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Nonequilibrium critical scaling in quantum thermodynamics

Abolfazl Bayat, Tony J. G. Apollaro, Simone Paganelli, Gabriele De Chiara, Henrik Johannesson, Sougato Bose, and Pasquale Sodano
Phys. Rev. B 93, 201106(R) – Published 17 May 2016

Abstract

The emerging field of quantum thermodynamics is contributing important results and insights into archetypal many-body problems, including quantum phase transitions. Still, the question whether out-of-equilibrium quantities, such as fluctuations of work, exhibit critical scaling after a sudden quench in a closed system has remained elusive. Here, we take a novel approach to the problem by studying a quench across an impurity quantum critical point. By performing density matrix renormalization group computations on the two-impurity Kondo model, we are able to establish that the irreversible work produced in a quench exhibits finite-size scaling at quantum criticality. This scaling faithfully predicts the equilibrium critical exponents for the crossover length and the order parameter of the model, and, moreover, implies an exponent for the rescaled irreversible work. By connecting the irreversible work to the two-impurity spin correlation function, our findings can be tested experimentally.

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  • Received 18 January 2016
  • Revised 4 May 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.201106

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsQuantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

Abolfazl Bayat1, Tony J. G. Apollaro2,3,4,5, Simone Paganelli5,6, Gabriele De Chiara4, Henrik Johannesson7,8, Sougato Bose1, and Pasquale Sodano5,9,10

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
  • 2NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore & Istituto di Nanoscienze-CNR, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
  • 3Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 36, I-90123 Palermo, Italy
  • 4Centre for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
  • 5International Institute of Physics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59078-400 Natal-RN, Brazil
  • 6Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università dell'Aquila, via Vetoio, I-67010 Coppito-L'Aquila, Italy
  • 7Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, SE 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 8Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100094, China
  • 9Departemento de Fisíca Teorica e Experimental, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970 Natal-RN, Brazil
  • 10INFN, Sezione di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli, I-06123, Perugia, Italy

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 20 — 15 May 2016

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