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arXiv:1004.5422 · Physical Review E

Density of states and quantum phase transition in the thermodynamic limit of the Mermin central-spin model

Savannah Sterling Garmon, Pedro Ribeiro, Rémy Mosseri

Published Apr 26, 2011• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We apply a spin-coherent states formalism to study the simplest version of a central-spin model, the so-called Mermin model, in which a given (central) spin 1/2 interacts symmetrically with a "bath" composed of N spins 1/2, characterized by a common frequency. The symmetric interaction allows one to restrict the problem to the fully symmetric sector of the Hilbert space associated with these N spins and therefore to treat these as one large N/2 spin. In particular, we derive analytic expressions for the integrated density of states in the thermodynamic limit when the number of bath spins is taken to infinity. From the thermodynamic limit spectrum we show the phase diagram for the system can be divided into four regions, partitioned, on the one hand, into a symmetric (nondegenerate) phase or a broken symmetry (degenerate) phase, and, on the other hand, by the case of overlapping or nonoverlapping energy surfaces. The nature and position of singularities appearing in the energy surfaces change as one moves from region to region. Our spin-coherent states formalism naturally leads us to the Majorana representation, which is useful to transform the Schrödinger equation into a Ricatti-like form that can be solved in the thermodynamic limit to obtain closed-form expressions for the integrated density of states. The energy surface singularities correspond with critical points in the density of states. We then use our results to compute expectation values for the system that help to characterize the nature of the quantum phase transition between the symmetric and broken phases.

DOI
10.1103/physreve.83.041128

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We apply a spin-coherent states formalism to study the simplest version of a central-spin model, the so-called Mermin model, in which a given (central) spin 1/2 interacts symmetrically with a "bath" composed of N spins 1/2, characterized by a common frequency. The symmetric interaction allows one to restrict the problem to the fully symmetric sector of the Hilbert space associated with these N spins and therefore to treat these as one large N/2 spin. In particular, we derive analytic expressions for the integrated density of states in the thermodynamic limit when the number of bath spins is taken to infinity. From the thermodynamic limit spectrum we show the phase diagram for the system can be divided into four regions, partitioned, on the one hand, into a symmetric (nondegenerate) phase or a broken symmetry (degenerate) phase, and, on the other hand, by the case of overlapping or nonoverlapping energy surfaces. The nature and position of singularities appearing in the energy surfaces change as one moves from region to region. Our spin-coherent states formalism naturally leads us to the Majorana representation, which is useful to transform the Schrödinger equation into a Ricatti-like form that can be solved in the thermodynamic limit to obtain closed-form expressions for the integrated density of states. The energy surface singularities correspond with critical points in the density of states. We then use our results to compute expectation values for the system that help to characterize the nature of the quantum phase transition between the symmetric and broken phases.
The spectrum of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model is exactly derived in the thermodynamic limit by means of a spin-coherent-state formalism. In the first step, a classical analysis allows one to distinguish between four distinct regions in the parameter space according to the nature of the singularities arising in the classical energy surface; these correspond to spectral critical points. The eigenfunctions are then analyzed more precisely in terms of the associated roots of the Majorana polynomial, leading to exact expressions for the density of states in the thermodynamic limit. Finite-size effects are also analyzed, leading in particular to logarithmic corrections near the singularities occurring in the spectrum. Finally, we also compute expectation values of the spin operators in a semiclassical analysis in order to illustrate some subtle effects occurring in one region of the parameter space.
We investigate the quantum phase transition (QPT) in the XXZ central spin model, which can be described as a spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ particle coupled to NNN bath spins. In general, the QPT is supposed to occur only in the thermodynamical limit. In contrast, we present that the central spin model exhibits a normal-to-superradiant phase transition in the limit where the ratio of the transition frequency of the central spin to that of the bath spins and the number of bath spins tend to infinity. We give the low-energy effective Hamiltonian analytically in the normal phase and the superradiant phase, and we find that the longitudinal interaction $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}$ can significantly influence the excitation number and the coherence of the ground state. These two quantities are remarkably enhanced for the negative longitudinal interaction while suppressed for the positive longitudinal interaction. In addition, the finite-size effect on the central spin model is also illustrated through the mean-field analysis. We further exploit the quantum Fisher information to characterize the QPT and propose a measurement scheme that can be applied in practice. This work builds a connection between the qubit-spin systems and the qubit-field systems, which provides a possibility for the realization of criticality-enhanced quantum sensing in central spin systems.
Phase transitions for an open system consisting of an ensemble of interacting quantum subsystems with discrete spectrum are studied in the mean-field approximation. In the considered model, the change of an internal symmetry of a thermodynamic system upon the second-order phase transition is due to changing symmetry of distribution of charge/spin density inside each quantum subsystem. The latter can be caused by either splitting of one of lowest degenerated energy level or closing a gap between the levels and appearance of avoided crossing. The effect of external parameters (pressure, field, composition, etc.) results in direct change of internal control parameters: level spacing and/or the strength of interaction between adjacent quantum subsystems. Considering a simplest case of the two-level quantum subsystems, expressions for the free energy as a function of the internal control parameters were obtained in analytical form. The behavior of the heat capacity and susceptibility for different regions of the low-temperature phase diagram including the area of quantum fluctuations was determined.
A general spin system with a nonaxially symmetric Hamiltonian containing Jx, Jz-linear and Jz-quadratic terms, widely used in many-body fermionic and bosonic systems and in molecular magnetism, is considered for the variations of general parameters describing intensity interaction changes of each of its terms. For this model Hamiltonian, a semiclassical energy surface (ES) is obtained by means of the coherent-state formalism. An analysis of this ES function, based on catastrophe theory, determines the separatrix in the control parameter space of the system Hamiltonian: the loci of singularities representing semiclassical phase transitions. Here we show that distinct regions of qualitatively different spectrum structures, as well as a singular behavior of quantum states, are ruled by this separatrix: here we show that the separatrix not only describes ground-state singularities, which have been associated with quantum phase transitions, but also reveals the structure of the excited spectrum, distinguishing different quantum phases within the parameter space. Finally, we consider magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity of the system at finite temperature, in order to study thermal properties and thermodynamical phase transitions in the perspective of the separatrix of this Hamiltonian system.
Abstract Part I: Quantum Collective Spin Systems We use a coherent spin state formalism in order to study collective spin models, which have many applications in physics. In particular, the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) has been analyzed in the thermodynamic limit. The method developed during this work can, in principle, be used for more general Hamiltonians written as a function of the su(2) algebra generators. We have derived exact expressions for the integrated density of states for this model. The nature of the density of states singularities has been detailed. The first order finite size corrections as well as observables expectation values were also computed. The standard Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization approach, adapted to the spin case, is no longer valid near the spectral singularities. In order to treat these cases, we have developed a new approach that permits to describe the spectrum in the neighbourhood of the critical points. Part II: Adiabatic Quantum Computation We have proposed a simple model which highlights the relations between quantum phase transitions and adiabatic (quantum) computation. This model puts in evidence the importance of the choice of the initial Hamiltonian and of the adiabatic path in the parameter space; it should be helpful as a toy model for more realistic cases. We have also studied the state populations dynamics when a quantum phase transition point is crossed, for the LMG model studied in the first part. Numerical simulations show that the dynamics of the populations is very sensitive to the presence of exceptional points in the spectrum, which a simplified model for the quantum evolution already suggests.
We introduce the notion of mixed symmetry quantum phase transition (MSQPT) as singularities in the transformation of the lowest-energy state properties of a system of identical particles inside each permutation symmetry sector μ, when some Hamiltonian control parameters λ are varied. We use a three-level Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, with U(3) dynamical symmetry, to exemplify our construction. After reviewing the construction of U(3) unitary irreducible representations using Young tableaux and the Gelfand basis, we first study the case of a finite number N of three-level atoms, showing that some precursors (fidelity susceptibility, level population, etc.) of MSQPTs appear in all permutation symmetry sectors. Using coherent (quasiclassical) states of U(3) as variational states, we compute the lowest-energy density for each sector μ in the thermodynamic N→∞ limit. Extending the control parameter space by μ, the phase diagram exhibits four distinct quantum phases in the λ-μ plane that coexist at a quadruple point. The ground state of the whole system belongs to the fully symmetric sector μ=1 and shows a fourfold degeneracy, due to the spontaneous breakdown of the parity symmetry of the Hamiltonian. The restoration of this discrete symmetry leads to the formation of four-component Schrödinger cat states.