Dynamical Friedel oscillations of a Fermi sea

Abstract

We study the scenario of quenching an interaction-free Fermi sea on a one-dimensional lattice ring by suddenly changing the potential of a site. From the point-of-view of the conventional Friedel oscillation, which is a static or equilibrium problem, it is of interest what temporal and spatial oscillations the local sudden quench will induce. Numerically, the primary observation is that for a generic site, the local particle density switches between two plateaus periodically in time. Making use of the proximity of the realistic model to an exactly solvable model and employing the {Abel regularization} to assign a definite value to a divergent series, we obtain an analytical formula for the heights of the plateaus, which turns out to be very accurate for sites not too close to the quench site. The unexpected relevance and the incredible accuracy of the Abel regularization are yet to be understood. Eventually, when the contribution of the defect mode is also taken into account, the plateaus for those sites close to or on the quench site can also be accurately predicted. We have also studied the infinite lattice case. In this case, ensuing the quench, the out-going wave fronts leave behind a stable density oscillation pattern. Because of some interesting single-particle property, this dynamically generated Friedel oscillation differs from its conventional static counterpart only by the defect mode.