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arXiv:1412.3005

Impurity-induced quantum phase transition in finite Heisenberg spin chains: Criteria for existence and stability

Chen, Gang, Yunxuan Li, Zheyong Fan, Hua-Bi Zeng

Published Dec 9, 2014• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A quantum phase transition may occur in a system at zero temperature when a controlling parameter is tuned towards a critical point. An important question is whether such a critical point exists in a particular system and how stable it is. Here, we identify the critical point of a quantum phase transition as a singular point in the affine algebraic variety of the characteristic equation for the Hamiltonian describing the system, with an unstable critical point being associated with an isolated singular point which has a finite Tjurina number. The theory is illustrated by studying a model system of zero-dimensional (finite) Heisenberg spin chain with an impurity, which exhibits a nontrivial first-order quantum phase transition. Both analytical and numerical calculations show that the quantum phase transition always exists when the impurity has a $Z_2$ symmetry but only remains in systems with an even number of spin sites when the $Z_2$ symmetry is broken.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1412.3005

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A quantum phase transition may occur in a system at zero temperature when a controlling parameter is tuned towards a critical point. An important question is whether such a critical point exists in a particular system and how stable it is. Here, we identify the critical point of a quantum phase transition as a singular point in the affine algebraic variety of the characteristic equation for the Hamiltonian describing the system, with an unstable critical point being associated with an isolated singular point which has a finite Tjurina number. The theory is illustrated by studying a model system of zero-dimensional (finite) Heisenberg spin chain with an impurity, which exhibits a nontrivial first-order quantum phase transition. Both analytical and numerical calculations show that the quantum phase transition always exists when the impurity has a Z2Z_2Z2​ symmetry but only remains in systems with an even number of spin sites when the Z2Z_2Z2​ symmetry is broken.
Abstract Using the quantum renormalization group approach, we have investigated the entanglement and critical behavior of an anisotropic XXZ Heisenberg spin chain. The resolution of the quantum renormalization equations yields stable and unstable fixed points, corresponding respectively to the phases and critical point of the system. It is shown that a quantum phase transition exists at a critical anisotropy parameter , separating the Néel phase from the spin-fluid phase. Then, the concurrence between two blocks of sites and the quantum coherence have been calculated and presented for various renormalization group iterations. In the thermodynamic limit, i.e. , for higher renormalization steps, the concurrence and coherence exhibit two different saturated values in the two regions separated by Δ c . The first derivative of concurrence diverges at the critical point as the size of the chain increases, showing nonanalytic behavior. Moreover, the scaling behavior has been examined near the critical point with some universal exponential scaling laws.
Recent work is reviewed on continuous quantum phase transitions in impurity models, both with fermionic and bosonic baths – these transitions are interesting realizations of boundary critical phenomena at zero temperature. The models with fermion bath are generalizations of the standard Kondo model, with the common feature that Kondo screening of the localized spin can be suppressed due to competing processes. The models with boson bath are related to the spin–boson model of dissipative two-level systems, where the interplay between tunneling and friction results in multiple phases. The competition inherent to all models can generate unstable fixed points associated with quantum phase transitions, where the impurity properties undergo qualitative changes. Interestingly, certain impurity transitions feature both lower-critical and upper-critical “dimensions” and allow for epsilon-type expansions. Results are presented for a number of observables, obtained by both analytical and numerical renormalization group techniques, and connections made to experiments.
The zero-temperature properties of the SO(5) bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg chain are investigated by means of a low-energy approach and large-scale numerical calculations. In sharp contrast to the spin-1 SO(3) Heisenberg chain, we show that the SO(5) Heisenberg chain is dimerized with a twofold degenerate ground state. On top of this gapful phase, we find the emergence of a nondegenerate gapped phase with hidden (${Z}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{2}){}^{2}$ symmetry and spin-3/2 edge states that can be understood from a SO(5) AKLT wave function. We derive a low-energy theory describing the quantum critical point which separates these two gapped phases. It is shown and confirmed numerically that this quantum critical point belongs to the SO(5)1{}_{1}1​ universality class.
A quantum phase transition may occur in the ground state of a system at zero temperature when a controlling field or interaction is varied. The resulting quantum fluctuations which trigger the transition produce scaling behaviour of various observables, governed by universal critical exponents. A particularly interesting class of such transitions appear in systems with quantum impurities where a non-extensive term in the free energy becomes singular at the critical point. Curiously, the notion of a conventional order parameter that exhibits scaling at the critical point is generically missing in these systems. Here we explore the possibility to use the Schmidt gap, which is an observable obtained from the entanglement spectrum, as an order parameter. A case study of the two-impurity Kondo model confirms that the Schmidt gap faithfully captures the scaling behaviour by correctly predicting the critical exponent of the dynamically generated length scale at the critical point.
An impurity of spin S′=1/2 is introduced in the Babujian-Takhtajian Heisenberg model of spin S in one dimension. The impurity is located on the mth link of the chain and interacts with both neighboring sites. The interaction between impurity and Heisenberg chain is of a special type so that the integrability is preserved. The diagonalization of the transfer matrices leads to the Bethe ansatz equations of the model. The thermodynamics of the system is studied. For ferromagnetic coupling in the Heisenberg chain, the impurity is locked into the critical behavior of the lattice, i.e., at low temperatures the specific heat is proportional to T1/2 (ferromagnetic magnons) and the susceptibility diverges as T−2 (with logarithmic corrections). For antiferromagnetic coupling and S =1/2 the impurity is just one more site in the chain. If S ≳1/2 the collective properties of impurity and lattice give rise to critical behavior in complete analogy to the overcompensated n-channel Kondo problem. The zero-temperature entropy is finite in zero-field, but zero if the field is nonzero, giving rise to an essential singularity at T=H=0. As a consequence a two-peak structure arises in the specific heat in a small but finite field.
We study the quantum critical behavior in the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain and two-leg Heisenberg ladder resulting from the application of an external magnetic field. In each of these systems a finite-temperature crossover line between two different ferromagnetic phases ends with a quantum critical point at zero temperature. Using the bond-mean-field theory, we calculate the field dependence of the magnetization and the mean-field spin bond parameters in both systems. For the Heisenberg chain, we recover the existing exact results and show in addition that the saturation of the zero-temperature magnetization at the field hc=2J{h}_{c}=2Jhc​=2J is accompanied by a quantum phase transition, where the bond parameter vanishes. Here JJJ is the exchange coupling constant along the chain. For the two-leg ladder, we also recover the known results, like the two magnetization plateaus, and show that at the upper critical field, which corresponds to the appearance of the saturation magnetization plateau, the chain and rung spin bond parameters vanish. The identification of the order parameters that govern the field-induced quantum criticality in the systems we study here constitutes an original contribution. Because no long-range order, which breaks symmetry, characterizes the bond order, the latter could be a proposal for the so-called hidden order. We calculate analytically the bond parameters in both systems as functions of the field in the low- and high-field limits at zero temperature. At nonzero temperatures, the calculation of the magnetization and bond parameters is carried out by solving the mean-field equations numerically.