arXiv subjects

Andrea Fubini

Publications and source records attributed to Andrea Fubini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2008

Staggered magnetization and entanglement enhancement by magnetic impurities in $S=1/2$ spin chain

We study the effects of a magnetic impurity on the behavior of a $S=1/2$ spin chain. At T=0, both with and without an applied uniform magnetic field, an oscillating magnetization appears, whose decay with the distance from the impurity is ruled by a power law. As a consequence, pairwise entanglement is either enhanced or quenched, depending on the distance of the spin pair with respect to the impurity and on the values of the magnetic field and the intensity of the impurity itself. This leads us to suggest that acting on such control parameters, an adiabatic manipulation of the entanglement distribution can be performed. The robustness of our results against temperature is checked, and suggestions about possible experimental applications are put forward.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2007

Two-spin entanglement distribution near factorized states

We study the two-spin entanglement distribution along the infinite $S=1/2$ chain described by the XY model in a transverse field; closed analytical expressions are derived for the one-tangle and the concurrences $C_r$, $r$ being the distance between the two possibly entangled spins, for values of the Hamiltonian parameters close to those corresponding to factorized ground states. The total amount of entanglement, the fraction of such entanglement which is stored in pairwise entanglement, and the way such fraction distributes along the chain is discussed, with attention focused on the dependence on the anisotropy of the exchange interaction. Near factorization a characteristic length-scale naturally emerges in the system, which is specifically related with entanglement properties and diverges at the critical point of the fully isotropic model. In general, we find that anisotropy rule a complex behavior of the entanglement properties, which results in the fact that more isotropic models, despite being characterized by a larger amount of total entanglement, present a smaller fraction of pairwise entanglement: the latter, in turn, is more evenly distributed along the chain, to the extent that, in the fully isotropic model at the critical field, the concurrences do not depend on $r$.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Robustness of adiabatic passage trough a quantum phase transition

We analyze the crossing of a quantum critical point based on exact results for the transverse XY model. In dependence of the change rate of the driving field, the evolution of the ground state is studied while the transverse magnetic field is tuned through the critical point with a linear ramping. The excitation probability is obtained exactly and is compared to previous studies and to the Landau-Zener formula, a long time solution for non-adiabatic transitions in two-level systems. The exact time dependence of the excitations density in the system allows to identify the adiabatic and diabatic regions during the sweep and to study the mesoscopic fluctuations of the excitations. The effect of white noise is investigated, where the critical point transmutes into a non-hermitian ``degenerate region''. Besides an overall increase of the excitations during and at the end of the sweep, the most destructive effect of the noise is the decay of the state purity that is enhanced by the passage through the degenerate region.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2006

Quantum phase transition in spin systems studied through entanglement estimators

Entanglement represents a pure quantum effect involving two or more particles. Spin systems are good candidates for studying this effect and its relation with other collective phenomena ruled by quantum mechanics. While the presence of entangled states can be easily verified, the quantitative estimate of this property is still under investigation. One of the most useful tool in this framework is the concurrence whose definition, albeit limited to $S=1/2$ systems, can be related to the correlators. We consider quantum spin systems defined along chains and square lattices, and described by Heisenberg-like Hamiltonians: our goal is to clarify the relation between entanglement and quantum phase transitions, as well as that between the concurrence the and the specific quantum state of the system.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2006

Reading entanglement in terms of spin configurations in quantum magnets

We consider a quantum many-body system made of $N$ interacting $S{=}1/2$ spins on a lattice, and develop a formalism which allows to extract, out of conventional magnetic observables, the quantum probabilities for any selected spin pair to be in maximally entangled or factorized two-spin states. This result is used in order to capture the meaning of entanglement properties in terms of magnetic behavior. In particular, we consider the concurrence between two spins and show how its expression extracts information on the presence of bipartite entanglement out of the probability distributions relative to specific sets of two-spin quantum states. We apply the above findings to the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model in a uniform magnetic field, both on a chain and on a two-leg ladder. Using Quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we obtain the above probability distributions and the associated entanglement, discussing their evolution under application of the field.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2005

Dissipation-driven phase transition in 2D Josephson arrays

We analyze the interplay of dissipative and quantum effects in the proximity of a quantum phase transition. The prototypical system is a resistively shunted two-dimensional Josephson junction array, studied by means of an advanced Fourier path-integral Monte Carlo algorithm. The reentrant superconducting-to-normal phase transition driven by quantum fluctuations, recently discovered in the limit of infinite shunt resistance, persists for moderate dissipation strength but disappears in the limit of small resistance. For large quantum coupling our numerical results show that, beyond a critical dissipation strength, the superconducting phase is always stabilized at sufficiently low temperature. Our phase diagram explains recent experimental findings.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2005

Quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnets: a survey of the activity in Firenze

Over the years the research group in Firenze has produced a number of theoretical results concerning the statistical mechanics of quantum antiferromagnetic models, which range from the theory of two-magnon Raman scattering to the characterization of the phase transitions in quantum low-dimensional antiferromagnetic models. Our research activity was steadily aimed to the understanding of experimental observations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Entanglement and factorized ground states in two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets

Making use of exact results and quantum Monte Carlo data for the entanglement of formation, we show that the ground state of anisotropic two-dimensional S=1/2 antiferromagnets in a uniform field takes the classical-like form of a product state for a particular value and orientation of the field, at which the purely quantum correlations due to entanglement disappear. Analytical expressions for the energy and the form of such states are given, and a novel type of exactly solvable two-dimensional quantum models is therefore singled out. Moreover, we show that the field-induced quantum phase transition present in the models is unambiguously characterized by a cusp minimum in the pairwise-to-global entanglement ratio R, marking the quantum-critical enhancement of \emph{multipartite} entanglement. A detailed discussion is provided on the universality of the cusp in R as a signature of quantum critical behavior entirely based on entanglement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Entanglement in quantum critical spin systems

We study the field dependence of the entanglement of formation in anisotropic S=1/2 antiferromagnetic chains and two-leg ladders displaying a T=0 field-driven quantum phase transition. The analysis is carried out via Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. At zero temperature the entanglement estimators show abrupt changes at and around criticality, vanishing below the critical field, in correspondence with an exactly factorized state, and then immediately recovering a finite value upon passing through the quantum phase transition. At the quantum critical point, a deep minimum in the pairwise-to-global entanglement ratio shows that multi-spin entanglement is strongly enhanced; moreover this signature represents a novel way of detecting the quantum phase transition of the system, relying entirely on entanglement estimators.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Studying quantum spin systems through entanglement estimators

We study the field dependence of the entanglement of formation in anisotropic S=1/2 antiferromagnetic chains displaying a T=0 field-driven quantum phase transition. The analysis is carried out via Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. At zero temperature the entanglement estimators show abrupt changes at and around criticality, vanishing below the critical field, in correspondence with an exactly factorized state, and then immediately recovering a finite value upon passing through the quantum phase transition. At the quantum critical point, a deep minimum in the pairwise-to-global entanglement ratio shows that multi-spin entanglement is strongly enhanced; moreover this signature represents a novel way of detecting the quantum phase transition of the system, relying entirely on entanglement estimators.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Nonequilibrium transfer and decoherence in quantum impurity problems

Using detailed balance and scaling properties of integrals that appear in the Coulomb gas reformulation of quantum impurity problems, we establish exact relations between the nonequilibrium transfer rates of the boundary sine-Gordon and the anisotropic Kondo model at zero temperature. Combining these results with findings from the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz, we derive exact closed form expressions for the transfer rate in the biased spin-boson model in the scaling limit. They illustrate how the crossover from weak to strong tunneling takes place. Using a conjectured correspondence between the transfer and the decoherence rate, we also determine the exact lower bound for damping of the coherent oscillation as a function of bias and dissipation strength in this paradigmic model for NMR and superposition of macroscopically distinct states (qubits).

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in Josephson junction arrays

The quantum XY model shows a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition between a phase with quasi long-range order and a disordered one, like the corresponding classical model. The effect of the quantum fluctuations is to weaken the transition and eventually to destroy it. However, in this respect the mechanism of disappearance of the transition is not yet clear. In this work we address the problem of the quenching of the BKT in the quantum XY model in the region of small temperature and high quantum coupling. In particular, we study the phase diagram of a 2D Josephson junction array, that is one of the best experimental realizations of a quantum XY model. A genuine BKT transition is found up to a threshold value $g^\star$ of the quantum coupling, beyond which no phase coherence is established. Slightly below $g^\star$ the phase stiffness shows a reentrant behavior at lowest temperatures, driven by strong nonlinear quantum fluctuations. Such a reentrance is removed if the dissipation effect of shunt resistors is included.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Ising transition in the two-dimensional quantum $J_1-J_2$ Heisenberg model

We study the thermodynamics of the spin-$S$ two-dimensional quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the square lattice with nearest ($J_1$) and next-nearest ($J_2$) neighbor couplings in its collinear phase ($J_2/J_1>0.5$), using the pure-quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation. Our results show the persistence of a finite-temperature Ising phase transition for every value of the spin, provided that the ratio $J_2/J_1$ is greater than a critical value corresponding to the onset of collinear long-range order at zero temperature. We also calculate the spin- and temperature-dependence of the collinear susceptibility and correlation length, and we discuss our results in light of the experiments on Li$_2$VOSiO$_4$ and related compounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

Reentrant behavior of the phase stiffness in Josephson junction arrays

The phase diagram of a 2D Josephson junction array with large substrate resistance, described by a quantum XY model, is studied by means of Fourier path-integral Monte Carlo. A genuine Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition is found up to a threshold value g* of the quantum coupling, beyond which no phase coherence is established. Slightly below g* the phase stiffness shows a reentrant behavior with temperature, in connection with a low-temperature disappearance of the superconducting phase, driven by strong nonlinear quantum fluctuations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Path integral Monte Carlo for dissipative many-body systems

We address the possibility of performing numerical Monte Carlo simulations for the thermodynamics of quantum dissipative systems. Dissipation is considered within the Caldeira-Leggett formulation, which describes the system in the path-integral formalism through the inclusion of an influence action that is bilocal and quadratic in the system's coordinates. At a first sight the usual direct approach of discretizing the path integral could seem feasible, but complications arise when one tries to introduce a physically meaningful dissipation kernel: in particular its imaginary-time dependence turns out to be severely singular and difficult to evaluate analytically, in spite of the simple expressions for its Matsubara components. We therefore propose to face the numerical problem using Fourier path-integral Monte Carlo, that can be formulated in two different ways: transforming the continuous paths and then truncating the high Fourier components (with possible improvements upon the truncation procedure), or performing the Fourier transformation upon the discretized paths. The latter choice leads to a simpler formulation and allows for a better control of the extrapolation to the limit of infinite Trotter number. The method is implemented for a single nonlinear particle with Ohmic dissipation and for a phi^4 chain with Drude-like dissipation.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2002

Nonequilibrium quantum decay and decoherence in quantum impurity problems

Using detailed balance and scaling properties of integrals that appear in the Coulomb gas reformulation of quantum impurity problems, we establish exact relations between the nonequilibrium quantum decay rates of the boundary sine-Gordon and the anisotropic Kondo model at zero temperature. Combining these results with findings from the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz, we derive exact closed form expressions for the quantum decay rate of the dissipative two-state system in the scaling limit. These expressions illustrate how the crossover from weak to strong tunneling takes place. We trace out the regimes in which the usually applied Golden Rule (nonadiabatic) rate expression fails. Using a conjectured correspondence between the relaxation and dephasing rate, we obtain the exact lower bound of the dephasing rate as a function of bias and dissipation strength.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2001

Quantum fluctuations in one-dimensional arrays of condensates

The effects of quantum and thermal fluctuations upon the fringe structure predicted to be observable in the momentum distribution of coupled Bose-Einstein condensates are studied by the effective-potential method. For a double-well trap, the coherence factor recently introduced by Pitaevskii and Stringari [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 180402 (2001)] is calculated using the effective potential approach and is found in good agreement with their result. The calculations are extended to the case of a one-dimensional array of condensates, showing that quantum effects are essentially described through a simple renormalization of the energy scale in the classical analytical expression for the fringe structure. The consequences for the experimental observability are discussed.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2001

Simulating Quantum Dissipation in Many-Body Systems

An efficient Path Integral Monte Carlo procedure is proposed to simulate the behavior of quantum many-body dissipative systems described within the framework of the influence functional. Thermodynamic observables are obtained by Monte Carlo sampling of the partition function after discretization and Fourier transformation in imaginary time of the dynamical variables. The method is tested extensively for model systems, using realistic dissipative kernels. Results are also compared with the predictions of a recently proposed semiclassical approximation, thus testing the reliability of the latter approach for weak quantum coupling. Our numerical method opens the possibility to quantitatively describe real quantum dissipative systems as, e.g., Josephson junction arrays.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗