Journal of Physics Conference Series
Quantum phase transitions in finite algebraic systems
Pavel Cejnar
Abstract
We discuss features of quantum phase transitions affecting collective dynamics of many-body systems. Due to a finite number of collective degrees of freedom, the infinite-size limit of the corresponding models coincides with the classical limit and quantum critical phenomena for both the ground and excited states are determined by the structure of the classical phase space. An example of an excited-state phase transition for the interacting boson model in its SU(3) limit is presented.