Non-equilibrium effects on a second-order phase transition

Fabrizio Minganti, Ievgen I. Arkhipov, Adam Miranowicz +1 more

The paradigm of second-order phase transition and symmetry breaking for thermal and quantum systems is a pillar of modern physics that has been fruitfully applied to out-of-equilibrium open quantum systems. Despite the non-equilibrium nature of lasing, the laser threshold was compared with thermal phase transitions systems more than forty years ago. For instance, the Landau theory -- based on thermodynamical consideration -- has been used to characterize the Scully-Lamb laser model (SLLM), describing a single-mode laser without saturable absorbers. Accordingly, the laser threshold is a second-order phase transition, associated with a spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) of the $U(1)$ symmetry of the model. To capture a genuine non-equilibrium, quantum, and dissipative phase transition of the SLLM, here we employ a Liouvillian superoperator formalism derived from a Lindblad master equation. Our results confirm that the $U(1)$ SSB can occur at the lasing threshold but, in contrast to the Landau theory and semiclassical approximation, they signal that the SLLM fundamental transition is a different phenomenon, which we call Liouvillian spectral collapse; that is, the emergence of diabolic points of infinite degeneracy. By considering a generalized SLLM with additional dephasing, we witness a second-order phase transition, with a Liouvillian spectral collapse, but in the absence of symmetry breaking. This demonstrates the difference between the Liouvillian spectral collapse and a standard second-order phase transition with symmetry breaking. We characterize the new phenomena associated with the spectral collapse, such as the onset of a rather unusual multistability enabled (and not suppressed) by the very presence of fluctuations. This multistability, characterizing the dissipative and quantum origin of lasing, can be experimentally revealed by the presence of a dynamical hysteresis.

Malte Henkel, Haye Hinrichsen, Sven Lübeck

Wolfhard Janke E

P. D. Drummond, K. J. McNeil, Daniel F. Walls

In this, the first of two papers on the subject, we present an analysis of a non-linear optical system with a mode coupled to its second harmonic, exhibiting a rich variety of non-equilibrium steady-state transitions. Here we use a semiclassical analysis to examine the steady states and their stability, and thus predict the existence of various instabilities. We find that this system exhibits both first- and second-order phase transition-like behaviour, as well as having a hard mode transition. The application of this system as a switching device is also considered.

Eric M. Howard

Abstract We study the Kibble–Zurek scaling dynamics and universal second order phase transitions in a relativistic scalar field theory in 1 + 1 dimensions. Using tensor networks techniques as a non-perturbative non-equilibrium numerical tool for quantum field theory, we perform an analysis of the formation of topological defects in a non-equilibrium quantum system, as a realistic analogue toy model of the formation of cosmological defects in the large-scale structure of the Early Universe.