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arXiv:1610.08350 · Physical review. E

From thermal to excited-state quantum phase transition: The Dicke model

P. Pérez-Fernández, Armando Relaño

Published Jul 12, 2017• 43 citations
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Abstract

We study the thermodynamics of the full version of the Dicke model, including all the possible values of the total angular momentum j, with both microcanonical and canonical ensembles. We focus on both the excited-state quantum phase transition, appearing in the microcanonical description of the maximum angular momentum sector, j=N/2, and the thermal phase transition, which occurs when all the sectors are taken into account. We show that two different features characterize the full version of the Dicke model. If the system is in contact with a thermal bath and is described by means of the canonical ensemble, the parity symmetry becomes spontaneously broken at the critical temperature. In the microcanonical ensemble, and despite that all the logarithmic singularities which characterize the excited-state quantum phase transition are ruled out when all the j sectors are considered, there still exists a critical energy (or temperature) dividing the spectrum into two regions: one in which the parity symmetry can be broken, and another in which this symmetry is always well defined.

DOI
10.1103/physreve.96.012121

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We study the thermodynamics of the full version of the Dicke model, including all the possible values of the total angular momentum j, with both microcanonical and canonical ensembles. We focus on both the excited-state quantum phase transition, appearing in the microcanonical description of the maximum angular momentum sector, j=N/2, and the thermal phase transition, which occurs when all the sectors are taken into account. We show that two different features characterize the full version of the Dicke model. If the system is in contact with a thermal bath and is described by means of the canonical ensemble, the parity symmetry becomes spontaneously broken at the critical temperature. In the microcanonical ensemble, and despite that all the logarithmic singularities which characterize the excited-state quantum phase transition are ruled out when all the j sectors are considered, there still exists a critical energy (or temperature) dividing the spectrum into two regions: one in which the parity symmetry can be broken, and another in which this symmetry is always well defined.
Abstract The thermodynamical properties of a generalized Dicke model are calculated and related with the critical properties of its energy spectrum, namely the quantum phase transitions (QPT) and excited state quantum phase transitions (ESQPT). The thermal properties are calculated both in the canonical and the microcanonical ensembles. The latter deduction allows for an explicit description of the relation between thermal and energy spectrum properties. While in an isolated system the subspaces with different pseudospin are disconnected, and the whole energy spectrum is accessible, in the statistical ensemble the situation is radically different. The multiplicity of the lowest energy states for each pseudospin completely dominates the thermal behavior, making the set of degenerate states with the smallest pseudospin at a given energy the only ones playing a role in the thermal properties. As a result, the states in the region with positive thermal energy cannot be thermally populated because their negligible probability, making that energy region thermally unreachable at finite temperatures. The quantum phase transitions of the lowest energy states, from a normal to a superradiant phase, produce the thermal transition. The other critical phenomena, the ESQPTs occurring at excited energies, have no manifestation in the thermodynamics, although their effects could be seen in finite size corrections. A new superradiant phase is found, which only exists in the generalized model, and can be relevant in finite size systems.
We study the phase diagram of the Dicke model in terms of the excitation energy and the radiation-matter coupling constant $\ensuremath{\lambda}$. Below a certain critical value ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{c}$, all the energy levels have a well-defined parity. For $\ensuremath{\lambda}>{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{c}$ the energy spectrum exhibits two different phases separated by a critical energy Ec{E}_{c}Ec​ that proves to be independent of $\ensuremath{\lambda}$. In the upper phase, the energy levels have also a well-defined parity, but below Ec{E}_{c}Ec​ the energy levels are doubly degenerated. We show that the long-time behavior of appropriate parity-breaking observables distinguishes between these two different phases of the energy spectrum. Steady states reached from symmetry-breaking initial conditions restore the symmetry only if their expected energies are above the critical. This fact makes it possible to experimentally explore the complete phase diagram of the excitation spectrum of the Dicke model.
Quantum quenches in the Dicke model were studied both in the thermodynamic limit and the finite systems. For the integrable situation in the thermodynamic limit, the generalized Gibbs ensemble can effectively describe the energy-level occupations for the quench within the normal phase, but it fails for the quench to the superradiant phase. For the finite systems which are considered non-integrable, the post quench systems were studied by comparing with the thermal ensembles. The canonical ensembles are directly available for the quench within the normal phase. With the increasing of the target coupling strength over the equilibrium phase transition critical point, sudden changes take place for the effective temperature and the distance to the thermal ensembles. The thermalization was also studied by comparing with the results of the microcanonical ensembles.
We report a kind of phase transition which takes place in isolated quantum systems with a discrete symmetry. Different phases are separated by a critical energy and recognized by means of an order parameter, which can be experimentally measured. Below the critical energy, the symmetry is broken and the equilibrium state is non-thermal, keeping large amounts of memory of the initial condition. Above, the symmetry is restored and a thermal equilibrium state is reached. We identify two universality classes, one showing a second-order phase transition and represented by the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model, and another showing a first-order phase transition and represented by the Dicke model. This work is dedicated to the memory of Joaquín Retamosa .
We propose that a broad class of excited-state quantum phase transitions (ESQPTs) gives rise to two different excited-state quantum phases. These phases are identified by means of an operator C[over ^], which is a constant of motion in only one of them. Hence, the ESQPT critical energy splits the spectrum into one phase where the equilibrium expectation values of physical observables crucially depend on this constant of motion and another phase where the energy is the only relevant thermodynamic magnitude. The trademark feature of this operator is that it has two different eigenvalues ±1, and, therefore, it acts as a discrete symmetry in the first of these two phases. This scenario is observed in systems with and without an additional discrete symmetry; in the first case, C[over ^] explains the change from degenerate doublets to nondegenerate eigenlevels upon crossing the critical line. We present stringent numerical evidence in the Rabi and Dicke models, suggesting that this result is exact in the thermodynamic limit, with finite-size corrections that decrease as a power law.
We study the ground state of a finite-size ensemble of interacting qubits driven by a quantum field. We find a maximally entangled WWW state in the ensemble part of the system for a certain region of the coupling parameters. The area of this region decreases as the ensemble size increases and, in the classical limit, becomes the line in parameter space that defines the phase transition of the system. In the classical limit, we also study the dynamics of the system and its transition from order to disorder for initial energies close to the ground-state energy. We find that a critical energy providing this transition is related to the minimum of the projection of the total angular momentum of the quantum system in the zzz direction.