Kibble-Zurek Scaling in the Yang-Lee Edge Singularity

Shuai Yin, Guang-Yao Huang, Chung-Yu Lo, and Pochung Chen
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 065701 – Published 10 February 2017
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Abstract

We study the driven dynamics across the critical points of the Yang-Lee edge singularities (YLESs) in a finite-size quantum Ising chain with an imaginary symmetry-breaking field. In contrast to the conventional classical or quantum phase transitions, these phase transitions are induced by tuning the strength of the dissipation in a non-Hermitian system and can occur even at finite size. For conventional phase transitions, universal behaviors in driven dynamics across critical points are usually described by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, which states that the scaling in dynamics is dictated by the critical exponents associated with one critical point and topological defects will emerge after the quench. While the mechanism leading to topological defects breaks down in the YLES, we find that for small lattice size, the driven dynamics can still be described by the Kibble-Zurek scaling with the exponents determined by the (0+1)-dimensional YLES. For medium finite size, however, the driven dynamics can be described by the Kibble-Zurek scaling with two sets of critical exponents determined by both the (0+1)-dimensional and the (1+1)-dimensional YLESs.

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  • Received 28 September 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.065701

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Shuai Yin1,2, Guang-Yao Huang3, Chung-Yu Lo1, and Pochung Chen1

  • 1Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
  • 2Institute for Advanced Study, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of China
  • 3Department of Electronics and Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China

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Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 6 — 10 February 2017

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