arXiv subjects

Denise Bendersky

Publications and source records attributed to Denise Bendersky.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Simulating a Catalyst induced Quantum Dynamical Phase Transition of a Heyrovsky reaction with different models for the environment

Through an appropriate election of the molecular orbital basis, we show analytically that the molecular dissociation occurring in a Heyrovsky reaction can be interpreted as a Quantum Dynamical Phase Transition, i.e., an analytical discontinuity in the molecular energy spectrum induced by the catalyst. The metallic substrate plays the role of an environment that produces an energy uncertainty on the adatom. This broadening induces a critical behavior not possible in a quantum closed system. We use suitable approximations on symmetry, together with both Lanczos and canonical transformations, to give analytical estimates for the critical parameters of molecular dissociation. This occurs when the bonding to the surface is (\sqrt{2}) times the molecular bonding. This value is slightly weakened for less symmetric situations. However simple, this conclusion involves a high order perturbative solution of the molecule-catalyst system. This model is further simplified to discuss how an environment-induced critical phenomenon can be evaluated through an idealized perturbative tunneling microscopy set-up. In this case, the energy uncertainties in one or both atoms are either Lorentzian or Gaussian. The former results from the Fermi Golden Rule, i.e., a Markovian approximation. The Gaussian uncertainty, associated with non-Markovian decoherent processes, requires the introduction of a particular model of a spin bath. The partially coherent tunneling current is obtained from the Generalized Landauer-Büttiker Equations. The resonances observed in these transport parameters reflect, in many cases, the critical properties of the resonances in the molecular spectrum.

physics.atm-clus↗

arXiv2016

Loschmidt echo in many-spin systems: contrasting time-scales of local and global measurements

A local excitation in a quantum many-spin system evolves deterministically. A time-reversal procedure, involving the inversion of the signs of every energy and interaction, should produce the excitation revival. This idea, experimentally coined in NMR, embodies the concept of the Loschmidt echo (LE). While such an implementation involves a single spin autocorrelation $M_{1,1}$, i.e. a local LE, theoretical efforts have focused on the study of the recovery probability of a complete many-body state, referred here as global or many-body LE $M_{MB}$. Here, we analyze the relation between these magnitudes, in what concerns to their characteristic time scales and their dependence on the number of spins $N$. We show that the global LE can be understood, to some extent, as the simultaneous occurrence of $N$ independent local LEs, i.e. $M_{MB}\sim \left( M_{1,1}\right) ^{N/4}$. This extensive hypothesis is exact for very short times and confirmed numerically beyond such a regime. Furthermore, we discuss a general picture of the decay of $M_{1,1}$ as a consequence of the interplay between the time scale that characterizes the reversible interactions ($T_{2}$) and that of the perturbation ($τ_{Σ}$). Our analysis suggests that the short time decay, characterized by the time scale $τ_{Σ}$, is greatly enhanced by the complex processes that occur beyond $T_{2}$ . This would ultimately lead to the experimentally observed $T_{3},$ which was found to be roughly independent of $τ_{Σ}$ but closely tied to $T_{2}$.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Proliferation of effective interactions: decoherence-induced equilibration in a closed many-body system

We address the question on how weak perturbations, that are quite ineffective in small many-body systems, can lead to decoherence and hence to irreversibility when they proliferate as the system size increases. This question is at the heart of solid state NMR. There, an initially local polarization spreads all over due to spin-spin interactions that conserve the total spin projection, leading to an equilibration of the polarization. In principle, this quantum dynamics can be reversed by changing the sign of the Hamiltonian. However, the reversal is usually perturbed by non reversible interactions that act as a decoherence source. The fraction of the local excitation recovered defines the Loschmidt echo (LE), here evaluated in a series of closed $N$ spin systems with all-to-all interactions. The most remarkable regime of the LE decay occurs when the perturbation induces proliferated effective interactions. We show that if this perturbation exceeds some lower bound, the decay is ruled by an effective Fermi golden rule (FGR). Such a lower bound shrinks as $ N $ increases, becoming the leading mechanism for LE decay in the thermodynamic limit. Once the polarization stayed equilibrated longer than the FGR time, it remains equilibrated in spite of the reversal procedure.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Fragility of superposition states evaluated by the Loschmidt Echo

We consider the degradation of the dynamics of a Gaussian wave packet in a harmonic oscillator under the presence of an environment. This last is given by a single non-degenerate two level system. We analyze how the binary degree of freedom perturbs the free evolution of the wave packet producing decoherence, which is quantified by the Loschmidt Echo. This magnitude measures the reversibility of a perturbed quantum evolution. In particular, we use it here to study the relative "fragility" of coherent superpositions (cat states) with respect to incoherent ones. This fragility or sensitivity turns to increase exponentially with the energy separation of the two components of the superposition.

quant-ph↗