Prethermalization and transient dynamics of the Multi-Channel Kondo systems under generic quantum quenches: Insights form Large-$N$ Schwinger-Keldysh approach
Understanding out-of-equilibrium many-body quantum systems is crucial in contemporary physics. However, capturing the universal dynamics of such systems remains challenging despite advanced numerical methods. We investigate the multi-channel Kondo impurity (MCKI) model, hosting an over-screened Kondo state with non-Fermi liquid characteristics. Using the large-N Schwinger-Keldysh approach, we study transient dynamics and long-time quasi-equilibrium properties following a sudden change in the Kondo coupling. We consider two initial states: over-screened Kondo and high-temperature Fermi liquid. In the over-screened Kondo state, we observe oscillations in spin-spin correlations and the Kondo order parameter, representing quantum revival of the entangled state. In the high-temperature Fermi liquid state, the absence of oscillations is attributed to the de-phasing mechanism. The system reaches quasi-equilibrium, manifested as incoherent thermalization between the impurity and conduction electrons. We observe a non-vanishing effective temperature difference between the impurity spin (Abrikosov fermion) and the composite boson formed with conduction electrons at the impurity site. This quasi-equilibrium is prethermalization, while complete thermalization occurs on an O(N) timescale with 1/N correction. We discuss the quantum cooling effect and quantum Boltzmann equations. Our study establishes a foundation for investigating large-N quantum field theory treatment of quantum many-body systems, revealing universal properties and a fresh perspective on prethermalization.
Prethermalization and transient dynamics of the Multi-Channel Kondo systems under generic quantum quenches: Insights form Large-N Schwinger-Keldysh approach
Understanding out-of-equilibrium many-body quantum systems is crucial in contemporary physics. However, capturing the universal dynamics of such systems remains challenging despite advanced numerical methods. We investigate the multi-channel Kondo impurity (MCKI) model, hosting an over-screened Kondo state with non-Fermi liquid characteristics. Using the large-N Schwinger-Keldysh approach, we study transient dynamics and long-time quasi-equilibrium properties following a sudden change in the Kondo coupling. We consider two initial states: over-screened Kondo and high-temperature Fermi liquid. In the over-screened Kondo state, we observe oscillations in spin-spin correlations and the Kondo order parameter, representing quantum revival of the entangled state. In the high-temperature Fermi liquid state, the absence of oscillations is attributed to the de-phasing mechanism. The system reaches quasi-equilibrium, manifested as incoherent thermalization between the impurity and conduction electrons. We observe a non-vanishing effective temperature difference between the impurity spin (Abrikosov fermion) and the composite boson formed with conduction electrons at the impurity site. This quasi-equilibrium is prethermalization, while complete thermalization occurs on an O(N) timescale with 1/N correction. We discuss the quantum cooling effect and quantum Boltzmann equations. Our study establishes a foundation for investigating large-N quantum field theory treatment of quantum many-body systems, revealing universal properties and a fresh perspective on prethermalization.
Understanding out-of-equilibrium many-body quantum systems is an essential task in contemporary physics. While advanced numerical methods have been developed, capturing the universal dynamics of generic many-body quantum systems still remains a significant challenge. In this study, we focus on the multichannel Kondo impurity (MCKI) model, an intriguing theoretical model hosting an overscreened Kondo state with non-Fermi-liquid characteristics, which serves as a theoretical platform for investigating universal properties in many-body quantum dynamics. Utilizing the large-N Schwinger-Keldysh approach, we systematically investigate both transient dynamics and long-time quasiequilibrium properties in the MCKI model following a sudden change of the Kondo coupling. Our investigations encompass two distinct initial states: the overscreened Kondo state and the high-temperature Fermi-liquid state. For the overscreened Kondo state initial condition, we observe oscillations in various physical observables, including spin-spin correlations and the Kondo order parameter. These oscillations signify the quantum revival of the entangled state that characterizes the overscreened Kondo state. On the other hand, in the case of the high-temperature Fermi-liquid initial state, the absence of oscillations can be attributed to the dephasing mechanism. Furthermore, we discover that the system reaches a quasiequilibrium on an O(1) timescale. This quasiequilibrium manifests as incoherent thermalization between the impurity and the conduction electrons, in which we observe the nonvanishing effective temperature difference between the Abrikosov fermion representing the impurity spin and the composite boson formed by the Abrikosov fermion and the conduction electrons at the impurity site. This quasiequilibrium can be interpreted as prethermalization. Incorporating the 1/N correction, we demonstrate that the system attains complete thermalization on an O(N) timescale. Additionally, we discuss the quantum cooling effect and quantum Boltzmann equations. Our comprehensive study establishes a foundation for investigating quantum many-body systems using large-N quantum field-theory treatment, while our findings reveal several universal properties of quantum dynamics and provide a different perspective on prethermalization.
We study non-equilibrium dynamics and quantum quenches in a recent gauge/gravity duality model for a strongly coupled system interacting with a magnetic impurity with SU(N ) spin. At large N , it is convenient to write the impurity spin as a bilinear in Abrikosov fermions. The model describes an RG flow triggered by the marginally relevant Kondo operator. There is a phase transition at a critical temperature, below which an operator condenses which involves both an electron and an Abrikosov fermion field. This corresponds to a holographic superconductor in AdS2 and models the impurity screening. We quench the Kondo coupling either by a Gaussian pulse or by a hyperbolic tangent, the latter taking the system from the condensed to the uncondensed phase or vice-versa. We study the time dependence of the condensate induced by this quench. The timescale for equilibration is generically given by the leading quasinormal mode of the dual gravity model. This mode also governs the formation of the screening cloud, which is obtained as the decrease of impurity degrees of freedom with time. In the condensed phase, the leading quasinormal mode is imaginary and the relaxation of the condensate is over-damped. For quenches whose final state is close to the critical point of the large N phase transition, we study the critical slowing down and obtain the combination of critical exponents zν = 1. When the final state is exactly at the phase transition, we find that the exponential ringing of the quasinormal modes is replaced by a power-law behaviour of the form ∼ t −a sin(b log t). This indicates the emergence of a discrete scale invariance.
We present here the details of a method [A. B. Culver and N. Andrei, Many-body wavefunctions for quantum impurities out of equilibrium, Phys. Rev. B 103, L201103 (2021)] for calculating the time-dependent many-body wavefunction that follows a local quench. We apply the method to the voltage-driven nonequilibrium Kondo model to find the exact time-evolving wavefunction following a quench where the dot is suddenly attached to the leads at t=0. The method, which does not use Bethe ansatz, also works in other quantum impurity models and may be of wider applicability. We show that the long-time limit (with the system size taken to infinity first) of the time-evolving wavefunction of the Kondo model is a current-carrying nonequilibrium steady state that satisfies the Lippmann-Schwinger equation. We show that the electric current in the time-evolving wavefunction is given by a series expression that can be expanded either in weak coupling or in strong coupling, converging to all orders in the steady-state limit in either case. The series agrees to leading order with known results in the well-studied regime of weak antiferromagnetic coupling and also reveals a universal regime of strong ferromagnetic coupling with Kondo temperature ${T}_{K}^{(F)}=D{e}^{\ensuremath{-}\frac{3{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{2}}{8}\ensuremath{\rho}|J|}$ ($J<0, \ensuremath{\rho}|J|\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$). In this regime, the differential conductance dI/dV reaches the unitarity limit 2e2/h asymptotically at large voltage or temperature.
The study of the interplay between interaction-induced correlations and nonequilibrium initial conditions in many-body systems has recently attracted a lot of attention. New experimental techniques provide high control over many-body systems and systematic access to their nonequilibrium regime. In many systems the nonequilibrium properties of a Fermi liquid can be relevant. A first approach to their understanding is the main content of this thesis. At the beginning, nonequilibrium phenomena, Landau's theory of a Fermi liquid, the Hubbard model, time evolution in quantum mechanics, related experiments, and the flow equation method are reviewed. The key observation of this thesis, namely a characteristic mismatch of expectation values in equilibrium and nonequilibrium, is first illustrated for the squeezed oscillator. For this one-particle model Hamiltonian the perturbative approach can be compared with the exact solution and it is shown that the mismatch holds even beyond perturbation theory. Afterwards these observations are generalized to a larger class of one-particle models. Then the nonequilibrium behavior of a Fermi liquid is examined by analyzing the Fermi liquid phase of the Hubbard model in more than one dimension. After a sudden switch-on of a weak two-particle interaction to the noninteracting Fermi gas the relaxation of the many-body system is observed. For this purpose, the flow equation transformation is implemented for the Hubbard Hamiltonian. Then the discussion of the momentum distribution function and of the kinetic energy displays a three-step relaxation behavior of the Fermi liquid from the initial perturbation until thermalization is reached. Firstly, the sudden switch inserts excitation energy into the system which drives the following dynamics. Then a rapid initial build-up of correlations is caused by initial dephasing and leads to the establishment of a quasiparticle picture. By that the system enters into a quasi-stationary state which can be long-lasting for weak interaction. This state shows prethermalization of the kinetic energy which already has relaxed to its final values. However, the momentum distribution still resembles a zero temperature Fermi liquid. Its later relaxation on a second time scale is caused by a residual two-particle interaction which allows for scattering processes and can be described by a quantum Boltzmann equation. The physical origin of this delayed relaxation can be traced back to an interplay of translational invariance of the Hubbard model and the Pauli principle for fermions; together they restrict the phase space for scattering events. Comparing with similar work I conjecture on the generic nature of the findings made for the quenched Fermi liquid in other many-body systems. Finally I point out to the potential relevance of the delayed relaxation for the observation of further nonequilibrium phenomena, for instance in BCS systems. In order to extend the study of sudden switching to arbitrary switching processes the calculation is repeated using the Keldysh perturbation theory. First evaluations for a linear increase of the interaction strength are given. Extensions of this work are suggested and may motivate further research.
A multichannel Kondo model, where two or more equivalent but independent channels of electrons compete to screen a spin-21 impurity, shows overcompensation of the impurity spin, leading to the non-Fermi-liquid behavior in various thermodynamic and transport properties. However, when the channel symmetry is broken, an impurity quantum phase transition can occur at zero temperature. Identification of an order parameter describing the impurity quantum phase transition is very difficult since it is beyond the conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson theory. By employing the natural orbitals renormalization group method, we study both two-channel and three-channel Kondo models, from the perspective of spin correlation between the impurity and electrons in electronic channels. Here we demonstrate that by introducing the spin-correlation ratio as an order parameter we can characterize impurity quantum phase transitions driven by channel asymmetry. In particular, the universal critical exponents $\ensuremath{\beta}$ of the spin-correlation ratio and $\ensuremath{\nu}$ of the correlation length are explicitly determined by finite-size-scaling analysis, namely, $\ensuremath{\beta}=0.10(1)$ and $\ensuremath{\nu}=2.0(1)$, and $\ensuremath{\beta}=0.10(1)$ and $\ensuremath{\nu}=2.5(1)$ for the two-channel and three-channel Kondo models, respectively.
This thesis investigates the properties of entanglement in one-dimensional many-body systems. In the first part, the non-equilibrium dynamics following a sudden global quench are exploited for the purpose of generating long-range entanglement. A number of initial states are considered. It is shown that the dynamics following the considered quench can be mapped to the problem of a state transfer. The quench can then be optimised by exploiting the literature about quantum state transfer to generate maximal long-range entanglement and maximal block entropy. \nIn the second part of the thesis, a spin chain emulation of the two-channel, Kondo (2CK) model is proposed. Studying the local magnetisation and susceptibility we show that the spin-only emulation truly represent the two-channel Kondo model and extract the Kondo temperature. A detailed entanglement analysis is presented. Using density matrix renormalisation group (DMRG), which allow for real space analysis, Kondo temperature and Kondo length are evaluated. An entanglement measure, namely the negativity, as well as the Schmidt gap are used as possible order parameters predicting the critical point. An extensive analysis of the block entropy of the system is presented for different limiting values of Kondo coupling. A universal scaling of the impurity contribution to the entropy is found and the 2CK residual entropy is extracted. \nThe last part explores quench dynamics in Kondo systems using time-dependent DMRG. For a quench in the Kondo coupling a travelling and breathing clouds are ob-served. A measurement-induced dynamics lead to an oscillation between an effective singlet and triplet states of the impurity and the Kondo cloud. Kondo temperature can be extracted from the frequency of the oscillation.