The mean field approximation is used to investigate the general features of the dynamics of a two-level atom in a ferromagnetic lattice close to the Curie temperature. Various analytical and numerical results are obtained. We first linearize the lattice Hamiltonian, and we derive the self-consistency equation for the order parameter of the phase transition for arbitrary direction of the magnetic field. The reduced dynamics is deduced by tracing out the degrees of freedom of the lattice, which results in the reduction of the dynamics to that of an atom in an effective spin bath whose size is equal to the size of a unit cell of the lattice. It is found that the dephasing and the excited state occupation probability may be enhanced by applying the magnetic field along some specific directions. The dependence on the change of the temperature and the magnitude of spin is also investigated. It turns out that the increase of thermal fluctuations may reduce the occupation probability of the excited state. The entanglement of two such atoms that occupy non-adjacent cells is studied and its variation in time is found to be not much sensitive to the direction of the magnetic field. Entanglement sudden death and revival is shown to occur close to the critical temperature.
The mean field approximation is used to investigate the general features of the dynamics of a two-level atom in a ferromagnetic lattice close to the Curie temperature. Various analytical and numerical results are obtained. We first linearize the lattice Hamiltonian, and we derive the self-consistency equation for the order parameter of the phase transition for arbitrary direction of the magnetic field. The reduced dynamics is deduced by tracing out the degrees of freedom of the lattice, which results in the reduction of the dynamics to that of an atom in an effective spin bath whose size is equal to the size of a unit cell of the lattice. It is found that the dephasing and the excited state occupation probability may be enhanced by applying the magnetic field along some specific directions. The dependence on the change of the temperature and the magnitude of spin is also investigated. It turns out that the increase of thermal fluctuations may reduce the occupation probability of the excited state. The entanglement of two such atoms that occupy non-adjacent cells is studied and its variation in time is found to be not much sensitive to the direction of the magnetic field. Entanglement sudden death and revival is shown to occur close to the critical temperature.
We derive the stochastic equations and consider the non-Markovian dynamics of a system of multiple two-level atoms in a common quantum field. We make only the dipole approximation for the atoms and assume weak atom–field interactions. From these assumptions, we use a combination of non-secular open- and closed-system perturbation theory, and we abstain from any additional approximation schemes. These more accurate solutions are necessary to explore several regimes: in particular, near-resonance dynamics and low-temperature behavior. In detuned atomic systems, small variations in the system energy levels engender timescales which, in general, cannot be safely ignored, as would be the case in the rotating-wave approximation (RWA). More problematic are the second-order solutions, which, as has been recently pointed out (Fleming and Cummings 2011 Phys. Rev. E 83 031117), cannot be accurately calculated using any second-order perturbative master equation, such as RWA, Born–Markov, Redfield, etc. The latter problem, which applies to all perturbative open-system master equations, has a profound effect upon calculation of entanglement at low temperatures. We find that even at zero temperature all initial states will undergo finite-time disentanglement (sometimes termed ‘sudden death’), in contrast to the previous work. We also use our solution, without invoking the RWA, to characterize the necessary conditions for Dicke subradiance at finite temperature. We find that the sub-radiant states fall into two categories at finite temperature: one that is temperature independent and one that acquires temperature dependence. With the RWA, there is no temperature dependence in any case.
The nearest-neighbor quantum antiferromagnetic (AF) Heisenberg model for spin-1∕2 on a two-dimensional square lattice is studied in the auxiliary-fermion representation. Expressing spin operators by canonical fermionic particles requires a constraint on the fermion charge Qi=1 on each lattice site i, which is imposed approximately through the thermal average. The resulting interacting fermion system is first treated in mean-field theory (MFT), which yields an AF ordered ground state and spin waves in quantitative agreement with conventional spin-wave theory. At finite temperature a self-consistent approximation beyond mean field is required in order to fulfill the Mermin-Wagner theorem. We first discuss a fully self-consistent approximation, where fermions are renormalized due to fluctuations of their spin density, in close analogy to FLEX. While static properties like the correlation length, $\ensuremath{\xi}(T)\ensuremath{\propto}\mathrm{exp}(aJ∕T)$, come out correctly, the dynamical response lacks the magnon-like peaks which would reflect the appearance of short-range order at low T. This drawback, which is caused by overdamping, is overcome in a ``minimal self-consistent approximation'' (MSCA), which we derive from the equations of motion. The MSCA features dynamical scaling at small energy and temperature and is qualitatively correct both in the regime of order-parameter relaxation at long wavelengths $\ensuremath{\lambda}>\ensuremath{\xi}$ and in the short-range-order regime at $\ensuremath{\lambda}<\ensuremath{\xi}$. We also discuss the impact of vertex corrections and the problem of pseudo-gap formation in the single-particle density of states due to long-range fluctuations. Finally we show that the (short-range) magnetic order in MFT and MSCA helps to fulfill the constraint on the local fermion occupancy.
The decay rate of an interstitial two-level spin impurity, located in the center of a unit cell of an anisotropic ferromagnetic lattice subjected to an external magnetic field, is derived. The impurity is coupled to nearest-neighbor spins through a Heisenberg XY interaction. By mapping the lattice spin operators using the Holstein-Primakoff transformation, we establish the similarity with the Fano-Anderson model at low temperatures, and we calculate the retarded Green's function in one and two dimensions analytically for arbitrary coupling strength. It is shown that the reduced density matrix of the impurity satisfies an exact master equation in Lindblad form, from which the decay rate and the Lamb shift are deduced. The evolution in time of the latter together with the excited-state occupation probability is investigated and its dependence on the applied magnetic field is discussed. It is found that there exists a critical resonance-like value of the magnetic field around which the behavior of the decay rate and the density matrix changes drastically. The Markovian decay law, as given by the Fermi golden rule, does not hold in the weak-coupling regime unless the magnetic field is weak, typically less than the critical value. The weak-coupling regime is further treated perturbatively up to second order, and the obtained results are compared with the exact solution. We also discuss the Zeno regime of the dynamics, where it is shown that, at short times, the effective decay rate is twice as small as the exact decay rate, and that when the impurity energy lies outside the lattice continuum, the measurement speeds up the decay of the survival probability.
The quantum Ising model is perhaps the simplest possible model of a quantum magnetic material. Despite its simplicity, its versatility and wide range of applications, from quantum computation, to combinatorial optimization, to biophysics, make it one of the most important models of modern physics. In this thesis, we develop a general framework for studying quantum Ising systems with an arbitrary single ion Hamiltonian, with emphasis on the effects of quantum fluctuations, and the quantum phase transition between paramagnetic and ferromagnetic states that occurs when a magnetic field is applied transverse to the easy axis of the system. The magnetic insulating crystal LiHoF₄ is a physical realization of the quantum Ising model, with the additional features that the dominant coupling between spins is the long range dipolar interaction, and each electronic spin is strongly coupled to a nuclear degree of freedom. These nuclear degrees of freedom constitute a spin bath environment acting on the system. In this thesis, we present an effective low temperature Hamiltonian for LiHoF₄ that incorporates both these features, and we analyze the effects of the nuclear spin bath on the system. We find the lowest energy crystal field excitation in the system is gapped at the quantum critical point by the presence of the nuclear spins, with spectral weight being transferred down to a lower energy electronuclear mode that fully softens to zero at the quantum critical point. Furthermore, we present a toy model, the spin half spin half model, that illustrates the effects of an anisotropic hyperfine interaction on a quantum Ising system. We find the critical transverse field is increased when the longitudinal hyperfine coupling is dominant, as well as an enhancement of both the longitudinal electronic susceptibility and an applied longitudinal field. In addition, we present a field theoretic formalism for incorporating the effects of fluctuations beyond the random phase approximation in general quantum Ising systems. We find that any regular on site interaction, such as a nuclear spin bath, does not fundamentally alter the critical properties of a quantum Ising system. This formalism is used to calculate corrections to the magnetization of LiHoF₄.
We numerically investigate thermal entanglement of the spins (1/2,1) and (1/2,1/2) in the three-mixed (1/2,1,1/2) anisotropic Heisenberg XXZ spin system on a simple triangular cell under an inhomogeneous magnetic field. We show that the external magnetic field induces strong plateau formation in pairwise thermal entanglement for fixed parameters of Hamiltonian in the case of the ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic interactions. We also observe an unexpected critical point at finite temperature in the therm al entanglement of the spins (1/2,1) for antiferromagnetic case while the entanglement of the spins (1/2,1) for ferromagnetic case and the entanglement of the spins (1/2,1/2) for both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases almost decays exponentially to zero with increasing temperature. We conclude that this critical point in entanglement of the spi ns (1/2,1) for antiferromagnetic case indicates the presence of the quantum phase transition at finite temperature.
We describe the ground state of a gas of bosonic atoms with two coherently coupled internal levels in a deep optical lattice in a one-dimensional geometry. In the single-band approximation this system is described by a Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian. The system has a superfluid and a Mott insulating phase that can be either paramagnetic or ferromagnetic. We characterize the quantum phase transitions at unit filling by means of a density-matrix renormalization-group technique and compare the results with a mean-field approach and an effective spin Hamiltonian. The presence of the ferromagnetic Ising-like transition modifies the Mott lobes. In the Mott insulating region the system maps to the ferromagnetic spin-1/2 XXZ model in a transverse field and the numerical results compare very well with the analytical results obtained from the spin model. In the superfluid regime quantum fluctuations strongly modify the phase transition with respect to the well-established mean-field three-dimensional classical bifurcation.