Activated dynamics in the quantum random field Ising model

Abstract

We study the critical dynamics of the quantum random-field Ising model using the nonperturbative functional renormalization group (NP-FRG). The static critical behavior is found to be controlled by the zero-temperature fixed point of the classical random-field Ising model, where both thermal and quantum fluctuations are dangerously irrelevant. Considering a family of quantum dynamical universality classes defined by a bare dynamical kernel $F_\Lambda(\omega)\sim |\omega|^\sigma$, we show how this fluctuationless fixed point nevertheless controls the quantum dynamics by computing the full Matsubara-frequency dependence of the running dynamical kernel $F_k(\omega)$. This is essential at zero temperature: a naive treatment of the dynamical kernel flow leads to a divergence at a finite length scale, resulting in apparent localization. In contrast, keeping the full frequency dependence of the dynamical kernel and choosing a regulator adapted to its running scale yields a controlled flow. The resulting dynamics is of activated form, with a relaxation time given by $\ln \tau \sim \xi^\Psi$. The exponent $\Psi$ is determined by the static RFIM fixed-point exponents and by $\sigma$. At finite temperature, the flow crosses over to the classical thermally activated scaling of the random-field Ising model. These results provide a quantitative field-theoretic realization of the heuristic activation scenario proposed earlier for the quantum random-field model and establish a framework for analyzing the dynamics of other disordered quantum systems that may exhibit similar tentative localization-like singularities.