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arXiv:1301.5534 · Physical Review A

Quantum simulation of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism using a semiconductor electron charge qubit

Li Wang, Cheng Jun Zhou, Tao Tu, H. W. Jiang, Guo‐Ping Guo, Guang‐Can Guo

Published Feb 25, 2014• 21 citations

Abstract

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism is central to the nonequilibrium dynamics and topological structure that occur during phase transitions, which may be manifested as the cosmological strings of the early universe or vortex lines in a superfluid. In recent years, there has been broad interest in performing quantum simulations using different well-controlled physical setups, whose full controllability allows access to regimes that may be difficult to explore. Here, we demonstrate a proof-of-principle quantum simulation of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in the quantum Ising model as it undergoes a quenched phase transition. We used an electron charge qubit in a double quantum dot as the simulator. We engineered the qubit under Landau-Zener dynamics and successfully reproduced the Kibble-Zurek-like dependence of the topological defect density on the quench time. The high level of tunability of two-level semiconductor systems and the intriguing analogy between the two phenomena (the Kibble-Zurek mechanism and Landau-Zener transition) offer a platform on which to gain new insight into the dynamics of various phase transitions.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.89.022337

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The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) predicts the density of topological defects produced in the dynamical processes of phase transitions in systems ranging from cosmology to condensed matter and quantum materials. The similarity between KZM and the Landau-Zener transition (LZT), which is a standard tool to describe the dynamics of some non-equilibrium physics in contemporary physics, is being extensively exploited. Here we demonstrate the equivalence between KZM in the Ising model and LZT in a superconducting qubit system. We develop a time-resolved approach to study quantum dynamics of LZT with nano-second resolution. By using this technique, we simulate the key features of KZM in the Ising model with LZT, e.g., the boundary between the adiabatic and impulse regions, the freeze-out phenomenon in the impulse region, especially, the scaling law of the excited state population as the square root of the quenching speed. Our results provide the experimental evidence of the close connection between KZM and LZT, two textbook paradigms to study the dynamics of the non-equilibrium phenomena.

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) captures the key physics of nonequilibrium dynamics in second order phase transitions, and accurately predicts the density of topological defects formed in such processes. However, the central prediction of KZM--i.e., the scaling of the density of defects with the quench rate--still needs further experimental confirmation, particularly for quantum transitions. Here, we perform a quantum simulation of the nonequilibrium dynamics of the Landau-Zener model based on a nine-stage optical interferometer with an overall visibility of 0.975±0.008. The results support the adiabatic-impulse approximation, which is the core of Kibble-Zurek theory. Moreover, the developed high-fidelity multistage optical interferometer can support more complex linear optical quantum simulations.

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) predicts that when a system is driven through a continuous phase transition, the density of topological defects scales universally with the quench rate. Recent theoretical work [H.-B. Zeng \textit{et al.}, \textit{Phys. Rev. Lett.} \textbf{130}, 060402 (2023)] has challenged this picture, showing that under sufficiently fast quenches, both the defect density and freezing time become independent of the quench rate and instead scale universally with the quench range. Here, we experimentally test this prediction using a single trapped-ion qubit to simulate fast quantum quenches in the Landau-Zener and 1D Rice-Mele models. We identify a critical quench rate

v_c

that scales with the quench range

δ_{\max}

, separating two distinct dynamical regimes. In the Rice-Mele model, for

v < v_c

, the defect density follows the KZM scaling

\sim v^{1/2}

; for

v > v_c

, it exhibits a universal scaling

\sim δ_{\max}

, independent of the quench rate. Our results provide direct experimental evidence of the predicted breakdown of KZM universality under fast quenches.

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) captures the essential physics of nonequilibrium quantum phase transitions with symmetry breaking. KZM predicts a universal scaling power law for the defect density which is fully determined by the system’s critical exponents at equilibrium and the quenching rate. We experimentally tested the KZM for the simplest quantum case, a single qubit under the Landau-Zener evolution, on an open access IBM quantum computer (IBM-Q). We find that for this simple one-qubit model, experimental data validates the central KZM assumption of the adiabatic-impulse approximation for a well isolated qubit. Furthermore, we report on extensive IBM-Q experiments on individual qubits embedded in different circuit environments and topologies, separately elucidating the role of crosstalk between qubits and the increasing decoherence effects associated with the quantum circuit depth on the KZM predictions. Our results strongly suggest that increasing circuit depth acts as a decoherence source, producing a rapid deviation of experimental data from theoretical unitary predictions.

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) describes the nonequilibrium dynamics and topological defect formation in systems undergoing second-order phase transitions. KZM has found applications in fields such as cosmology and condensed matter physics. However, it is generally not suitable for describing first-order phase transitions. It has been demonstrated that transitions in systems like superconductors or charged superfluids, typically classified as second order, can exhibit weakly first-order characteristics when the influence of fluctuations is taken into account. Moreover, the order of the phase transition (i.e., the extent to which it becomes first rather than second order) can be tuned. We explore quench-induced formation of topological defects in such tunable phase transitions and propose that their density can be predicted by combining KZM with nucleation theory.