Ground state of many-body lattice systems via a central limit theorem

We review a novel approach to evaluate the ground-state properties of many-body lattice systems based on an exact probabilistic representation of the dynamics and its long time approximation via a central limit theorem. The choice of the asymptotic density probability used in the calculation is discussed in detail.Comment: 9 pages, contribution to the proceedings of 12th International Conference on Recent Progress in Many-Body Theories, Santa Fe, New Mexico, August 23-27, 200

Thermalization of noninteracting quantum systems coupled to blackbody radiation: A Lindblad-based analysis

We study the thermalization of an ensemble of $N$ elementary, arbitrarily-complex, quantum systems, mutually noninteracting but coupled as electric or magnetic dipoles to a blackbody radiation. The elementary systems can be all the same or belong to different species, distinguishable or indistinguishable, located at fixed positions or having translational degrees of freedom. Even if the energy spectra of the constituent systems are nondegenerate, as we suppose, the ensemble unavoidably presents degeneracies of the energy levels and/or of the energy gaps. We show that, due to these degeneracies, a thermalization analysis performed by the popular quantum optical master equation reveals a number of serious pathologies, possibly including a lack of ergodicity. On the other hand, a consistent thermalization scenario is obtained by introducing a Lindblad-based approach, in which the Lindblad operators, instead of being derived from a microscopic calculation, are established as the elements of an operatorial basis with squared amplitudes fixed by imposing a detailed balance condition and requiring their correspondence with the dipole transition rates evaluated under the first-order perturbation theory. Due to the above-mentioned degeneracies, this procedure suffers a basis arbitrariness which, however, can be removed by exploiting the fact that the thermalization of an ensemble of noninteracting systems cannot depend on the ensemble size. As a result, we provide a clear-cut partitioning of the thermalization time into dissipation and decoherence times, for which we derive formulas giving the dependence on the energy levels of the elementary systems, the size $N$ of the ensemble, and the temperature of the blackbody radiation.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Obtaining pure steady states in nonequilibrium quantum systems with strong dissipative couplings

Dissipative preparation of a pure steady state usually involves a commutative action of a coherent and a dissipative dynamics on the target state. Namely, the target pure state is an eigenstate of both the coherent and dissipative parts of the dynamics. We show that working in the Zeno regime, i.e. for infinitely large dissipative coupling, one can generate a pure state by a non commutative action, in the above sense, of the coherent and dissipative dynamics. A corresponding Zeno regime pureness criterion is derived. We illustrate the approach, looking at both its theoretical and applicative aspects, in the example case of an open $XXZ$ spin-$1/2$ chain, driven out of equilibrium by boundary reservoirs targeting different spin orientations. Using our criterion, we find two families of pure nonequilibrium steady states, in the Zeno regime, and calculate the dissipative strengths effectively needed to generate steady states which are almost indistinguishable from the target pure states.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Phase transitions and gaps in quantum random energy models

By using a previously established exact characterization of the ground state of random potential systems in the thermodynamic limit, we determine the ground and first excited energy levels of quantum random energy models, discrete and continuous. We rigorously establish the existence of a universal first order quantum phase transition, obeyed by both the ground and the first excited states. The presence of an exponentially vanishing minimal gap at the transition is general but, quite interestingly, the gap averaged over the realizations of the random potential is finite. This fact leaves still open the chance for some effective quantum annealing algorithm, not necessarily based on a quantum adiabatic scheme.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

A Selective Relaxation Method for Numerical Solution of Schr\"odinger Problems

We propose a numerical method for evaluating eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of Schr\"odinger operators with general confining potentials. The method is selective in the sense that only the eigenvalue closest to a chosen input energy is found through an absolutely-stable relaxation algorithm which has rate of convergence infinite. In the case of bistable potentials the method allows one to evaluate the fundamental energy splitting for a wide range of tunneling rates.Comment: 4 pages with figures, uuencoded Z-compressed ps fil

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and inversion-line spectroscopy in gas mixtures

According to quantum mechanics chiral molecules, that is molecules that rotate the polarization of light, should not exist. The simplest molecules which can be chiral have four or more atoms with two arrangements of minimal potential energy that are equivalent up to a parity operation. Chiral molecules correspond to states localized in one potential energy minimum and can not be stationary states of the Schr\"odinger equation. A possible solution of the paradox can be founded on the idea of spontaneous symmetry breaking. This idea was behind work we did previously involving a localization phase transition: at low pressure the molecules are delocalized between the two minima of the potential energy while at higher pressure they become localized in one minimum due to the intermolecular dipole-dipole interactions. Evidence for such a transition is provided by measurements of the inversion spectrum of ammonia and deuterated ammonia at different pressures. A previously proposed model gives a satisfactory account of the empirical results without free parameters. In this paper, we extend this model to gas mixtures. We find that also in these systems a phase transition takes place at a critical pressure which depends on the composition of the mixture. Moreover, we derive formulas giving the dependence of the inversion frequencies on the pressure. These predictions are susceptible to experimental test.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure

Binary mixtures of chiral gases

A possible solution of the well known paradox of chiral molecules is based on the idea of spontaneous symmetry breaking. At low pressure the molecules are delocalized between the two minima of a given molecular potential while at higher pressure they become localized in one minimum due to the intermolecular dipole-dipole interactions. Evidence for such a phase transition is provided by measurements of the inversion spectrum of ammonia and deuterated ammonia at different pressures. In particular, at pressure greater than a critical value no inversion line is observed. These data are well accounted for by a model previously developed and recently extended to mixtures. In the present paper, we discuss the variation of the critical pressure in binary mixtures as a function of the fractions of the constituents.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, text substantially based on arXiv:1501.02099 to be presented in Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS) 201