We discuss a reaction–diffusion model in one dimension subjected to an external driving force. Each lattice site may be occupied by at most one particle. The particles hop with rates (1±η)/2 to the right or left nearest neighbor site if it is vacant, and annihilate with rate one if it is occupied. The representation of an uncorrelated random initial state in terms of free fermions allows the calculation of multiple time-dependent higher order correlation functions of the local density. We outline the procedure using a field theoretic approach. We also compute the long time behavior of the density profile if the initial density profile is a step function. The fermion representation of the step function state also allows the calculation of multiple time-dependent correlation functions. Experimental applications of these results are pointed out.
We discuss a reaction–diffusion model in one dimension subjected to an external driving force. Each lattice site may be occupied by at most one particle. The particles hop with rates (1±η)/2 to the right or left nearest neighbor site if it is vacant, and annihilate with rate one if it is occupied. The representation of an uncorrelated random initial state in terms of free fermions allows the calculation of multiple time-dependent higher order correlation functions of the local density. We outline the procedure using a field theoretic approach. We also compute the long time behavior of the density profile if the initial density profile is a step function. The fermion representation of the step function state also allows the calculation of multiple time-dependent correlation functions. Experimental applications of these results are pointed out.
We investigate the quantum reaction-diffusion dynamics of fermionic particles which coherently hop in a one-dimensional lattice and undergo annihilation reactions. The latter are modelled as dissipative processes which involve losses of pairs 2A→∅, triplets 3A→∅, and quadruplets 4A→∅ of neighboring particles. When considering classical particles, the corresponding decay of their density in time follows an asymptotic power-law behavior. The associated exponent in one dimension is different from the mean-field prediction whenever diffusive mixing is not too strong and spatial correlations are relevant. This specifically applies to 2A→∅, while the mean-field power-law prediction just acquires a logarithmic correction for 3A→∅ and is exact for 4A→∅. A mean-field approach is also valid, for all the three processes, when the diffusive mixing is strong, i.e., in the so-called reaction-limited regime. Here we show that the picture is different for quantum systems. We consider the quantum reaction-limited regime and we show that for all the three processes power-law behavior beyond mean field is present as a consequence of quantum coherences, which are not related to space dimensionality. The decay in 3A→∅ is further, highly intricate, since the power-law behavior therein only appears within an intermediate time window, while at long times the density decay is not power law. Our results show that emergent critical behavior in quantum dynamics has a markedly different origin, based on quantum coherences, to that applying to classical critical phenomena, which is, instead, solely determined by the relevance of spatial correlations.
We study the real-time dynamics of local occupation numbers in a one-dimensional model of spinless fermions with a random on-site potential for a certain class of initial states. The latter are thermal (mixed or pure) states of the model in the presence of an additional static force but become nonequilibrium states after a sudden removal of this static force. For this class and high temperatures, we show that the induced dynamics is given by a single correlation function at equilibrium, independent of the initial expectation values being prepared close to equilibrium (by a weak static force) or far away from equilibrium (by a strong static force). Remarkably, this type of universality holds true in both the ergodic phase and the many-body localized regime. Moreover, it does not depend on the specific choice of a unit cell for the local density. We particularly discuss two important consequences. First, the long-time expectation value of the local density is uniquely determined by the fluctuations of its diagonal matrix elements in the energy eigenbasis. Thus, the validity of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis is not only a sufficient but also a necessary condition for thermalization. Second, the real-time broadening of density profiles is always given by the current autocorrelation function at equilibrium via a generalized Einstein relation. In the context of transport, we discuss the influence of disorder for large particle-particle interactions, where normal diffusion is known to occur in the disorder-free case. Our results suggest that normal diffusion is stable against weak disorder, while they are consistent with anomalous diffusion for stronger disorder below the localization transition. Particularly, for weak disorder, Gaussian density profiles can be observed for single disorder realizations, which we demonstrate for finite lattices up to 31 sites.
We consider systems of particles hopping stochastically on d-dimensional lattices with space-dependent probabilities. We map the master equation onto an evolution equation in a Fock space where the dynamics are given by a quantum Hamiltonian (continuous time) or a transfer matrix resp. (discrete time). We show that under certain conditions the time-dependent two-point density correlation function in the N-particle steady state can be computed from the probability distribution of a single particle moving in the same environment. Focussing on exclusion models where each lattice site can be occupied by at most one particle we discuss as an example for such a stochastic process a generalized Heisenberg antiferromagnet where the strength of the spin-spin coupling is space-dependent. In discrete time one obtains for one-dimensional systems the diagonal-to-diagonal transfer matrix of the two-dimensional six-vertex model with space-dependent vertex weights. For a random distribution of the vertex weights one obtains a version of the random barrier model describing diffusion of particles in disordered media. We derive exact expressions for the averaged two-point density correlation functions in the presence of weak, correlated disorder.
We consider the quantum reaction-diffusion dynamics in d spatial dimensions of a Fermi gas subject to binary annihilation reactions $A+A\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\emptyset}$. These systems display collective nonequilibrium long-time behavior, which is signalled by an algebraic decay of the particle density. Building on the Keldysh formalism, we devise a field theoretical approach for the reaction-limited regime, where annihilation reactions are scarce. Combining a perturbative expansion of the dissipative interaction with Euler-hydrodynamic scaling limit, we derive a description in terms of a large-scale universal kinetic equation. Our approach shows how the time-dependent generalized Gibbs ensemble assumption, which is often employed for treating low-dimensional nonequilibrium dissipative systems, emerges from systematic diagrammatics. It also allows us to exactly compute---for arbitrary spatial dimension---the decay exponent of the particle density. The latter is based on the large-scale description of the quantum dynamics and it differs from the mean-field prediction even in dimension larger than one. We moreover consider spatially inhomogeneous setups involving an external potential. In confined systems the density decay is accelerated towards the mean-field algebraic behavior, while for deconfined scenarios the power-law decay is replaced by a slower nonalgebraic decay.
Abstract We investigate a one-dimensional free fermion model with nearest and next-nearest neighbor hopping, evolving in imaginary time from a product state with N consecutive fermions, and conditioned to go back to the same state after a given time. Such types of models are quantum reformulations of well-studied two-dimensional classical lattice models, which are known to give rise to limit shapes where expectation values of simple local observables, such as density, depend on position in an appropriate scaling limit. In the case of only nearest neighbor hopping, this model is known to have two fluctuating regions which can be tuned to merge depending on ratio between time and N . Correlations near the merger are governed by a so-called tacnode kernel. Here we show that another universal higher-order tacnode process can appear upon including the next-nearest neighbor term. We also discuss the limit shapes, and compute analytically the corresponding density profile.
Abstract We investigate quantum reaction–diffusion (RD) systems in one-dimension with bosonic particles that coherently hop in a lattice, and when brought in range react dissipatively. Such reactions involve binary annihilation ( A + A → ∅ ) and coagulation ( A + A → A ) of particles at distance d. We consider the reaction-limited regime, where dissipative reactions take place at a rate that is small compared to that of coherent hopping. In classical RD systems, this regime is correctly captured by the mean-field approximation. In quantum RD systems, for noninteracting fermionic systems, the reaction-limited regime recently attracted considerable attention because it has been shown to give universal power law decay beyond mean field for the density of particles as a function of time. Here, we address the question whether such universal behavior is present also in the case of the noninteracting Bose gas. We show that beyond mean-field density decay for bosons is possible only for reactions that allow for destructive interference of different decay channels. Furthermore, we study an absorbing-state phase transition induced by the competition between branching A → A + A , decay A → ∅ and coagulation A + A → A . We find a stationary phase-diagram, where a first and a second-order transition line meet at a bicritical point which is described by tricritical directed percolation. These results show that quantum statistics significantly impact on both the stationary and the dynamical universal behavior of quantum RD systems.