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.
- Received 19 July 2018
- Revised 21 December 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.110602
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