We study the thermodynamics of quantum particles with long-range interactions at T = 0. Specifically, we generalize the Hamiltonian mean-field (HMF) model to the case of bosons. We consider the Hartree approximation that becomes exact in a proper thermodynamic limit with a coupling constant k ∼ 1/ N . The equilibrium configurations are solutions of the mean-field Schrödinger equation with a cosine interaction. We show that the homogeneous phase, which is unstable in the classical regime, becomes stable in the quantum regime. The homogeneous phase is stabilized by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. This takes place through a second-order phase transition where the control parameter is the normalized Planck constant. The homogeneous phase is unstable for and stable for . The inhomogeneous phase is stable for and disappears for . We point out analogies between the bosonic HMF model and the concept of boson stars in astrophysics. We also discuss the differences between bosons and fermions for what concerns the thermodynamic limit, the order of the phase transition and the form of the density profiles.
We study the thermodynamics of quantum particles with long-range interactions at T = 0. Specifically, we generalize the Hamiltonian mean-field (HMF) model to the case of bosons. We consider the Hartree approximation that becomes exact in a proper thermodynamic limit with a coupling constant k ∼ 1/ N . The equilibrium configurations are solutions of the mean-field Schrödinger equation with a cosine interaction. We show that the homogeneous phase, which is unstable in the classical regime, becomes stable in the quantum regime. The homogeneous phase is stabilized by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. This takes place through a second-order phase transition where the control parameter is the normalized Planck constant. The homogeneous phase is unstable for and stable for . The inhomogeneous phase is stable for and disappears for . We point out analogies between the bosonic HMF model and the concept of boson stars in astrophysics. We also discuss the differences between bosons and fermions for what concerns the thermodynamic limit, the order of the phase transition and the form of the density profiles.
We study the thermodynamics of quantum particles with long-range interactions at T=0. Specifically, we generalize the Hamiltonian Mean Field (HMF) model to the case of fermions and bosons. In the case of fermions, we consider the Thomas-Fermi approximation that becomes exact in a proper thermodynamic limit. The equilibrium configurations, described by the Fermi (or waterbag) distribution, are equivalent to polytropes with index n=1/2. In the case of bosons, we consider the Hartree approximation that becomes exact in a proper thermodynamic limit. The equilibrium configurations are solutions of the mean field Schrödinger equation with a cosine interaction. We show that the homogeneous phase, that is unstable in the classical regime, becomes stable in the quantum regime. This takes place through a first order phase transition for fermions and through a second order phase transition for bosons where the control parameter is the normalized Planck constant. In the case of fermions, the homogeneous phase is stabilized by the Pauli exclusion principle while for bosons the stabilization is due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. As a result, the thermodynamic limit is different for fermions and bosons. We point out analogies between the quantum HMF model and the concepts of fermion and boson stars in astrophysics. Finally, as a by-product of our analysis, we obtain new results concerning the Vlasov dynamical stability of the waterbag distribution.
We study the thermodynamics of quantum particles with long-range interactions at T = 0. Specifically, we generalize the Hamiltonian mean-field (HMF) model to the case of fermions. We consider the Thomas–Fermi approximation that becomes exact in a proper thermodynamic limit with a coupling constant k ~ N. The equilibrium configurations, described by the mean-field Fermi (or waterbag) distribution, are equivalent to polytropes of index n = 1/2. We show that the homogeneous phase, which is unstable in the classical regime, becomes stable in the quantum regime. The homogeneous phase is stabilized by the Pauli exclusion principle. This takes place through a first-order phase transition where the control parameter is the normalized Planck constant. The homogeneous phase is unstable for , metastable for and stable for . The inhomogeneous phase is stable for , metastable for and disappears for (for , there exists an unstable inhomogeneous phase with magnetization ). We point out analogies between the fermionic HMF model and the concept of fermion stars in astrophysics. Finally, as a by-product of our analysis, we obtain new results concerning the Vlasov dynamical stability of the waterbag distribution which is the ground state of the Lynden-Bell distribution in the theory of violent relaxation of the classical HMF model. We show that spatially homogeneous waterbag distributions are Vlasov-stable iff ≥ c = 1/3 and spatially inhomogeneous waterbag distributions are Vlasov-stable iff ≤ * = 0.379 and b ≥ b* = 0.37, where and b are the normalized energy and magnetization. The magnetization curve displays a first-order phase transition at t = 0.352 and the domain of metastability ranges from c to *.
We consider a gas of indistinguishable bosons, confined to a ring of radius R, and interacting via a pair-wise cosine potential. This may be thought of as the quantized Hamiltonian Mean Field (HMF) model for bosons originally introduced by Chavanis as a generalization of Antoni and Ruffo’s classical model. This thesis contains three parts: In part one, the dynamics of a Bose-condensate are considered by studying a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GGPE). Quantum effects due to the quantum pressure are found to substantially alter the system’s dynamics, and can serve to inhibit a pathological instability for repulsive interactions. The non-commutativity of the large-N , long-time, and classical limits is discussed. In part two, we consider the GGPE studied above and seek static solutions. Exact solutions are identified by solving a non-linear eigenvalue problem which is closely related to the Mathieu equation. Stationary solutions are identified as solitary waves (or solitons) due to their small spatial extent and the system’s underlying Galilean invariance. Asymptotic series are developed to give an analytic solution to the non- linear eigenvalue problem, and these are then used to study the stability of the solitary wave mentioned above. In part three, the exact solutions outlined above are used to study quantum fluctuations of gapless excitations in the HMF model’s symmetry broken phase. It is found that this phase is destroyed at zero temperature by large quantum fluctuations. This demonstrates that mean-field theory is not exact, and can in fact be qualitatively wrong, for long-range interacting quantum systems, in contrast to conventional wisdom.
Mean-field Hartree theory is a central tool for reducing many-body dynamics to an effective one-particle evolution. This approximation has been employed when the Hamiltonian governing the many-body dynamics is not Hermitian. Indeed, non-Hermitian Hamiltonians model particle gain/loss or the evolution of open quantum systems between consecutive quantum jumps. Furthermore, the validity of the Hartree approximation for generic non-Hermitian Hamiltonians lies at the basis of a quantum algorithm for nonlinear differential equations. In this work, we show that this approximation can fail.
First, we consider the most general bosonic mean-field Hamiltonian with two-body interactions and we prove that, for non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, the Hartree equation does not capture the correct second time derivative of the one-particle marginal state at t=0 in the thermodynamic limit. Then, we analytically solve a model of N bosonic qubits with a purely anti-Hermitian Hamiltonian, compute the limit for N→∞ of the one-particle marginal state and show that it does not agree with the solution of the non-Hermitian Hartree equation. We further show that there exists an initial condition such that the exact one-particle marginal state undergoes a finite-time transition to a mixed state, a phenomenon that is completely absent in the case of Hermitian Hamiltonians. Finally, we simulate a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with real spectrum and show that, also in this case, there are initial conditions for which the Hartree equation does not reproduce the correct one-particle marginal state in the limit N→∞.
Our findings challenge the validity of the mean-field Hartree approximation for non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, and call for additional conditions for the validity of the mean-field regime to model the dynamics of particle gain and loss and the open-system dynamics in bosonic many-body systems.
It is widely believed that mean-field theory is exact for a wide range of classical long-range interacting systems. Is this also true once quantum fluctuations have been accounted for? As a test case we study the Hamiltonian mean-field (HMF) model for a system of bosons which is predicted (according to mean-field theory) to undergo a second-order quantum phase transition at zero temperature. The ordered phase is characterized by a spontaneously broken O(2) symmetry, which, despite occurring in a one-dimensional model, is not ruled out by the Mermin-Wagner theorem due to the presence of long-range interactions. Nevertheless, a spontaneously broken symmetry implies gapless Goldstone modes whose large fluctuations can restore broken symmetries. In this work we study the influence of quantum fluctuations by projecting the Hamiltonian onto the continuous subspace of symmetry-breaking mean-field states. We find that the energetic cost of gradients in the center-of-mass wave function inhibits the breaking of the O(2) symmetry, but that the energetic cost is very small, scaling as O(1/N^{2}). Nevertheless, for any finite N, no matter how large, this implies that the ground state has a restored O(2) symmetry. Implications for the finite-temperature phases, as well as the classical limit, of the HMF model are discussed.
Engineering long-range interactions in experimental platforms has been achieved with great success in a large variety of quantum systems in recent years. Inspired by this progress, we propose a generalization of the classical Hamiltonian mean-field model to fermionic particles. We study the phase diagram and thermodynamic properties of the model in the canonical ensemble for ferromagnetic interactions as a function of temperature and hopping. At zero temperature, small charge fluctuations drive the many-body system through a first-order quantum phase transition from an ordered to a disordered phase. At higher temperatures, the fluctuation-induced phase transition remains first order initially and switches to second-order only at a tricritical point. Our results offer an intriguing example of tricriticality in a quantum system with long-range couplings, which bears direct experimental relevance. The analysis is performed by exact diagonalization and mean-field theory.