4,414 research outputs found
Quantum Phase Transitions detected by a local probe using Time Correlations and Violations of Leggett-Garg Inequalities
In the present paper we introduce a way of identifying quantum phase
transitions of many-body systems by means of local time correlations and
Leggett-Garg inequalities. This procedure allows to experimentally determine
the quantum critical points not only of finite-order transitions but also those
of infinite order, as the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition that is not always
easy to detect with current methods. By means of simple analytical arguments
for a general spin- Hamiltonian, and matrix product simulations of
one-dimensional and anisotropic models, we argue that
finite-order quantum phase transitions can be determined by singularities of
the time correlations or their derivatives at criticality. The same features
are exhibited by corresponding Leggett-Garg functions, which noticeably
indicate violation of the Leggett-Garg inequalities for early times and all the
Hamiltonian parameters considered. In addition, we find that the infinite-order
transition of the model at the isotropic point can be revealed by the
maximal violation of the Leggett-Garg inequalities. We thus show that quantum
phase transitions can be identified by purely local measurements, and that
many-body systems constitute important candidates to observe experimentally the
violation of Leggett-Garg inequalities.Comment: Minor changes, 11 pages, 11 figures. Final version published in Phys.
Rev.
Quantum Hysteresis in Coupled Light-Matter Systems
We investigate the non-equilibrium quantum dynamics of a canonical
light-matter system, namely the Dicke model, when the light-matter interaction
is ramped up and down through a cycle across the quantum phase transition. Our
calculations reveal a rich set of dynamical behaviors determined by the cycle
times, ranging from the slow, near adiabatic regime through to the fast, sudden
quench regime. As the cycle time decreases, we uncover a crossover from an
oscillatory exchange of quantum information between light and matter that
approaches a reversible adiabatic process, to a dispersive regime that
generates large values of light-matter entanglement. The phenomena uncovered in
this work have implications in quantum control, quantum interferometry, as well
as in quantum information theory.Comment: 9 pages and 4 figure
Dynamics of Entanglement and the Schmidt Gap in a Driven Light-Matter System
The ability to modify light-matter coupling in time (e.g. using external
pulses) opens up the exciting possibility of generating and probing new aspects
of quantum correlations in many-body light-matter systems. Here we study the
impact of such a pulsed coupling on the light-matter entanglement in the Dicke
model as well as the respective subsystem quantum dynamics. Our dynamical
many-body analysis exploits the natural partition between the radiation and
matter degrees of freedom, allowing us to explore time-dependent
intra-subsystem quantum correlations by means of squeezing parameters, and the
inter-subsystem Schmidt gap for different pulse duration (i.e. ramping
velocity) regimes -- from the near adiabatic to the sudden quench limits. Our
results reveal that both types of quantities indicate the emergence of the
superradiant phase when crossing the quantum critical point. In addition, at
the end of the pulse light and matter remain entangled even though they become
uncoupled, which could be exploited to generate entangled states in
non-interacting systems.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics
B, special issue Correlations in light-matter interaction
Long-range ferromagnetism of Mn12 acetate single-molecule magnets under a transverse magnetic field
We use neutron diffraction to probe the magnetization components of a crystal
of Mn12 single-molecule magnets. Each of these molecules behaves, at low
temperatures, as a nanomagnet with spin S = 10 and strong anisotropy along the
crystallographic c axis. Application of a magnetic field perpendicular to c
induces quantum tunneling between opposite spin orientations, enabling the
spins to attain thermal equilibrium. Below approximately 0.9 K, intermolecular
interactions turn this equilibrium state into a ferromagnetically ordered
phase. However, long range ferromagnetic correlations nearly disappear for
fields larger 5.5 T, possibly suggesting the existence of a quantum critical
point.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Compressibility and structural stability of ultra-incompressible bimetallic interstitial carbides and nitrides
We have investigated by means of high-pressure x-ray diffraction the
structural stability of Pd2Mo3N, Ni2Mo3C0.52N0.48, Co3Mo3C0.62N0.38, and
Fe3Mo3C. We have found that they remain stable in their ambient-pressure cubic
phase at least up to 48 GPa. All of them have a bulk modulus larger than 330
GPa, being the least compressible material Fe3Mo3C, B0 = 374(3) GPa. In
addition, apparently a reduction of compressibility is detected as the carbon
content increased. The equation of state for each material is determined. A
comparison with other refractory materials indicates that interstitial nitrides
and carbides behave as ultra-incompressible materials.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
New iterative method to obtain the softening curve in concrete.
Abstract An original procedure to determine the softening curve in concrete has been proposed by the authors. This inverse method combines experimental results, finite element simulations and an iterative algorithm to adjust the experimental data. The end product of the process is a softening curve that allows us to very accurately reproduce the experimental curves. The proposed method calculates the fracture energy from the cohesive softening curve model, which in turn is iteratively determined by adjusting experimental load-displacement data of three-point bending tests. The procedure has been successfully applied to two conventional concretes
Evidence of ongoing radial migration in NGC 6754: Azimuthal variations of the gas properties
Understanding the nature of spiral structure in disk galaxies is one of the
main, and still unsolved questions in galactic astronomy. However, theoretical
works are proposing new testable predictions whose detection is becoming
feasible with recent development in instrumentation. In particular, streaming
motions along spiral arms are expected to induce azimuthal variations in the
chemical composition of a galaxy at a given galactic radius. In this letter we
analyse the gas content in NGC 6754 with VLT/MUSE data to characterise its 2D
chemical composition and H line-of-sight velocity distribution. We find
that the trailing (leading) edge of the NGC 6754 spiral arms show signatures of
tangentially-slower, radially-outward (tangentially-faster, radially-inward)
streaming motions of metal-rich (poor) gas over a large range of radii. These
results show direct evidence of gas radial migration for the first time. We
compare our results with the gas behaviour in a -body disk simulation
showing spiral morphological features rotating with a similar speed as the gas
at every radius, in good agreement with the observed trend. This indicates that
the spiral arm features in NGC 6754 may be transient and rotate similarly as
the gas does at a large range of radii.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL 2016 September
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