arXiv subjects

Stefan Kehrein

Publications and source records attributed to Stefan Kehrein.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Topologically driven nonequilibrium phase transitions in diagonal ensembles

We identify a new class of topologically driven phase transitions when calculating the Hall conductance of two-band Chern insulators in the long-time limit after a global quench of the Hamiltonian. The Hall conductance is expressed as the integral of the Berry curvature in the diagonal ensemble. Even if the topological invariant of the wave function is conserved under unitary evolution, the Hall conductance as a function of the energy gap in the post-quench Hamiltonian displays a continuous but nonanalytic behavior, that is it has a logarithmically divergent derivative as the gap closes. The coefficient of this logarithmic function is the ratio of the change of Chern number in the ground state of the post-quench Hamiltonian to the energy gap in the initial state. This nonanalytic behavior is universal in two-band Chern insulators.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2015

Dynamical Quantum Phase Transitions in the Kitaev Honeycomb Model

The notion of a dynamical quantum phase transition (DQPT) was recently introduced in [Heyl et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 135704 (2013)] as the non-analytic behavior of the Loschmidt echo at critical times in the thermodynamic limit. In this work the quench dynamics in the ground state sector of the two-dimensional Kitaev honeycomb model are studied regarding the occurrence of DQPTs. For general two-dimensional systems of BCS-type it is demonstrated how the zeros of the Loschmidt echo coalesce to areas in the thermodynamic limit, implying that DQPTs occur as discontinuities in the second derivative. In the Kitaev honeycomb model DQPTs appear after quenches across a phase boundary or within the massless phase. In the 1d limit of the Kitaev honeycomb model it becomes clear that the discontinuity in the higher derivative is intimately related to the higher dimensionality of the non-degenerate model. Moreover, there is a strong connection between the stationary value of the rate function of the Loschmidt echo after long times and the occurrence of DQPTs in this model.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

Dynamical quantum phase transitions in the axial next-nearest-neighbour Ising chain

We investigate sudden quenches across the critical point in the transverse field Ising chain with a perturbing non-integrable next-nearest-neighbour interaction. Expressions for the return (Loschmidt) amplitude and associated rate function are derived to linear order in the next-nearest-neighbour coupling. In the thermodynamic limit these quantities exhibit non-analytic behaviour at a set of critical times, a phenomenon referred to as a dynamical quantum phase transition. We quantify the effect of the integrability breaking perturbation on the location and shape of these non-analyticities. Our results agree with those of earlier numerical studies and offer further support for the assertion that the dynamical quantum phase transitions exhibited by this model are a generic feature of its post-quench dynamics and is robust with respect to the inclusion of non-integrable perturbations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2013

Entanglement propagation and typicality of measurements in the quantum Kac ring

We study the time evolution of entanglement in a quantum version of the Kac ring. Our model consists of two spin chains and quantum gates instead of the classical markers. The gates take one qubit from each ring at a time as an input and entangle them. Subsequently, one ring is rotated. This protocol creates non-trivial entanglement between the two rings, which we measure by the entanglement entropy. The features of the entanglement evolution can best be understood by using knowledge about the behavior of an ensemble of classical Kac rings. For instance, the recurrence time of this quantum many-body system is twice the length of the chain and "thermalization" only occurs on time scales much smaller than the dimension of the Hilbert space. The model thus elucidates the relation between distribution of measurement results in quantum and classical systems: While in classical systems repeated measurements are performed over an ensemble of systems, the corresponding result is obtained by measuring the same quantum system prepared in an appropriate superposition repeatedly.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2013

Non-equilibrium dynamics of a system with Quantum Frustration

Using flow equations, equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics of a two-level system are investigated, which couples via non-commuting components to two independent oscillator baths. In equilibrium the two-level energy splitting is protected when the TLS is coupled symmetrically to both bath. A critical asymmetry angle separates the localized from the delocalized phase. On the other hand, real-time decoherence of a non-equilibrium initial state is for a generic initial state faster for a coupling to two baths than for a single bath.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Dynamical Quantum Phase Transitions in the Transverse Field Ising Model

A phase transition indicates a sudden change in the properties of a large system. For temperature-driven phase transitions this is related to non-analytic behavior of the free energy density at the critical temperature: The knowledge of the free energy density in one phase is insufficient to predict the properties of the other phase. In this paper we show that a close analogue of this behavior can occur in the real time evolution of quantum systems, namely non-analytic behavior at a critical time. We denote such behavior a dynamical phase transition and explore its properties in the transverse field Ising model. Specifically, we show that the equilibrium quantum phase transition and the dynamical phase transition in this model are intimately related.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2012

The Crooks relation and its connection to the detailed balance principle of equilibrium correlation functions

We show that in the quantum case any work distribution can be related to an equilibrium correlation function in an extended Hilbert space. As a consequence of this identification the Crooks relation is a restatement of the detailed balance principle for equilibrium correlation functions. The presented derivation serves as an alternative proof of the Crooks relation residing only on the detailed balance principle.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2012

The X-ray edge singularity in Quantum Dots

In this work we investigate the X-ray edge singularity problem realized in noninteracting quantum dots. We analytically calculate the exponent of the singularity in the absorption spectrum near the threshold and extend known analytical results to the whole parameter regime of local level detunings. Additionally, we highlight the connections to work distributions and to the Loschmidt echo.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

The Crooks relation in optical spectra - universality in work distributions for weak local quenches

We show that work distributions and non-equilibrium work fluctuation theorems can be measured in optical spectra for a wide class of quantum systems. We consider systems where the absorption or emission of a photon corresponds to the sudden switch on or off of a local perturbation. For the particular case of a weak local perturbation, the Crooks relation establishes a universal relation in absorption as well as in emission spectra. Due to a direct relation between the spectra and work distribution functions this is equivalent to universal relations in work distributions for weak local quenches. As two concrete examples we treat the X-ray edge problem and the Kondo exciton.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Interaction quench dynamics in the Kondo model in presence of a local magnetic field

In this work we investigate the quench dynamics in the Kondo model on the Toulouse line in presence of a local magnetic field. It is shown that this setup can be realized by either applying the local magnetic field directly or by preparing the system in a macroscopically spin-polarized initial state. In the latter case, the magnetic field results from a subtlety in applying the bosonization technique where terms that are usually referred to as finite-size corrections become important in the present non-equilibrium setting. The transient dynamics is studied by analyzing exact analytical results for the local spin dynamics. The time scale for the relaxation of the local dynamical quantities turns out to be exclusively determined by the Kondo scale. In the transient regime, one observes damped oscillations in the local correlation functions with a frequency set by the magnetic field.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Electron-Plasmon scattering in chiral 1D systems with nonlinear dispersion

We investigate systems of spinless one-dimensional chiral fermions realized, e.g., in the arms of electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometers, at high energies. Taking into account the curvature of the fermionic spectrum and a finite interaction range, we find a new scattering mechanism where high-energy electrons scatter off plasmons (density excitations). This leads to an exponential decay of the single-particle Green's function even at zero temperature with an energy-dependent rate. As a consequence of this electron-plasmon scattering channel, we observe the coherent excitation of a plasmon wave in the wake of a high-energy electron resulting in the buildup of a monochromatic sinusoidal density pattern.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Flow Equation Calculation of Transient and Steady State Currents in the Anderson Impurity Model

Transient and steady state currents through dc-biased quantum impurity models beyond the linear response regime are of considerable interest, both from an experimental and a theoretical point of view. Here we present a new analytical approach for the calculation of such currents based on the flow equation method (method of infinitesimal unitary transformations). Specifically, we analyze the Anderson impurity model in its mixed valence regime where the coupling to the leads is switched on suddenly at time $t=0$. We observe the real time buildup of the current until it reaches its steady state limit.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Crossover from adiabatic to sudden interaction quenches in the Hubbard model: Prethermalization and nonequilibrium dynamics

The recent experimental implementation of condensed matter models in optical lattices has motivated research on their nonequilibrium behavior. Predictions on the dynamics of superconductors following a sudden quench of the pairing interaction have been made based on the effective BCS Hamiltonian; however, their experimental verification requires the preparation of a suitable excited state of the Hubbard model along a twofold constraint: (i) a sufficiently nonadiabatic ramping scheme is essential to excite the nonequilibrium dynamics, and (ii) overheating beyond the critical temperature of superconductivity must be avoided. For commonly discussed interaction ramps there is no clear separation of the corresponding energy scales. Here we show that the matching of both conditions is simplified by the intrinsic relaxation behavior of ultracold fermionic systems: For the particular example of a linear ramp we examine the transient regime of prethermalization [M. Moeckel and S. Kehrein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 175702 (2008)] under the crossover from sudden to adiabatic switching using Keldysh perturbation theory. A real-time analysis of the momentum distribution exhibits a temporal separation of an early energy relaxation and its later thermalization by scattering events. For long but finite ramping times this separation can be large. In the prethermalization regime the momentum distribution resembles a zero temperature Fermi liquid as the energy inserted by the ramp remains located in high energy modes. Thus ultracold fermions prove robust to heating which simplifies the observation of nonequilibrium BCS dynamics in optical lattices.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Non-equilibrium steady state in a periodically driven Kondo model

We investigate the Kondo model with time-dependent couplings that are periodically switched on and off. On the Toulouse line we derive exact analytical results for the spin dynamics in the steady state that builds up after an infinite number of switching periods. Remarkably, the algebraic long time behavior of the spin-spin correlation function remains completely unaffected by the driving. In the limit of slow driving the dynamics become equivalent to that of a single interaction quench. In the limit of fast driving one can show that the steady state cannot be described by some effective equilibrium Hamiltonian since a naive implementation of the Trotter formula gives wrong results. As a consequence, the steady state in the limit of fast switching serves as an example for the emergence of new quantum states not accessible in equilibrium.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Measurement back-action on adiabatic coherent electron transport

We study the back-action of a nearby measurement device on electrons undergoing coherent transfer via adiabatic passage (CTAP) in a triple-well system. The measurement is provided by a quantum point contact capacitively coupled to the middle well, thus acting as a detector sensitive to the charge configuration of the triple-well system. We account for this continuous measurement by treating the whole {triple-well + detector} as a closed quantum system. This leads to a set of coupled differential equations for the density matrix of the enlarged system which we solve numerically. This approach allows to study a single realization of the measurement process while keeping track of the detector output, which is especially relevant for experiments. In particular, we find the emergence of a new peak in the distribution of electrons that passed through the point contact. As one increases the coupling between the middle potential well and the detector, this feature becomes more prominent and is accompanied by a substantial drop in the fidelity of the CTAP scheme.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Exact results for nonlinear ac-transport through a resonant level model

We obtain exact results for the transport through a resonant level model (noninteracting Anderson impurity model) for rectangular voltage bias as a function of time. We study both the transient behavior after switching on the tunneling at time t = 0 and the ensuing steady state behavior. Explicit expressions are obtained for the ac-current in the linear response regime and beyond for large voltage bias. Among other effects, we observe current ringing and PAT (photon assisted tunneling) oscillations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Non-equilibrium magnetization dynamics of ferromagnetically coupled Kondo spins

An analytical description of non-equilibrium phenomena in interacting quantum systems is rarely possible. Here we present one example where such a description can be achieved, namely the ferromagnetic Kondo model. In equilibrium, this model is tractable via perturbative renormalization-group techniques. We employ a recently developed extension of the flow-equation method to calculate the non-equilibrium decay of the local magnetization at zero temperature. The flow equations admit analytical solutions which become exact at short and long times, in the latter case revealing that the system always retains a memory of its initial state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Nonequilibrium Spin Dynamics in the Ferromagnetic Kondo Model

Motivated by recent experiments on molecular quantum dots we investigate the relaxation of pure spin states when coupled to metallic leads. Under suitable conditions these systems are well described by a ferromagnetic Kondo model. Using two recently developed theoretical approaches, the time-dependent numerical renormalization group and an extended ow equation method, we calculate the real-time evolution of a Kondo spin into its partially screened steady state. We obtain exact analytical results which agree well with numerical implementations of both methods. Analytical expressions for the steady state magnetization and the dependence of the long-time relaxation on microscopic parameters are established. We find the long-time relaxation process to be much faster in the regime of anisotropic Kondo couplings. The steady state magnetization is found to deviate significantly from its thermal equilibrium value.

cond-mat.str-el↗