Absence of Criticality in the Phase Transitions of Open Floquet Systems

Steven Mathey and Sebastian Diehl
Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 110602 – Published 22 March 2019
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Abstract

We address the nature of phase transitions in periodically driven systems coupled to a bath. The latter enables a synchronized nonequilibrium Floquet steady state at finite entropy, which we analyze for rapid drives within a nonequilibrium renormalization group (RG) approach. While the infinitely rapidly driven limit exhibits a second-order phase transition, here we reveal that fluctuations turn the transition first order when the driving frequency is finite. This can be traced back to a universal mechanism, which crucially hinges on the competition of degenerate, near critical modes associated with higher Floquet Brillouin zones. The critical exponents of the infinitely rapidly driven system—including a new, independent one—can yet be probed experimentally upon smoothly tuning towards that limit.

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  • Received 19 July 2018
  • Revised 21 December 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.110602

© 2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Steven Mathey* and Sebastian Diehl

  • Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität zu Köln, 50937 Cologne, Germany

  • *smathey@thp.uni-koeln.de

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Issue

Vol. 122, Iss. 11 — 22 March 2019

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