Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1201.1932 · Scientific Reports

A quantum phase transition in a quantum external field: Superposing two magnetic phases

Marek M. Rams, Michael P. Zwolak, Bogdan Damski

Published Sep 13, 2012• 14 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study an Ising chain undergoing a quantum phase transition in a quantum magnetic field. Such a field can be emulated by coupling the chain to a central spin initially in a superposition state. We show that--by adiabatically driving such a system--one can prepare a quantum superposition of any two ground states of the Ising chain. In particular, one can end up with the Ising chain in a superposition of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases--a scenario with no analogue in prior studies of quantum phase transitions. Remarkably, the resulting magnetization of the chain encodes the position of the critical point and universal critical exponents, as well as the ground state fidelity.

DOI
10.1038/srep00655

Related papers

Generating Superposition of Transverse Ising Ground States by Quantum Interaction

Koushik Das, Sayan Mondal, Ujjwal Sen

We investigate superpositions of quantum Ising ground states generated through a quantum interaction, in which the nearest-neighbor coupling strength is promoted to an operator acting on a central auxiliary spin. We prepare the central spin in a superposition, which allows the chain to evolve coherently under different effective interaction strengths. The states are prepared by adiabatic evolution of the joint system comprising the central spin and the many-body spin chain, followed by a measurement on the central spin and post-selection of a specific outcome. It is possible to prepare superpositions of transverse-field quantum Ising ground states belonging to the three magnetic phases, namely, the paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, and anti-ferromagnetic phases. For a spin-1/2 central system, it is possible to prepare superpositions of ground states belonging to any two phases, while for the spin-1 case, the superpositions may contain three ground states, each belonging to one of the three phases. We analytically derive expressions for the magnetization, spin correlations, and entanglement of such states. The magnetization and spin correlations show distinct features in different superposition sectors. The nearest-neighbor entanglement is largest where the transverse field and Ising interaction compete, and its behavior differs from that of the magnetic observables. We also derive the quantum Fisher information relevant to estimating the Ising interaction strength. And it exhibits multiple peaks near the critical points of the constituent ground states, with the maximum value showing Heisenberg scaling, for the parameters and system sizes examined.

quant-pharXiv:2610.17334•Oct 14, 2026•0 citations

Adiabatic State Preparation in a Quantum Ising Spin Chain

Sooshin Kim, Alexander Lukin, Matthew Rispoli +8 more

We report on adiabatic state preparation in the one-dimensional quantum Ising model using ultracold bosons in a tilted optical lattice. We prepare many-body ground states of controllable system sizes and observe enhanced fluctuations around the transition between paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic states, marking the precursor of quantum critical behavior. Furthermore, we find evidence for superpositions of domain walls and study their effect on the many-body ground state by measuring the populations of each spin configuration across the transition. These results shed new light on the effect of boundary conditions in finite-size quantum systems.

arXiv:2404.07481•Apr 11, 2024•1 citation

Quantum and Thermal Fluctuations in the Ising Chains: A Case Study of Spin-Two System

S. Ehika, O. J. Ataman, SE Iyayi

For a system at absolute zero temperature, all thermal fluctuations are frozen out, while quantum fluctuations prevail.These microscopic quantum fluctuations can induce a quantum phase transition (QPT) in the ground state of a many-body system when the relative strength of two competing energy terms is varied across a critical value.This paper presents a detailed and quantitative study of the magnetic properties of Ising two-spin system at zero temperature in the presence of longitudinal, transverse and mixed fields, and also at finite temperatures.At the critical longitudinal magnetic field, the system is found to undergo a QPT to a ferromagnetic state.For this system, an infinitesimal departure from zero transverse field is found to trigger off QPT and also remove the degeneracies that persisted even in the presence of longitudinal field.These quantum fluctuations, leading to QPT are more evident in the mixed field than the separate effect of longitudinal and transverse fields.The observed quantum effects at zero temperature for this system are found to be completely wiped out at finite temperatures due to thermal fluctuations.A temperature increase favours antiferromagnetic alignment of spins, while a decrease in temperature favours ferromagnetic alignment.

IOSR Journal of Applied Physics•May 1, 2017•1 citation

Quantum Criticality in an Ising Chain: Experimental Evidence for Emergent E 8 Symmetry

R. Coldea, D. M. Tennant, Elisa M. Wheeler +6 more

Quantum phase transitions take place between distinct phases of matter at zero temperature. Near the transition point, exotic quantum symmetries can emerge that govern the excitation spectrum of the system. A symmetry described by the E8 Lie group with a spectrum of eight particles was long predicted to appear near the critical point of an Ising chain. We realize this system experimentally by using strong transverse magnetic fields to tune the quasi-one-dimensional Ising ferromagnet CoNb2O6 (cobalt niobate) through its critical point. Spin excitations are observed to change character from pairs of kinks in the ordered phase to spin-flips in the paramagnetic phase. Just below the critical field, the spin dynamics shows a fine structure with two sharp modes at low energies, in a ratio that approaches the golden mean predicted for the first two meson particles of the E8 spectrum. Our results demonstrate the power of symmetry to describe complex quantum behaviors.

arXiv:1103.3694•Science•Jan 7, 2010•731 citations

The ground-state entanglement in the spin- XX chain with a magnetization current

Yong Zhang, Chuan Xi Wang, Guang-Sheng Jin

The ground-state entanglement in a transverse spin-1/2 XX chain with a magnetization current is studied. By introducing a magnetization current to the system, a quantum phase transition to current-carrying phase may be presented with the variation of the driving field λ for the magnetic field h > 1; and the ground-state entanglement arises simultaneously at the critical point of quantum phase transition. In our model, the introduction of magnetization current may result in more entanglement between any two nearest-neighbour spins.

Chinese Physics B•Nov 1, 2010•0 citations

Quantum phase transitions in a strongly entangled spin-orbital chain: A field-theoretical approach

A. A. Nersesyan, Gia-Wei Chern, Natalia Borisovna Perkins

Motivated by recent experiments on quasi-one-dimensional vanadium oxides, we study quantum phase transitions in a one-dimensional spin-orbital model describing a Haldane chain and a classical Ising chain locally coupled by the relativistic spin-orbit interaction. By employing a field-theoretical approach, we analyze the topology of the ground-state phase diagram and identify the nature of the phase transitions. In the strong coupling limit, a long-range N\'eel order of entangled spin and orbital angular momenta appears in the ground state. We find that, depending on the relative scales of the spin and orbital gaps, the linear chain follows two distinct routes to reach the N\'eel state. First, when the orbital exchange is the dominating energy scale, a two-stage ordering takes place in which the magnetic transition is followed by melting of the orbital Ising order; both transitions belong to the two-dimensional Ising universality class. In the opposite limit, the low-energy orbital modes undergo a continuous reordering transition which represents a line of Gaussian critical points. On this line the orbital degrees of freedom form a Tomonaga--Luttinger liquid. We argue that the emergence of the Gaussian criticality results from merging of the two Ising transitions in the strong hybridization region where the characteristic spin and orbital energy scales become comparable. Finally, we show that, due to the spin-orbit coupling, an external magnetic field acting on the spins can induce an orbital Ising transition.

arXiv:1101.1268•Physical Review B•May 26, 2011•5 citations
We study an Ising chain undergoing a quantum phase transition in a quantum magnetic field. Such a field can be emulated by coupling the chain to a central spin initially in a superposition state. We show that--by adiabatically driving such a system--one can prepare a quantum superposition of any two ground states of the Ising chain. In particular, one can end up with the Ising chain in a superposition of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases--a scenario with no analogue in prior studies of quantum phase transitions. Remarkably, the resulting magnetization of the chain encodes the position of the critical point and universal critical exponents, as well as the ground state fidelity.
We investigate superpositions of quantum Ising ground states generated through a quantum interaction, in which the nearest-neighbor coupling strength is promoted to an operator acting on a central auxiliary spin. We prepare the central spin in a superposition, which allows the chain to evolve coherently under different effective interaction strengths. The states are prepared by adiabatic evolution of the joint system comprising the central spin and the many-body spin chain, followed by a measurement on the central spin and post-selection of a specific outcome. It is possible to prepare superpositions of transverse-field quantum Ising ground states belonging to the three magnetic phases, namely, the paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, and anti-ferromagnetic phases. For a spin-1/2 central system, it is possible to prepare superpositions of ground states belonging to any two phases, while for the spin-1 case, the superpositions may contain three ground states, each belonging to one of the three phases. We analytically derive expressions for the magnetization, spin correlations, and entanglement of such states. The magnetization and spin correlations show distinct features in different superposition sectors. The nearest-neighbor entanglement is largest where the transverse field and Ising interaction compete, and its behavior differs from that of the magnetic observables. We also derive the quantum Fisher information relevant to estimating the Ising interaction strength. And it exhibits multiple peaks near the critical points of the constituent ground states, with the maximum value showing Heisenberg scaling, for the parameters and system sizes examined.
We report on adiabatic state preparation in the one-dimensional quantum Ising model using ultracold bosons in a tilted optical lattice. We prepare many-body ground states of controllable system sizes and observe enhanced fluctuations around the transition between paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic states, marking the precursor of quantum critical behavior. Furthermore, we find evidence for superpositions of domain walls and study their effect on the many-body ground state by measuring the populations of each spin configuration across the transition. These results shed new light on the effect of boundary conditions in finite-size quantum systems.
For a system at absolute zero temperature, all thermal fluctuations are frozen out, while quantum fluctuations prevail.These microscopic quantum fluctuations can induce a quantum phase transition (QPT) in the ground state of a many-body system when the relative strength of two competing energy terms is varied across a critical value.This paper presents a detailed and quantitative study of the magnetic properties of Ising two-spin system at zero temperature in the presence of longitudinal, transverse and mixed fields, and also at finite temperatures.At the critical longitudinal magnetic field, the system is found to undergo a QPT to a ferromagnetic state.For this system, an infinitesimal departure from zero transverse field is found to trigger off QPT and also remove the degeneracies that persisted even in the presence of longitudinal field.These quantum fluctuations, leading to QPT are more evident in the mixed field than the separate effect of longitudinal and transverse fields.The observed quantum effects at zero temperature for this system are found to be completely wiped out at finite temperatures due to thermal fluctuations.A temperature increase favours antiferromagnetic alignment of spins, while a decrease in temperature favours ferromagnetic alignment.
Quantum phase transitions take place between distinct phases of matter at zero temperature. Near the transition point, exotic quantum symmetries can emerge that govern the excitation spectrum of the system. A symmetry described by the E8 Lie group with a spectrum of eight particles was long predicted to appear near the critical point of an Ising chain. We realize this system experimentally by using strong transverse magnetic fields to tune the quasi-one-dimensional Ising ferromagnet CoNb2O6 (cobalt niobate) through its critical point. Spin excitations are observed to change character from pairs of kinks in the ordered phase to spin-flips in the paramagnetic phase. Just below the critical field, the spin dynamics shows a fine structure with two sharp modes at low energies, in a ratio that approaches the golden mean predicted for the first two meson particles of the E8 spectrum. Our results demonstrate the power of symmetry to describe complex quantum behaviors.
The ground-state entanglement in a transverse spin-1/2 XX chain with a magnetization current is studied. By introducing a magnetization current to the system, a quantum phase transition to current-carrying phase may be presented with the variation of the driving field λ for the magnetic field h > 1; and the ground-state entanglement arises simultaneously at the critical point of quantum phase transition. In our model, the introduction of magnetization current may result in more entanglement between any two nearest-neighbour spins.
Motivated by recent experiments on quasi-one-dimensional vanadium oxides, we study quantum phase transitions in a one-dimensional spin-orbital model describing a Haldane chain and a classical Ising chain locally coupled by the relativistic spin-orbit interaction. By employing a field-theoretical approach, we analyze the topology of the ground-state phase diagram and identify the nature of the phase transitions. In the strong coupling limit, a long-range N\'eel order of entangled spin and orbital angular momenta appears in the ground state. We find that, depending on the relative scales of the spin and orbital gaps, the linear chain follows two distinct routes to reach the N\'eel state. First, when the orbital exchange is the dominating energy scale, a two-stage ordering takes place in which the magnetic transition is followed by melting of the orbital Ising order; both transitions belong to the two-dimensional Ising universality class. In the opposite limit, the low-energy orbital modes undergo a continuous reordering transition which represents a line of Gaussian critical points. On this line the orbital degrees of freedom form a Tomonaga--Luttinger liquid. We argue that the emergence of the Gaussian criticality results from merging of the two Ising transitions in the strong hybridization region where the characteristic spin and orbital energy scales become comparable. Finally, we show that, due to the spin-orbit coupling, an external magnetic field acting on the spins can induce an orbital Ising transition.