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Physical Review A

Nonlinear quenches of power-law confining traps in quantum critical systems

Mario Collura, Dragi Karevski

Published Feb 8, 2011• 12 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We describe the coherent quantum evolution of a quantum many-body system with a time-dependent power-law confining potential. The amplitude of the inhomogeneous potential is driven in time along a nonlinear ramp which crosses a critical point. Using Kibble-Zurek-like scaling arguments we derive general scaling laws for the density of excitations and energy excess generated during the nonlinear sweep of the confining potential. It is shown that, with respect to the sweeping rate, the densities follow algebraic laws with exponents that depend on the space-time properties of the potential and on the scaling dimensions of the densities. We support our scaling predictions with both analytical and numerical results on the Ising quantum chain with an inhomogeneous transverse field varying in time.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.83.023603

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We describe the coherent quantum evolution of a quantum many-body system with a time-dependent power-law confining potential. The amplitude of the inhomogeneous potential is driven in time along a nonlinear ramp which crosses a critical point. Using Kibble-Zurek-like scaling arguments we derive general scaling laws for the density of excitations and energy excess generated during the nonlinear sweep of the confining potential. It is shown that, with respect to the sweeping rate, the densities follow algebraic laws with exponents that depend on the space-time properties of the potential and on the scaling dimensions of the densities. We support our scaling predictions with both analytical and numerical results on the Ising quantum chain with an inhomogeneous transverse field varying in time.
We analyze the coherent quantum evolution of a many-particle system after slowly sweeping a power-law confining potential. The amplitude of the confining potential is varied in time along a power-law ramp such that the many-particle system finally reaches or crosses a critical point. Under this protocol we derive general scaling laws for the density of excitations created during the nonadiabatic sweep of the confining potential. It is found that the mean excitation density follows an algebraic law as a function of the sweeping rate with an exponent that depends on the space-time properties of the potential. We confirm our scaling laws by first order adiabatic calculation and exact results on the Ising quantum chain with a varying transverse field.
When a system is swept through a quantum critical point (QCP), the Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts that the average number of topological defects follows a universal power-law scaling with the ramp time scale. This scaling behavior is determined by the equilibrium critical exponents of the underlying phase transition. We show that the correspondence between Kibble-Zurek scaling and quantum criticality does not hold generally. In particular, the defect density can exhibit a suppression faster than the Kibble-Zurek prediction even when the quench crosses a critical point, while conventional Kibble-Zurek scaling may persist for quenches through a non-critical point. Our results, based on models representative of a broad class of quasi-one-dimensional Fermi systems, identify the dynamical conditions under which universal defect scaling emerges and clarify the relation between defect generation and equilibrium criticality.
We analyze mechanisms for universal out-of-equilibrium dynamics near criticality by exploring the effect of randomized quantum resetting (QR) under a finite-time quench across a quantum phase transition. Using the transverse-field Ising chain as a generic model and exploiting its exact solution, QR is found to cause a crossover of the scaling of the topological defect density with the time scale τττ of the quench, from Kibble-Zurek to anti-Kibble-Zurek scaling as τττ increases. This reflects a competition between non-adiabatic quench-driven excitations and QR, giving rise to local minima of the defect densities at optimal annealing times. These times and the corresponding local minima are shown to scale as universal power laws with the rate of QR. Additional results for the scaling of the mean excess energy suggest that a system driven across a quantum critical point exhibits the same scaling behavior under a linear quench with QR as with uncorrelated noise.
When a system is swept through a quantum critical point, the Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts that the average number of topological defects follows a universal power-law scaling with the ramp timescale. This scaling behavior is determined by the equilibrium critical exponents of the underlying phase transition. We show that the correspondence between Kibble-Zurek scaling and quantum criticality does not hold generally. In particular, the defect density can exhibit a suppression faster than the Kibble-Zurek prediction even when the quench crosses a critical point, while conventional Kibble-Zurek scaling may persist for quenches through a noncritical point. Our results, based on models representative of a broad class of quasi-one-dimensional Fermi systems, identify the dynamical conditions under which universal defect scaling emerges and clarify the relation between defect generation and equilibrium criticality. © 2026 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.
In the nonadiabatic dynamics across a quantum phase transition, the Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts that the formation of topological defects is suppressed as a universal power law with the quench time. In inhomogeneous systems, the critical point is reached locally and causality reduces the effective system size for defect formation to regions where the velocity of the critical front is slower than the sound velocity, favoring adiabatic dynamics. The reduced density of excitations exhibits a much steeper dependence on the quench rate and is also described by a universal power law that we demonstrated in a quantum Ising chain.
The Kibble-Zurek (KZ) hypothesis identifies the relevant time scales in out-of-equilibrium dynamics of critical systems employing concepts valid at equilibrium: It predicts the scaling of the defect formation immediately after quenches across classical and quantum phase transitions as a function of the quench speed. Here we study the crossover between the scaling dictated by a slow quench, which is ruled by the critical properties of the quantum phase transition, and the excitations due to a faster quench, where the dynamics is often well described by the classical model. We estimate the value of the quench rate that separates the two regimes and support our argument using numerical simulations of the out-of-equilibrium many-body dynamics. For the specific case of a ϕ4\phi^4ϕ4 model we demonstrate that the two regimes exhibit two different power-law scalings, which are in agreement with the KZ theory when applied to the quantum and to the classical case. This result contributes to extending the prediction power of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism and to provide insight into recent experimental observations in systems of cold atoms and ions.