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arXiv:1410.1770 · Physical Review B

Real-time dynamics induced by quenches across the quantum critical points in gapless Fermi systems with a magnetic impurity

Christian Kleine, Julian Mußhoff, Frithjof B. Anders

Published Dec 24, 2014• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The energy-dependent scattering of fermions from a localized orbital at an energy-dependent rate $\ensuremath{\Gamma}(\ensuremath{\varepsilon})\ensuremath{\propto}{|\ensuremath{\varepsilon}|}^{r}$ gives rise to quantum critical points (QCPs) in the pseudogap single-impurity Anderson model separating a local moment phase with an unscreened spin moment from a strong-coupling phase which slightly deviates from the screened phase of standard Kondo problem. Using the time-dependent numerical renormalization group (TD-NRG) approach we show that local dynamic properties always equilibrate towards a steady-state value even for quenches across the QCP but with systematic deviations from the thermal equilibrium depending on the distance to the critical coupling. Local nonequilibrium properties are presented for interaction quenches and hybridization quenches. We augment our numerical data by an analytical calculation that becomes exact at short times and find excellent agreement between the numerics and the analytical theory. For interaction quenches within the screened phase we find a universal function for the time-dependent local double occupancy. We trace back the discrepancy between our results and the data obtained by a time-dependent Gutzwiller variational approach to restrictions of the wave-function ansatz in the Gutzwiller theory: while the NRG ground states properly account for the formation of an extended spin moment which decouples from the system in the unscreened phase, the Gutzwiller ansatz only allows the formation of the spin moment on the local impurity orbital.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.90.235145

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The energy-dependent scattering of fermions from a localized orbital at an energy-dependent rate \ensuremathΓ(\ensuremathε)\ensuremath∝∣\ensuremathε∣r\ensuremath{\Gamma}(\ensuremath{\varepsilon})\ensuremath{\propto}{|\ensuremath{\varepsilon}|}^{r}\ensuremathΓ(\ensuremathε)\ensuremath∝∣\ensuremathε∣r gives rise to quantum critical points (QCPs) in the pseudogap single-impurity Anderson model separating a local moment phase with an unscreened spin moment from a strong-coupling phase which slightly deviates from the screened phase of standard Kondo problem. Using the time-dependent numerical renormalization group (TD-NRG) approach we show that local dynamic properties always equilibrate towards a steady-state value even for quenches across the QCP but with systematic deviations from the thermal equilibrium depending on the distance to the critical coupling. Local nonequilibrium properties are presented for interaction quenches and hybridization quenches. We augment our numerical data by an analytical calculation that becomes exact at short times and find excellent agreement between the numerics and the analytical theory. For interaction quenches within the screened phase we find a universal function for the time-dependent local double occupancy. We trace back the discrepancy between our results and the data obtained by a time-dependent Gutzwiller variational approach to restrictions of the wave-function ansatz in the Gutzwiller theory: while the NRG ground states properly account for the formation of an extended spin moment which decouples from the system in the unscreened phase, the Gutzwiller ansatz only allows the formation of the spin moment on the local impurity orbital.
Using the non-perturbative numerical renormalisation group (NRG) we analyse purely fermionic as well as more complex Bose-Fermi quantum impurity systems on their equilibrium properties and beyond: We present an extensive exploration of real-time dynamics for various quenches using the time-dependent NRG. For the purely fermionic system, we use the Single-impurity Anderson model (SIAM) in which the impurity is a localised orbital hybridising with a surrounding conduction band. The model enables charge scattering with a pseudo-gap scattering rate and features a quantum critical point separating the local moment (LM) phase with an unscreened spin moment from a symmetric strong coupling (SSC) phase with a fractionally screened spin moment. The real-time dynamics of the local double occupancy nicely thermalises for quenches regarding the SSC phase. Whereas for quenches within or into the LM phase the double occupancy systematically deviates from thermal equilibrium for long times. A comparison with results of a recently published time-dependent Gutwiller approach reveals clear discrepancies since this approach restricts the formation of the local moment only on the impurity site. We extend the system by an additional bosonic bath leading to the Bose-Fermi Anderson model (BFAM) and study the influence of the additional bosonic degrees of freedom on the real-time dynamics. In equilibrium the bosonic bath features an additional quantum critical point leading to a localised phase once the coupling to a sub-ohmic bosonic bath exceeds a critical value. In general the coupled bosonic bath leads to a renormalisation of the Coulomb interaction. We show that the dynamics is influenced by the specific choice of the bath exponents. For a F-type combination the non-equilibrium dynamics can be completely reproduced by an effective purely fermionic SIAM while for a B-type combination the nature of the bosonic bath and the coupling strength has a profound impact on the electron dynamics which can only be partially understood by an effective SIAM. Furthermore, we investigate the spin dynamics of an initially polarised impurity spin which is coupled to a fermionic and a bosonic bath leading to the Bose-Fermi Kondo model (BFKM). Through the coupling to the fermionic bath the polarisation vanishes with time. We show that in analogy to the spin-boson model (SBM) an initially coupling to the bosonic bath affects the real-time dynamics fundamentally leading to a remaining polarisation for long times.
Whether a small quantum mechanical system is able to equilibrate with its environment once an external local perturbation drives it out of thermal equilibrium is a central question which cuts across many different fields of science. Here we consider such a problem for a correlated quantum impurity coupled to a fermionic reservoir and driven out of equilibrium by local quantum quenches such as those recently realized in optical absorption experiments on single quantum dots. We argue that equilibration in this problem is deeply connected to the occurrence of the Kondo effect at low energy and that a highly nontrivial dynamical behavior may emerge whenever a local quantum critical point intrudes between a conventional Kondo screened phase and a Kondo unscreened one. We discuss this issue in the context of the Anderson impurity model coupled to a pseudogap reservoir by using a correlated time-dependent variational wave function that is able to qualitatively describe this physics
A local moment approach is developed for single-particle excitations of a symmetric Anderson impurity model (AIM) with a soft-gap hybridization vanishing at the Fermi level: I | | r , with r >0. Local moments are introduced explicitly from the outset, and a two-self-energy description is employed in which single-particle excitations are coupled dynamically to low-energy transverse spin fluctuations. The resultant theory is applicable on all energy scales, and captures both the spin-fluctuation regime of strong coupling (large U ), as well as the weak-coupling regime where it is perturbatively exact for those r -domains in which perturbation theory in U is non-singular. While the primary emphasis is on single-particle dynamics, the quantum phase transition between strong-coupling (SC) and local moment (LM) phases can also be addressed directly; for the spin-fluctuation regime in particular a number of asymptotically exact results are thereby obtained, notably for the behaviour of the critical U c ( r ) separating SC/LM states and the Kondo scale m ( r ) characteristic of the SC phase. Results for both single-particle spectra and SC/LM phase boundaries are found to agree well with recent numerical renormalization group (NRG) studies; and a number of further testable predictions are made. Single-particle spectra are examined systematically for both SC and LM states; in particular, for all 0 r <½, spectra characteristic of the SC state are predicted to exhibit an r -dependent universal scaling form as the SC/LM phase boundary is approached and the Kondo scale vanishes. Results for the `normal' r = 0 AIM are moreover recovered smoothly from the limit r 0, where the resultant description of single-particle dynamics includes recovery of Doniach-Sunjic tails in the wings of the Kondo resonance, as well as characteristic low-energy Fermi liquid behaviour and the exponential diminution with U of the Kondo scale itself. The normal AIM is found to represent a particular case of more generic behaviour characteristic of the r >0 SC phase which, in agreement with conclusions drawn from recent NRG work, may be viewed as a non-trivial but natural generalization of Fermi liquid physics.
We investigate the influence of an additional bosonic bath onto the real-time dynamics of a localized orbital coupled to conduction band with an energy-dependent coupling function Γ(ε)∝∣ε∣rΓ(\varepsilon) \propto |\varepsilon|^rΓ(ε)∝∣ε∣r. Recently, a rich phase diagram has been found in this Bose-Fermi Anderson model, where the transitions between competing ground states are governed by quantum critical points. In addition to a transition between a Kondo singlet and a local moment, a localized phase has been established once the coupling to a sub-ohmic bosonic bath exceeds a critical value. Using the time-dependent numerical renormalization group approach, we show that the non-equilibrium dynamics with F-type of bath exponents can be fully understand within an effective single-impurity Anderson model using a renormalized local Coulomb interaction UrenU_{\rm ren}Uren​. For regimes with B-type of bath exponents, the nature of the bosonic bath and the coupling strength has a profound impact on the electron dynamics which can only partially be understood using an appropriate UrenU_{\rm ren}Uren​. The local expectation values always reach a steady state at very long times. By a scaling analysis for Λ→1+Λ\to 1^+Λ→1+, we find thermalization of the system only in the strong coupling regime. In the local moment and in the localized phase significant deviations between the steady-state value and the thermal equilibrium value are found that are related to the distance to the quantum critical point.
We address the phenomenon of critical Kondo destruction in pseudogap Bose-Fermi Anderson and Kondo quantum impurity models. These models describe a localized level coupled both to a fermionic bath having a density of states that vanishes like ${|\ensuremath{\epsilon}|}^{r}$ at the Fermi energy ($\ensuremath{\epsilon}=0$) and, via one component of the impurity spin, to a bosonic bath having a sub-Ohmic spectral density proportional to ${|\ensuremath{\omega}|}^{s}$. Each bath is capable by itself of suppressing the Kondo effect at a continuous quantum phase transition. We study the interplay between these two mechanisms for Kondo destruction using continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo for the pseudogap Bose-Fermi Anderson model with 0<r<120<r<\frac{1}{2}0<r<21​ and $\frac{1}{2}\ensuremath{\le}s<1$, and applying the numerical renormalization group to the corresponding Kondo model. At particle-hole symmetry, the models exhibit a quantum-critical point between a Kondo (fermionic strong-coupling) phase and a localized (Kondo-destroyed) phase. The two solution methods, which are in good agreement in their domain of overlap, provide access to the many-body spectrum, as well as to correlation functions including, in particular, the single-particle Green's function and the static and dynamical local spin susceptibilities. The quantum-critical regime exhibits the hyperscaling of critical exponents and $\ensuremath{\omega}/T$ scaling in the dynamics that characterize an interacting critical point. The (r,s)(r,s)(r,s) plane can be divided into three regions: one each in which the calculated critical properties are dominated by the bosonic bath alone or by the fermionic bath alone, and between these two regions, a third in which the bosonic bath governs the critical spin response but both baths influence the renormalization-group flow near the quantum-critical point.
The pseudogap Kondo problem, describing a magnetic impurity embedded in an electronic environment with a power-law density of states, displays continuous quantum phase transitions between free and screened moment phases. In this paper we employ renormalization group techniques to analytically calculate universal crossover functions, associated to these transitions, for various observables. Quantitative agreement with the results of Numerical Renormalization Group (NRG) simulations is obtained for temperature-dependent static and zero-temperature dynamic quantities, at and away from criticality. In the notoriously difficult realm of finite-temperature low-frequency dynamics, usually inaccessible to both NRG and perturbative methods, we show that progress can be made by a suitable renormalization procedure in the framework of the Callan-Symanzik equations. Our general strategy can be extended to other zero-temperature phase transitions, both in quantum impurity models and bulk systems.