Diagnosing equilibrium quantum phase transitions via out-of-time-order correlations and multiple quantum coherences
Robert J. Lewis-Swan, Sean R. Muleady, Ana María Rey
Abstract
We propose a new method to characterize equilibrium quantum phase transitions in terms of the spectrum of multiple quantum coherence (MQC) intensities, a special type of out-of-time-order correlation. Using the iconic Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick and transverse-field Ising models as illustrative examples, we show that an abrupt change in coherence and entanglement of the ground state across a quantum phase transition is clearly observable in the MQC spectrum. Furthermore, we develop a robust protocol to obtain the MQC intensities across the ground state phase diagram, which is accessible to a broad range of current experiments as it relies on standard quasi-adiabatic quenches without the requirement of time-reversing the dynamics.