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arXiv:2509.01608 · Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment

Reduced fidelities for free fermions out of equilibrium: from dynamical quantum phase transitions to Mpemba effect

Gilles Parez, Vincenzo Alba

Published Jan 1, 2026• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the out-of-equilibrium dynamics after a quantum quench of the reduced fidelities between the states of a subregion A at different times. Precisely, we consider the fidelity between the time-dependent state of A and its initial value, as well as with the state at infinite time. We denote these fidelities as the reduced Loschmidt echo (RLE) and the final-state fidelity (FSF), respectively. If region A is the full system, the RLE coincides with the standard Loschmidt echo. We focus on quenches from Gaussian states in several instances of the XY spin chain. In the hydrodynamic limit of long times and large sizes of A , with their ratio fixed, the reduced fidelities admit a quasiparticle picture interpretation. Interestingly, for some quenches in the hydrodynamic regime the RLE features a complicated structure with an infinite sequence of nested lightcones, corresponding to quasiparticles with arbitrary large group velocities. This leads to a ‘staircase’ of cusp-like singularities in the time-derivative of the fidelity. At the sub-hydrodynamic regime for some quenches the RLE exhibits cusp-like singularities, similar to the so-called dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPT). We conjecture a criterion for the occurrence of the DQPT and for the ‘critical’ times at which the singularities occur. Finally, we discuss the hydrodynamic limit of the FSF. In particular, we show that it provides a valuable tool to detect the so-called quantum Mpemba effect.

DOI
10.1088/1742-5468/ae3380

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Abstract We investigate the out-of-equilibrium dynamics after a quantum quench of the reduced fidelities between the states of a subregion A at different times. Precisely, we consider the fidelity between the time-dependent state of A and its initial value, as well as with the state at infinite time. We denote these fidelities as the reduced Loschmidt echo (RLE) and the final-state fidelity (FSF), respectively. If region A is the full system, the RLE coincides with the standard Loschmidt echo. We focus on quenches from Gaussian states in several instances of the XY spin chain. In the hydrodynamic limit of long times and large sizes of A , with their ratio fixed, the reduced fidelities admit a quasiparticle picture interpretation. Interestingly, for some quenches in the hydrodynamic regime the RLE features a complicated structure with an infinite sequence of nested lightcones, corresponding to quasiparticles with arbitrary large group velocities. This leads to a ‘staircase’ of cusp-like singularities in the time-derivative of the fidelity. At the sub-hydrodynamic regime for some quenches the RLE exhibits cusp-like singularities, similar to the so-called dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPT). We conjecture a criterion for the occurrence of the DQPT and for the ‘critical’ times at which the singularities occur. Finally, we discuss the hydrodynamic limit of the FSF. In particular, we show that it provides a valuable tool to detect the so-called quantum Mpemba effect.
We investigate the Lindblad dynamics of the reduced Loschmidt echo (RLE) in dissipative quadratic fermion systems. Focusing on the case of gain and loss dissipation, we derive general conditions for the persistence of nonanalyticities (so-called dynamical quantum phase transitions) in the time evolution of the RLE. We show that nonanalyticities that are present in the corresponding unitary dynamics can survive under purely gain or purely loss processes, but are completely smeared out as soon as both channels are active, even if one is infinitesimally small. These results hold for generic dissipative Gaussian evolutions, and are illustrated explicitly for the quench from the Néel state in the tight-binding chain, as well as for the quantum Ising chain. We also show that the subtle interplay between dissipative and unitary dynamics gives rise to a nested lightcone structure in the dynamics of the RLE, even in cases where this structure is not present in the corresponding unitary evolution, due to coherent cancellations in the phase structure of the wavefunction.
The notion of a dynamical quantum phase transition (DQPT) was recently introduced [Heyl et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 135704 (2013)] as the nonanalytic behavior of the Loschmidt echo at critical times in the thermodynamic limit. In this work the quench dynamics in the ground state sector of the two-dimensional Kitaev honeycomb model is studied regarding the occurrence of DQPTs. For general two-dimensional systems of BCS type it is demonstrated how the zeros of the Loschmidt echo coalesce to areas in the thermodynamic limit, implying that DQPTs occur as discontinuities in the second derivative. In the Kitaev honeycomb model DQPTs appear after quenches across a phase boundary or within the massless phase. In the 1d limit of the Kitaev honeycomb model it becomes clear that the discontinuity in the higher derivative is intimately related to the higher dimensionality of the nondegenerate model. Moreover, there is a strong connection between the stationary value of the rate function of the Loschmidt echo after long times and the occurrence of DQPTs in this model.
Understanding the properties of far-from-equilibrium quantum systems is becoming a major challenge of both fundamental and applied physics. For instance, the lack of thermalization in integrable and (many body) localized systems provides new insights in the understanding of the relaxation dynamics of quantum phases. On a more applicative side, the possibility of exploiting the properties of far-from-equilibrium states, for example in pump-probe experiments, opens unprecedented scenarios. The effort in providing a classification of far-from-equilibrium phases, in terms of local or topological order parameters, is hence intense. In this context, the concept of Dynamical Quantum Phase Transition (DQPT) has been introduced. A DQPT is (roughly) defined as a zero of the Loschmidt-Echo as a function of time and represents a natural non-equilibrium counterpart of a thermal phase transition. Here, we investigate the DQPTs occurring in the quantum xy chain subject to a quantum quench of finite duration. We show that the number of distinct DQPTs can vary as the duration of the quantum quench is varied. However, the parity of such number only depends on the pre-quench and post-quench Hamiltonians and is related to a topological invariant.
We investigate dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) in the extended Agassi model following sudden quenches of same level pairing (ΣΣΣ), monopole-monopole (χχχ) and cross level pairing (ΛΛΛ) strengths. Using exact diagonalization, we characterize the non-equilibrium dynamics through the Loschmidt echo and intensive return-rate function. Quenches across equilibrium phase boundaries produce cusp-like structures in the return rate that shows non-analyticities with increasing system size. Equilibrium finite size to large scaling identifies the χχχ-driven transition as a second order phase transition similar to mean-field, Dicke, and Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) models critical behaviour with the exponent of the order parameter β≃1/2β\simeq 1/2β≃1/2, while the ΣΣΣ- and ΛΛΛ-driven transitions are first order. We further characterize the associated dynamical singularities through a local scaling exponent ααα, with αχ≃2/3α_χ\simeq 2/3αχ​≃2/3, αΛ≃1/3α_Λ\simeq 1/3αΛ​≃1/3, and αΣ≃3/2α_Σ\simeq 3/2αΣ​≃3/2 of all three parameters. The distinct scaling behaviours across the parameter channels show that dynamical criticality is not determined solely by the equilibrium order of the transition, revealing multiple dynamical scaling regimes. These non-analyticities are associated with the Fisher zeros of the Loschmidt amplitude, which cross the real time axis at critical times and the time derivatives of the return-rate function to characterize the order of DQPTs within the extended Agassi model.
The dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) in quantum spin chains with gapless phases after a sudden quench are studied. We mainly consider the general systems with asymmetrical quasiparticle excitation spectra and obtain the general expression of the Loschmidt echo as well as the general conditions for the occurrence of DQPTs. As two examples, we study the DQPTs in the \emph{XY} chains with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and \emph{XZY-YZX} type of three-site interaction. It's found that the DQPTs may not occur in the quench across the quantum phase transitions regardless of whether the quench is from the gapless phase to gapped phase or from the gapped phase to gapless phase. This is different from the DQPTs in the case of quench from the gapped phase to gapped phase, in which the DQPTs will always appear. Besides, we also analyze the different reasons for the absence of DQPTs in the quench from the gapless phase and the gapped phase.
We demonstrate the existence of a dynamical quantum phase transition (DQPT) in a dissipative collective-spin model that exhibits the boundary time crystal (BTC) phase. We initialize the system in the ground state of the Hamiltonian in either the BTC or the non-BTC phase, and drive it across the BTC transition. The driving is done by an abrupt quench or by a finite-time linear ramp of a Hamiltonian control parameter under Markovian Lindblad dynamics. We diagnose DQPTs through zeros of the fidelity-based Loschmidt echo between the initial state and the evolving mixed state, which induce nonanalytic cusp-like features in the associated rate function. For quenches into the BTC phase, the Loschmidt echo exhibits repeated zeros due to the emergent time-periodic steady state, whereas for quenches into the non-BTC phase, the overlap vanishes and remains zero once the dynamics relaxes to a stationary state. We further show that the DQPT persists under the ramp protocol followed by unitary evolution with the final Hamiltonian. Finally, we analyze the finite-size scaling of the first critical time and find convergence to a constant in the thermodynamic limit, with distinct power-law approaches for the quench and the ramp protocols.