Dynamical quantum phase transitions and the Loschmidt echo: A transfer matrix approach

A boundary transfer matrix formulation allows to calculate the Loschmidt echo for one-dimensional quantum systems in the thermodynamic limit. We show that non-analyticities in the Loschmidt echo and zeros for the Loschmidt amplitude in the complex plane (Fisher zeros) are caused by a crossing of eigenvalues in the spectrum of the transfer matrix. Using a density-matrix renormalization group algorithm applied to these transfer matrices we numerically investigate the Loschmidt echo and the Fisher zeros for quantum quenches in the XXZ model with a uniform and a staggered magnetic field. We give examples---both in the integrable and the non-integrable case---where the Loschmidt echo does not show non-analyticities although the quench leads across an equilibrium phase transition, and examples where non-analyticities appear for quenches within the same phase. For a quench to the free fermion point, we analytically show that the Fisher zeros sensitively depend on the initial state and can lie exactly on the real axis already for finite system size. Furthermore, we use bosonization to analyze our numerical results for quenches within the Luttinger liquid phase.Comment: Published version (minor changes

Discrepancies between decoherence and the Loschmidt echo

The Loschmidt echo and the purity are two quantities that can provide invaluable information about the evolution of a quantum system. While the Loschmidt echo characterizes instability and sensitivity to perturbations, purity measures the loss of coherence produced by an environment coupled to the system. For classically chaotic systems both quantities display a number of -- supposedly universal -- regimes that can lead on to think of them as equivalent quantities. We study the decay of the Loschmidt echo and the purity for systems with finite dimensional Hilbert space and present numerical evidence of some fundamental differences between them.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Changed title. Added 1 figure. Published version

Loschmidt echo in one-dimensional interacting Bose gases

We explore Loschmidt echo in two regimes of one-dimensional (1D) interacting Bose gases: the strongly interacting Tonks-Girardeau (TG) regime, and the weakly-interacting mean-field regime. We find that the Loschmidt echo of a TG gas decays as a Gaussian when small perturbations are added to the Hamiltonian (the exponent is proportional to the number of particles and the magnitude of a small perturbation squared). In the mean-field regime the Loschmidt echo decays faster for larger interparticle interactions (nonlinearity), and it shows richer behavior than the TG Loschmidt echo dynamics, with oscillations superimposed on the overall decay.Comment: Comparison between Tonks-Girardeau and mean-field fidelities corrected; see new Figure 4 and the "Note added". New references are include

Loschmidt echo for a chaotic oscillator

Chaotic dynamics of a nonlinear oscillator is considered in the semiclassical approximation. The Loschmidt echo is calculated for a time scale which is of the power law in semiclassical parameter. It is shown that an exponential decay of the Loschmidt echo is due to a Lyapunov exponent and it has a pure classical nature.Comment: Submit to PR

Loschmidt echo and fidelity decay near an exceptional point

Non-Hermitian classical and open quantum systems near an exceptional point (EP) are known to undergo strong deviations in their dynamical behavior under small perturbations or slow cycling of parameters as compared to Hermitian systems. Such a strong sensitivity is at the heart of many interesting phenomena and applications, such as the asymmetric breakdown of the adiabatic theorem, enhanced sensing, non-Hermitian dynamical quantum phase transitions and photonic catastrophe. Like for Hermitian systems, the sensitivity to perturbations on the dynamical evolution can be captured by Loschmidt echo and fidelity after imperfect time reversal or quench dynamics. Here we disclose a rather counterintuitive phenomenon in certain non-Hermitian systems near an EP, namely the deceleration (rather than acceleration) of the fidelity decay and improved Loschmidt echo as compared to their Hermitian counterparts, despite large (non-perturbative) deformation of the energy spectrum introduced by the perturbations. This behavior is illustrated by considering the fidelity decay and Loschmidt echo for the single-particle hopping dynamics on a tight-binding lattice under an imaginary gauge field.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Annalen der Physi