the initial longitudinal magnetic susceptibility in the vicinity of the compensation and critical temperatures is also obtained.