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arXiv:2310.18216 · Physical Review Letters

Kibble-Zurek Dynamics in the Anisotropic Ising Model of the Si(001) Surface

G. Schaller, Friedemann Queißer, S. P. Katoorani, C. Brand, Christian Kohlfürst, M. R. Freeman, Alfred Hucht, Peter Kratzer, Björn Sothmann, M. Horn‐von Hoegen, Ralf Schützhold

Published May 15, 2025• 3 citations
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Abstract

As a simplified description of the nonequilibrium dynamics of buckled dimers on the Si(001) surface, we consider the anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) Ising model and study the freezing of spatial correlations during a cooling quench across the critical point. Depending on the cooling rate, we observe a crossover from one-dimensional (1D) to 2D behavior. For rapid cooling, we find effectively 1D behavior in the strongly coupled direction, for which we provide an exact analytic solution of the nonequilibrium dynamics. For slower cooling rates, we start to see 2D behavior where our numerical simulations show an approach to the usual Kibble-Zurek scaling in 2D.

DOI
10.1103/rmc4-xqb3

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As a simplified description of the nonequilibrium dynamics of buckled dimers on the Si(001) surface, we consider the anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) Ising model and study the freezing of spatial correlations during a cooling quench across the critical point. Depending on the cooling rate, we observe a crossover from one-dimensional (1D) to 2D behavior. For rapid cooling, we find effectively 1D behavior in the strongly coupled direction, for which we provide an exact analytic solution of the nonequilibrium dynamics. For slower cooling rates, we start to see 2D behavior where our numerical simulations show an approach to the usual Kibble-Zurek scaling in 2D.
Langevin dynamics simulations are used to analyze the static and dynamic properties of an XYXYXY model adapted to dimers forming on Si(001) surfaces. The numerics utilize high-performance parallel computation methods on GPUs. The static exponent $\ensuremath{\nu}$ of the symmetry-broken XYXYXY model is determined to $\ensuremath{\nu}=1.04$. The dynamic critical exponent zzz is determined to z=2.13z=2.13z=2.13 and, together with $\ensuremath{\nu}$, shows the behavior of the Ising universality class. For time-dependent temperatures, we observe frozen domains and compare their size distribution with predictions from Kibble-Zurek theory. We determine a significantly larger quench exponent that shows little dependence on the damping or the symmetry-breaking field.
We propose a theory to explain the experimental observed deviation from the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) scaling in rapidly quenched critical phase transition dynamics. There is a critical quench rate τQc1τ_{Q}^{c1}τQc1​ above it the KZM scaling begins to appear. Smaller than τQc1τ_Q^{c1}τQc1​, the defect density nnn is a constant independent of the quench rate but depends on the final temperature TfT_fTf​ as n∝LdεTfdνn \propto L^d ε_{T_f} ^{d ν}n∝LdεTf​dν​, the freeze out time t^\hat{t}t^ admits the scaling law t^∝εTf−νz\hat{t} \propto ε_{T_f}^{-νz}t^∝εTf​−νz​ where ddd is the spatial dimension, εTf=(1−Tf/Tc)ε_{T_f}= (1-T_f/T_c)εTf​​=(1−Tf​/Tc​) is the dimensionless reduced temperature, LLL is the sample size, ννν and zzz are spatial and dynamical critical exponents. Quench from TcT_cTc​, the critical rate is determined by the final temperature TfT_fTf​ as $τ_Q^{c1} \propto ε_{T_f}^{-(1+z ν)} $. All the scaling laws are verified in a rapidly quenched superconducting ring via the AdS/CFT correspondence.
We analyze the quantum phase transitions taking place in a one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model with long-range couplings that decay algebraically with distance. We are interested in the Kibble-Zurek universal scaling laws emerging in nonequilibrium dynamics and in the potential for the unambiguous observation of such behavior in a realistic experimental setup based on trapped ions. To this end, we determine the phase diagram of the model and the critical exponents characterizing its quantum phase transitions by means of density-matrix renormalization group calculations and finite-size scaling theory, which allows us to obtain good estimates for different range of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions. Beyond critical equilibrium properties, we tackle a nonequilibrium scenario in which quantum Kibble-Zurek scaling laws may be retrieved. Here, it is found that the predicted nonequilibrium universal behavior, i.e., the scaling laws as a function of the quench rate and critical exponents, can be observed in systems comprising an experimentally feasible number of spins. Finally, a scheme is introduced to simulate the algebraically decaying couplings accurately by means of a digital quantum simulation with trapped ions. Our results suggest that quantum Kibble-Zurek physics can be explored and observed in state-of-the-art experiments with trapped ions realizing long-range Ising models.
The Kibble mechanism plays a prominent role in the theory of the early Universe, as an explanation of the possible formation of cosmic strings. Zurek suggested the analogous effect in liquid helium under rapid cooling, and he conjectured - together with del Campo and Kibble - a scaling-law for the relation between the density of remnant topological defects and the cooling rate, when a system passes through its critical temperature. Such scaling-laws were indeed observed in condensed matter experiments. Here we test the validity of Zurek's scaling-law in a different framework. We numerically study the behavior of the Ising model (with classical spins) in 1, 2 and 3 dimensions under rapid cooling. This model does not have topological defects, so we consider the dynamics of domains instead, i.e. we measure their evolution during a cooling process down to zero temperature. For several Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms, we consistently observe scaling-laws along the lines of Zurek's conjecture, in all dimensions under consideration, which shows that this feature holds more generally than expected. It is highly remarkable that even the exponents of these scaling-laws are consistent for three different algorithms, which hints at a physical meaning.
We study the driven dynamics across the critical points of the Yang-Lee edge singularities (YLESs) in a finite-size quantum Ising chain with an imaginary symmetry-breaking field. In contrast to the conventional classical or quantum phase transitions, these phase transitions are induced by tuning the strength of the dissipation in a non-Hermitian system and can occur even at finite size. For conventional phase transitions, universal behaviors in driven dynamics across critical points are usually described by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, which states that the scaling in dynamics is dictated by the critical exponents associated with one critical point and topological defects will emerge after the quench. While the mechanism leading to topological defects breaks down in the YLES, we find that for small lattice size, the driven dynamics can still be described by the Kibble-Zurek scaling with the exponents determined by the (0+1)-dimensional YLES. For medium finite size, however, the driven dynamics can be described by the Kibble-Zurek scaling with two sets of critical exponents determined by both the (0+1)-dimensional and the (1+1)-dimensional YLESs.
We study the dynamical scaling properties of the two-dimensional fully frustrated Ising model by simulated annealing. The model has a highly degenerate, critical ground state with well known equilibrium properties. To study its out-of-equilibrium behavior, we develop an annealing protocol that is convenient for extending the Kibble-Zurek mechanism to the case of an exponentially divergent correlation length in the limit of the temperature T→Tc=0T \to T_c = 0T→Tc​=0. We find excellent agreement with the scaling forms derived, including a dependence on the initial temperature that is not present in the conventional Kibble-Zurek mechanism. The dynamic exponent zzz is consistent among all quantities studied; fits of its dependence on the initial temperature give z=1.99(2)z = 1.99(2)z=1.99(2) (susceptibility), z=2.072(8)z = 2.072(8)z=2.072(8) (excess energy), and z=2.09(3)z = 2.09(3)z=2.09(3) (Edwards-Anderson order parameter). These values are close to z=2z=2z=2, which is consistent with previous studies of relaxation after instantaneous quenches and of time dependent correlations in equilibrium, including the estimate z=2.004(9)z = 2.004(9)z=2.004(9) from equilibrium autocorrelation functions.