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Uma Divakaran

Publications and source records attributed to Uma Divakaran.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Symmetry structure dependent diagnostic of the Quantum Mpemba Effect

Understanding symmetry restoration in isolated quantum many-body systems is an important problem in nonequilibrium many-body quantum physics. Recent studies have shown that the quantum Mpemba effect can be characterized through entanglement asymmetry, where states with stronger initial symmetry breaking restore symmetry faster. However, it remains unclear whether conventional energy-based measures, such as the trace distance, capture the same phenomenon. We investigate this question in closed spin-$1/2$ quantum systems with different symmetries by analyzing the dynamics of symmetry-breaking initial states. Combining numerical simulations with an analytical decomposition of the trace distance into symmetry-coherence and residual contributions, we identify the conditions under which trace distance tracks entanglement asymmetry and reproduces the Mpemba--like behavior observed in it. For charge symmetry, the residual contribution is negligible, making the trace distance effectively governed by symmetry-sector coherences. In contrast, for permutation symmetry, a significant residual contribution leads to qualitatively different relaxation dynamics. Our results establish when conventional energy-based diagnostics reliably capture symmetry-restoration dynamics and clarify the distinct physical information encoded by entanglement asymmetry and trace distance.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2025

Floquet thermalization by power-law induced permutation symmetry breaking

Permutation symmetry plays a central role in the understanding of collective quantum dynamics. By introducing power law couplings that algebraically decay with the distance between the spins $r$ as $1/r^{\alpha}$, we break this symmetry with a non-zero $\alpha$. This allows us to probe the emergence of new dynamical behaviors, including thermalization in an otherwise permutation symmetric Hamiltonian with all-to-all spin interactions along $x$ direction subjected to periodic kicks in transverse direction. As we increase $\alpha$, the system interpolates from an infinite range spin system at $\alpha=0$ exhibiting permutation symmetry, to a short range integrable model as $\alpha \rightarrow \infty$ where this permutation symmetry is absent. We focus on this change in the behavior of the system as $\alpha$ is tuned, using dynamical quantities like total angular momentum and von Neumann entropy. Starting from the chaotic limit of the permutation symmetric Hamiltonian at $\alpha=0$, for the finite system sizes considered, we find that for small $\alpha$, the steady state values of these quantities remain close to the permutation symmetric subspace values corresponding to $\alpha=0$. At intermediate $\alpha$ values, these show signatures of thermalization exhibiting values corresponding to that of random states in full Hilbert space. On the other hand, the large $\alpha$ limit approaches the values corresponding to integrable kicked Ising model. In addition, we also study the dependence of thermalization on the driving period $\tau$, with results indicating the onset of thermalization for smaller values of $\alpha$ when $\tau$ is large, thereby extending the thermalizing window in the intermediate range of $\alpha$. We further confirm these results using effective dimension and spectral statistics.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2025

Disordering a permutation symmetric system: revivals, thermalization and chaos

This study explores the effects of introducing a symmetry breaking disorder on the dynamics of a system invariant under particle permutation. The disorder forces quantum states, confined to the $N+1$ dimensional completely symmetric space to penetrate the exponentially large $2^N$ dimensional Hilbert space of $N$ particles. In particular, we focus on the quantum kicked top as a Floquet system of $N$ qubits, and use linear entropy, measuring single qubit entanglement, to investigate the changes in the time scales and values of saturation when disorder is introduced. In the near-integrable regime of the kicked top, we study the robustness of quantum revivals to disorder. We also find that a classical calculation yields the quantum single qubit entanglement to remarkable accuracy in the disorder free limit. The disorder, on the other hand, is modeled in the form of noise which again fits well with the numerical calculations. We measure the extent to which the dynamics is retained within the symmetric subspace and its spreading to the full Hilbert space using different quantities. We show that increasing disorder drives the system to a chaotic phase in full Hilbert space, as also supported by the spectral statistics. We find that there is robustness to disorder in the system, and this is a function of how chaotic the kicked top is.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2024

Chaos controlled and disorder driven phase transitions induced by breaking permutation symmetry

The effects of disorder and chaos on quantum many-body systems can be superficially similar, yet their interplay has not been sufficiently explored. This work finds a continuous phase transition when disorder breaks permutation symmetry, with details of the transition being controlled by the degree of chaos in the clean limit. The system changes from an area law entangled phase in the permutation symmetric subspace where collective variables exist to volume law entanglement in the full Hilbert space, beyond a critical strength of the disorder. This has potential implications for general many body physics, as well as technologies such as transmon qubits.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2024

Quantum critical engine at finite temperatures

We construct a quantum critical Otto engine that is powered by finite temperature baths. We show that the work output of the engine shows universal power law behavior that depends on the critical exponents of the working medium, as well as on the temperature of the cold bath. Furthermore, higher temperatures of the cold bath allows the engine to approach the limit of adiabatic operation for smaller values of the time period, while the corresponding power shows a maximum at an intermediate value of the cold bath temperature. These counterintuitive results stems from thermal excitations dominating the dynamics at higher temperatures.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Improving Performance of Quantum Heat Engines using modified Otto cycle

The efficiency of a quantum heat engine is maximum when the unitary strokes are adiabatic. On the other hand, this may not be always possible due to small energy gaps in the system, especially at the critical point where the gap vanishes. With the aim to achieve this adiabaticity, we modify one of the unitary strokes of the cycle by allowing the system to evolve freely with a particular Hamiltonian till a time so that the system reaches a less excited state. This will help in increasing the magnitude of the heat absorbed from the hot bath so that the work output and efficiency of the engine can be increased. We demonstrate this method using an integrable model and a non-integrable model as the working medium. In the case of a two spin system, the optimal value for the time till which the system needs to be freely evolved is calculated analytically in the adiabatic limit. The results show that implementing this modified stroke significantly improves the work output and efficiency of the engine, especially when it crosses the critical point.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2022

Bath engineering enhanced quantum critical engines

Driving a quantum system across quantum critical points leads to non-adiabatic excitations in the system. This in turn may adversely affect the functioning of a quantum machine which uses a quantum critical substance as its working medium. Here we propose a bath-engineered quantum engine (BEQE), in which we use the Kibble--Zurek mechanism and critical scaling laws to formulate a protocol for enhancing the performance of finite-time quantum engines operating close to quantum phase transitions. In the case of free fermionic systems, BEQE enables finite-time engines to outperform engines operating in the presence of shortcuts to adiabaticity, and even infinite-time engines under suitable conditions, thus showing the remarkable advantages offered by this technique. Open questions remain regarding the use of BEQE based on non-integrable models.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2022

Exactly Solvable 1D Quantum Models with Gamma Matrices

In this paper, we write exactly solvable generalizations of 1-dimensional quantum XY and Ising-like models by using $2^d$-dimensional Gamma ($Γ$) matrices as the degrees of freedom on each site. We show that these models result in quadratic Fermionic Hamiltonians with Jordan-Wigner like transformations. We illustrate the techniques using a specific case of 4-dimensional $Γ$ matrices and explore the quantum phase transitions present in the model.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2021

Many-body quantum thermal machines

Thermodynamics of quantum systems and quantum thermal machines are rapidly developing fields, which have already delivered several promising results, as well as raised many intriguing questions. Many-body quantum machines present new opportunities stemming from many-body effects. At the same time, they pose new challenges related to many-body physics. In this short review we discuss some of the recent developments on technologies based on many-body quantum systems. We mainly focus on many-body effects in quantum thermal machines. We also briefly address the role played by many-body systems in the development of quantum batteries and quantum probes.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2020

Universal finite-time thermodynamics of many-body quantum machines from Kibble-Zurek scaling

We demonstrate the existence of universal features in the finite-time thermodynamics of quantum machines by considering a many-body quantum Otto cycle in which the working medium is driven across quantum critical points during the unitary strokes. Specifically, we consider a quantum engine powered by dissipative energizing and relaxing baths. We show that under very generic conditions, the output work is governed by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, i.e., it exhibits a universal power-law scaling with the driving speed through the critical points. We also optimize the finite-time thermodynamics as a function of the driving speed. The maximum power and the corresponding efficiency take a universal form, and are reached for an optimal speed that is governed by the critical exponents. We exemplify our results by considering a transverse-field Ising spin chain as the working medium. For this model, we also show how the efficiency and power vary as the engine becomes critical.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2019

Adiabatic dynamics of quasiperiodic transverse Ising model

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics due to slowly taking a quasiperiodic Hamiltonian across its quantum critical point. The special quasiperiodic Hamiltonian that we study here has two different types of critical lines belonging to two different universality classes, one of them being the well known quantum Ising universality class. In this paper, we verify the Kibble Zurek scaling which predicts a power law scaling of the density of defects generated as a function of the rate of variation of the Hamiltonian. The exponent of this power law is related to the equilibrium critical exponents associated with the critical point crossed. We show that the power-law behavior is indeed obeyed when the two types of critical lines are crossed, with the exponents that are correctly predicted by Kibble Zurek scaling.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2018

Sudden quenches in quasiperiodic Ising model

We present here the non-equilibrium dynamics of the recently studied quasiperiodic Ising model. The zero temperature phase diagram of this model mainly consists of three phases, where each of these three phases can have extended, localized or critically delocalized low energy excited states. We explore the nature of excitations in these different phases by studying the evolution of entanglement entropy after performing quenches of different strengths to different phases. Our results on non-equilibrium dynamics of entanglement entropy are concurrent with the nature of excitations discussed in Ref. 1 in each phase.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2016

Slow quenches in a quantum Ising chain; dynamical phase transitions and topology

We study the slow quenching dynamics (characterized by an inverse rate, $τ^{-1}$) of a one-dimensional transverse Ising chain with nearest neighbor ferromagentic interactions across the quantum critical point (QCP) and analyze the Loschmidt overlap {measured using the subsequent temporal evolution of the final wave function (reached at the end of the quenching) with the final time-independent Hamiltonian}. Studying the Fisher zeros of the corresponding generalized "partition function", we probe non-analyticities manifested in the rate function of the return probability known as dynamical phase transitions (DPTs). In contrast to the sudden quenching case, we show that DPTs survive {in the subsequent temporal evolution following the quenching across two critical points of the model for a sufficiently slow rate; furthermore, an interesting "lobe" structure of Fisher zeros emerge.} We have also made a connection to topological aspects studying the dynamical topological order parameter ($ν_D(t)$), as a function of time ($t$) {measured from the instant when the quenching is complete. Remarkably, the time evolution of $ν_D(t)$ exhibits drastically different behavior following quenches across a single QCP and two QCPs. } {In the former case, $ν_D (t)$ increases step-wise by unity at every DPT (i.e., $Δν_D =1$). In the latter case, on the other hand, $ν_D(t)$ essentially oscillates between 0 and 1 (i.e., successive DPTs occur with $Δν_D =1$ and $Δν_D =-1$, respectively), except for instants where it shows a sudden jump by a factor of unity when two successive DPTs carry a topological charge of same sign.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2016

Tuning the presence of dynamical phase transitions in a generalized $XY$ spin chain

We study an integrable spin chain with three spin interactions and the staggered field ($λ$) while the latter is quenched either slowly (in a linear fashion in time ($t$) as $t/τ$ where $t$ goes from a large negative value to a large positive value and $τ$ is the inverse rate of quenching) or suddenly. In the process, the system crosses quantum critical points and gapless phases. We address the question whether there exist non-analyticities (known as dynamical phase transitions (DPTs)) in the subsequent real time evolution of the state (reached following the quench) governed by the final time-independent Hamiltonian. In the case of sufficiently slow quenching (when $τ$ exceeds a critical value $τ_1$), we show that DPTs, of the form similar to those occurring for quenching across an isolated critical point, can occur even when the system is slowly driven across more than one critical point and gapless phases. More interestingly, in the anisotropic situation we show that DPTs can completely disappear for some values of the anisotropy term ($γ$) and $τ$, thereby establishing the existence of boundaries in the $(γ-τ)$ plane between the DPT and no-DPT regions in both isotropic and anisotropic cases. Our study therefore leads to a unique situation when DPTs may not occur even when an integrable model is slowly ramped across a QCP. On the other hand, considering sudden quenches from an initial value $λ_i$ to a final value $λ_f$, we show that the condition for the presence of DPTs is governed by relations involving $λ_i$, $λ_f$ and $γ$ and the spin chain must be swept across $λ=0$ for DPTs to occur.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2015

Effect of double local quenches on Loschmidt echo and entanglement entropy of a one-dimensional quantum system

We study the effect of two simultaneous local quenches on the evolution of Loschmidt echo and entanglement entropy of a one dimensional transverse Ising model. In this work, one of the local quenches involves the connection of two spin-1/2 chains at a certain time and the other local quench corresponds to a sudden change in the magnitude of the transverse field at a given site in one of the spin chains. We numerically calculate the dynamics associated with the Loschmidt echo and the entanglement entropy as a result of such double quenches, and discuss various timescales involved in this problem using the picture of quasiparticles generated as a result of such quenches.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2015

Quantum phase transitions in transverse field spin models: from statistical physics to quantum information

We review quantum phase transitions of spin systems in transverse magnetic fields taking the examples of the spin-1/2 Ising and XY models in a transverse field. Beginning with an overview of quantum phase transitions, we introduce a number of model Hamiltonians. We provide exact solutions in one spatial dimension connecting them to conformal field theoretical studies. We also discuss Kitaev models and some other exactly solvable spin systems. Studies of quantum phase transitions in the presence of quenched randomness and with frustrating interactions are presented in detail. We discuss novel phenomena like Griffiths-McCoy singularities. We then turn to more recent topics like information theoretic measures of the quantum phase transitions in these models such as concurrence, entanglement entropy, quantum discord and quantum fidelity. We then focus on non-equilibrium dynamics of a variety of transverse field systems across quantum critical points and lines. After mentioning rapid quenching studies, we dwell on slow dynamics and discuss the Kibble-Zurek scaling for the defect density following a quench across critical points and its modifications for quenching across critical lines, gapless regions and multicritical points. Topics like the role of different quenching schemes, local quenching, quenching of models with random interactions and quenching of a spin chain coupled to a heat bath are touched upon. The connection between non-equilibrium dynamics and quantum information theoretic measures is presented at some length. We indicate the connection between Kibble-Zurek scaling and adiabatic evolution of a state as well as the application of adiabatic dynamics as a tool of a quantum optimization technique known as quantum annealing. The final section is dedicated to a detailed discussion on recent experimental studies of transverse Ising-like systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2014

Non-equilibrium quantum relaxation across a localization-delocalization transition

We consider the one-dimensional $XX$-model in a quasi-periodic transverse-field described by the Harper potential, which is equivalent to a tight-binding model of spinless fermions with a quasi-periodic chemical potential. For weak transverse field (chemical potential), $h h_c$. We study the non-equilibrium relaxation of the system by applying two protocols: a sudden change of $h$ (quench dynamics) and a slow change of $h$ in time (adiabatic dynamics). For a quench into the delocalized (localized) phase, the entanglement entropy grows linearly (saturates) and the order parameter decreases exponentially (has a finite limiting value). For a critical quench the entropy increases algebraically with time, whereas the order parameter decreases with a stretched-exponential. The density of defects after an adiabatic field change through the critical point is shown to scale with a power of the rate of field change and a scaling relation for the exponent is derived.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗