The most important recent results in the theory of phase transitions and quantum effects in quantum anharmonic crystals are presented and discussed. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions for a phase transition to occur at some temperature are given in the form of simple inequalities involving the interaction strength and the parameters describing a single oscillator. The main characteristic feature of the theory is that both mentioned phenomena are described in one and the same setting, in which thermodynamic phases of the model appear as probability measures on path spaces. Then the possibility of a phase transition to occur is related to the existence of multiple phases at the same values of the relevant parameters. Other definitions of phase transitions, based on the nondifferentiability of the free energy density and on the appearance of ordering, are also discussed.
The most important recent results in the theory of phase transitions and quantum effects in quantum anharmonic crystals are presented and discussed. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions for a phase transition to occur at some temperature are given in the form of simple inequalities involving the interaction strength and the parameters describing a single oscillator. The main characteristic feature of the theory is that both mentioned phenomena are described in one and the same setting, in which thermodynamic phases of the model appear as probability measures on path spaces. Then the possibility of a phase transition to occur is related to the existence of multiple phases at the same values of the relevant parameters. Other definitions of phase transitions, based on the nondifferentiability of the free energy density and on the appearance of ordering, are also discussed.
A model of quantum particles performing D -dimensional anharmonic oscillations around their equilibrium positions which form the d -dimensional simple cubic lattice Zd is considered. The model undergoes a structural phase transition when the fluctuations of displacements of particles become macroscopic. This phenomenon is described by susceptibilities depending on Matsubara frequencies ωn , n ∈ Z . We prove two theorems concerning the thermodynamic limits of these susceptibilities. The first theorem states that the susceptibilities with nonzero ωn remain bounded at all temperatures, which means that the macroscopic fluctuations in the model are always non-quantum. The second theorem gives a sufficient condition for the static susceptibility (i.e. corresponding to ωn = 0 ) to be bounded at all temperatures. This condition involves the particle mass, the anharmonicity parameters and the interaction intensity. The physical meaning of this result is that, for all D and all values of the temperature, strong quantum effects suppress critical points and the long range order. The proof is performed in the approach where the susceptibilities are represented as functional integrals. A brief description of the main features of this approach is delivered.
A model of quantum particles performing D -dimensional anharmonic oscillations \naround their equilibrium positions which form the d -dimensional \nsimple cubic lattice Zd is considered. The model undergoes a structural \nphase transition when the fluctuations of displacements of particles become \nmacroscopic. This phenomenon is described by susceptibilities depending \non Matsubara frequencies ωn , n ∈ Z . We prove two theorems \nconcerning the thermodynamic limits of these susceptibilities. The first theorem \nstates that the susceptibilities with nonzero ωn remain bounded at all \ntemperatures, which means that the macroscopic fluctuations in the model \nare always non-quantum. The second theorem gives a sufficient condition \nfor the static susceptibility (i.e. corresponding to ωn = 0 ) to be bounded \nat all temperatures. This condition involves the particle mass, the anharmonicity \nparameters and the interaction intensity. The physical meaning of \nthis result is that, for all D and all values of the temperature, strong quantum \neffects suppress critical points and the long range order. The proof \nis performed in the approach where the susceptibilities are represented as \nfunctional integrals. A brief description of the main features of this approach \nis delivered.
A lattice model of interacting light quantum particles of mass m oscillating in a crystalline field is considered in the framework of an approach based on functional integrals.The main aspects of this approach are described on an introductory level.Then a mechanism of the stabilization of this model by quantum effects is suggested.In particular, a stability condition involving m , the interaction intensity, and the parameters of the crystalline field is given.It is independent of the temperature and is satisfied if m is small enough and/or the tunnelling frequency is big enough.It is shown that under this condition the infinite-volume correlation function decays exponentially; hence, no phase transitions can arise at all temperatures.
Quantum Phase Transitions Quantum phase transitions, in contrast to temperature-driven critical phenomena, occur due to a competition between different parameters describing the basic interactions of the system. Their specific feature is the quantum character of the critical fluctuations. This implies, through the uncertainty principle, that energy fluctuations and time are coupled. Then at zero temperature time plays a crucial and fundamental role, the static properties being entangled with the dynamics (Continentino, 1994a; Sondhi et al ., 1997; Sachdev, 1999). In this book we are mainly interested in quantum phase transitions that occur in electronic many-body systems and how scaling concepts can be useful to understand their properties close to these transitions (Continentino, 1994a). Even though a similar approach has been used in the case of interacting bosons (Fisher et al ., 1989) the fermionic problem has its own idiosyncrasies and difficulties. For example, there is no natural order parameter associated with the localisation transition in the electronic case, while bosons at zero temperature are either localised or superfluid so that the superfluid order parameter can be used to distinguish between both phases. If the results of the study of quantum phase transitions were restricted to zero temperature, this would be an interesting but purely academic area of research. What is really exciting about this subject is the effect of quantum critical points (QCP) in the finite temperature phase diagram of actual physical systems, even far away from the QCP (Freitas, 2015). As we will show, there is a special line in this phase diagram, the quantum critical trajectory , where the temperature dependence of the thermodynamic and transport properties is governed by the quantum critical exponents, i.e. those associated with the QCP. This and the observed crossover effects induced by temperature in the non-critical side of the phase diagram of a material with a QCP are sufficient to make the study of quantum phase transitions an inevitable subject. We start this chapter by introducing the scaling theory of quantum critical phenomena, since scaling concepts are used throughout this book.
Aim and Scope of this Book A plethora of systems exhibit phase transitions as the temperature or some other parameter is changed. Examples range from the ice-water phase transition observed in our daily life to the loss of ferromagnetism in iron or to the more sophisticated Mott insulator-superfluid phase transition observed in optical lattices [343]. The last five decades have witnessed a tremendous upsurge in the studies of phase transitions at finite temperature [727, 149, 333, 136, 494, 541, 556]. The success of Landau-Ginzburg theories and the concepts of spontaneous symmetry breaking and the renormalization group [27, 410, 821, 578] in explaining many of the finite temperature phase transitions occurring in nature has been spectacular. In this book, we will consider only a subclass of phase transitions called quantum phase transitions (QPTs) [154, 658, 725, 799, 185, 63, 62, 66, 141, 744] and we will discuss these mainly from the view point of recent studies of information and dynamics. QPTs are zero temperature phase transitions which are driven by quantum fluctuations and are usually associated with a non-analyticity in the ground state energy density of a quantum many-body Hamiltonian. We will focus on continuous QPTs where the order parameter vanishes continuously at the quantum critical point (QCP) at some value of the parameters which characterize the Hamiltonian. We will not discuss first order quantum phase transitions associated with an abrupt change in the order parameter. Usually, a first order phase transition is characterized by a finite discontinuity in the first derivative of the ground state energy density. A continuous QPT is similarly characterized by a finite discontinuity, or divergence, in the second derivative of the ground state energy density, assuming that the first derivative is continuous. This is of course the classical definition; we will later mention some QPTs where the ground state energy density is not necessarily singular.