Determination of the Nonequilibrium Steady State Emerging from a Defect

Bruno Bertini and Maurizio Fagotti
Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 130402 – Published 22 September 2016

Abstract

We consider the nonequilibrium time evolution of a translationally invariant state under a Hamiltonian with a localized defect. We discern the situations where a light cone spreads out from the defect and separates the system into regions with macroscopically different properties. We identify the light cone and propose a procedure to obtain a (quasi)stationary state describing the late time dynamics of local observables. As an explicit example, we study the time evolution generated by the Hamiltonian of the transverse-field Ising chain with a local defect that cuts the interaction between two sites (a quench of the boundary conditions alongside a global quench). We solve the dynamics exactly and show that the late time properties can be obtained with the general method proposed.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 26 April 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.130402

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Bruno Bertini1 and Maurizio Fagotti2

  • 1SISSA and INFN, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
  • 2Département de Physique, École Normale Supérieure / PSL Research University, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France

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Issue

Vol. 117, Iss. 13 — 23 September 2016

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