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arXiv:2403.06673 · Physical Review Letters

Ensemble Inequivalence in Long-Range Quantum Systems

Nicolò Defenu, David Mukamel, Stefano Ruffo

Published Aug 2, 2024• 11 citations
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Abstract

Ensemble inequivalence, i.e., the possibility of observing different thermodynamic properties depending on the statistical ensemble which describes the system, is one of the hallmarks of long-range physics, which has been demonstrated in numerous classical systems. Here, an example of ensemble inequivalence of a long-range quantum ferromagnet is presented. While the T=0 microcanonical quantum phase-diagram coincides with that of the canonical ensemble, the phase diagrams of the two ensembles are different at finite temperature. This is in contrast with the common lore of statistical mechanics of systems with short-range interactions where thermodynamic properties are bound to coincide for macroscopic systems described by different ensembles. The consequences of these findings in the context of atomic, molecular, and optical setups are delineated.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.133.050403

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Ensemble inequivalence, i.e., the possibility of observing different thermodynamic properties depending on the statistical ensemble which describes the system, is one of the hallmarks of long-range physics, which has been demonstrated in numerous classical systems. Here, an example of ensemble inequivalence of a long-range quantum ferromagnet is presented. While the T=0 microcanonical quantum phase-diagram coincides with that of the canonical ensemble, the phase diagrams of the two ensembles are different at finite temperature. This is in contrast with the common lore of statistical mechanics of systems with short-range interactions where thermodynamic properties are bound to coincide for macroscopic systems described by different ensembles. The consequences of these findings in the context of atomic, molecular, and optical setups are delineated.
Ensemble inequivalence, where a system's thermodynamic properties depend on the statistical ensemble used to describe it, is a well-established phenomenon in classical systems with long-range interactions. Here, we present a detailed analysis of a quantum ferromagnet spin model that exhibits this same behavior. We find that the microcanonical and canonical phase diagrams are identical at zero temperature ( T = 0 ), but differ significantly at finite temperatures. Our results highlight a breakdown of ensemble equivalence in this quantum long-range model, contrasting with what is observed for short range. These findings have important implications for the study and manipulation of long-range interacting quantum platforms, such as those used in atomic, molecular, and optical physics.
We explore ensemble inequivalence in long-range interacting systems by studying an XY model of classical spins with ferromagnetic and nematic coupling. We demonstrate the inequivalence by mapping the microcanonical phase diagram onto the canonical one, and also by doing the inverse mapping. We show that the equilibrium phase diagrams within the two ensembles strongly disagree within the regions of first-order transitions, exhibiting interesting features like temperature jumps. In particular, we discuss the coexistence and forbidden regions of different macroscopic states in both the phase diagrams.
It is well known that systems with long-range interactions may exhibit different phase diagrams when studied within two different ensembles. In many of the previously studied examples of ensemble inequivalence, the phase diagrams differ only when the transition in one of the ensembles is first order. By contrast, in a recent study of a generalized ABC model, the canonical and grand-canonical ensembles of the model were shown to differ even when they both exhibit a continuous transition. Here we show that the order of the transition where ensemble inequivalence may occur is related to the symmetry properties of the order parameter associated with the transition. This is done by analyzing the Landau expansion of a generic model with long-range interactions. The conclusions drawn from the generic analysis are demonstrated for the ABC model by explicit calculation of its Landau expansion.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT:In this thesis we discuss some of the anomalies present in systems with long-range interactions, for instance negative specifc heat and negative magnetic susceptibility, and show how they can be related to the convexity properties of the thermodynamic potentials and nonequivalence of ensembles. We also discuss the possibility of engineering long-range quantum spin systems with cold atoms in optical lattices to experimentally verify the existence of nonequivalence of ensembles. We then formulate an expression for the density of states when the energy and magnetisation correspond to a pair of non-commuting operators. Finally we analytically compute the entropy s(;m) as a function of energy, and magnetisation, m, for the anisotropic Heisenberg model with Curie-Weiss type interactions. The results show that the entropy is non-concave in terms of magnetisation under certain circumstances which in turn indicates that the microcanonical and canonical ensembles are not equivalent and that the magnetic susceptibility is negative. After making an appropriate change of variables we show that a second-order phase transition can be present at negative temperatures in the microcanonical ensemble which cannot be represented in the canonical ensemble.
Abstract We study the effect of competing interactions on ensemble inequivalence. We consider a one-dimensional Ising model with ferromagnetic mean-field interactions and short-range nearest-neighbor (NN) and next-NN couplings which can be either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic. Despite the relative simplicity of the model, our calculations in the microcanonical ensemble reveal a rich phase diagram. The comparison with the corresponding phase diagram in the canonical ensemble shows the presence of phase transition points and lines which are different in the two ensembles. As an example, in a region of the phase diagram where the canonical ensemble shows a critical point and a critical end point, the microcanonical ensemble has an additional critical point and also a triple point. The regions of ensemble inequivalence typically occur at lower temperatures and at larger absolute values of the competing couplings. The presence of two free parameters in the model allows us to obtain a fourth-order critical point, which can be fully characterized by deriving its Landau normal form.
It is demonstrated in many thermodynamic textbooks that the equivalence of the different ensembles is achieved in the thermodynamic limit. In this present work we discuss the inequivalence of microcanonical and canonical ensembles in a finite ultracold system at low energies. We calculate the microcanonical momentum distribution function (MDF) in a system of identical fermions (bosons). We find that the microcanonical MDF deviates from the canonical one, which is the Fermi-Dirac (Bose-Einstein) function, in a finite system at low energies where the single-particle density of states and its inverse are finite.