Inhomogeneous quenches in the transverse field Ising chain: scaling and front dynamics

We investigate the non-equilibrium dynamics of the transverse field quantum Ising chain evolving from an inhomogeneous initial state given by joining two macroscopically different semi-infinite chains. We obtain integral expressions for all two-point correlation functions of the Jordan-Wigner Majorana fermions at any time and for any value of the transverse field. Using this result, we compute analytically the profiles of various physical observables in the space-time scaling limit and show that they can be obtained from a hydrodynamic picture based on ballistically propagating quasiparticles. Going beyond the hydrodynamic limit, we analyze the approach to the non-equilibrium steady state and find that the leading late time corrections display a lattice effect. We also study the fine structure of the propagating fronts which are found to be described by the Airy kernel and its derivatives. Near the front we observe the phenomenon of energy back-flow where the energy locally flows from the colder to the hotter region

Modelling the role of inter-cultural contact in the motivation of learning English as a foreign language.

The research reported in this paper explores the effect of direct and indirect cross-cultural contact on Hungarian school children's attitudes and motivated behaviour by means of structural equation modelling. Our data are based on a national representative survey of 1,777 13/14-year-old learners of English and German in Hungary; 237 of the students learning English with the highest level of inter-cultural contact were selected for analysis. Our model indicates that for our participants, motivated behaviour is determined not only by language-related attitudes but also by the views the students hold about the perceived importance of contact with foreigners. The results of our study also reveal that the perceived importance of contact was not related to students’ direct contact experiences with target language speakers but was influenced by the students’ milieu and indirect contact. Among the contact variables, it was only contact through media products that had an important position in our model, whereas direct contact with L2 speakers played an insignificant role in affecting motivated behaviour and attitudes

Finite temperature spin dynamics in a perturbed quantum critical Ising chain with an E8E_8 symmetry

A spectrum exhibiting $E_8$ symmetry is expected to arise when a small longitudinal field is introduced in the transverse-field Ising chain at its quantum critical point. Evidence for this spectrum has recently come from neutron scattering measurements in cobalt niobate, a quasi one-dimensional Ising ferromagnet. Unlike its zero-temperature counterpart, the finite-temperature dynamics of the model has not yet been determined. We study the dynamical spin structure factor of the model at low frequencies and nonzero temperatures, using the form factor method. Its frequency dependence is singular, but differs from the diffusion form. The temperature dependence of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation rate has an activated form, whose prefactor we also determine. We propose NMR experiments as a means to further test the applicability of the $E_8$ description for CoNb$_2$O$_6$.Comment: 5 pages 2 figures - Supplementary Material 11 page

Transport in the sine-Gordon field theory: from generalized hydrodynamics to semiclassics

The semiclassical approach introduced by Sachdev and collaborators proved to be extremely successful in the study of quantum quenches in massive field theories, both in homogeneous and inhomogeneous settings. While conceptually very simple, this method allows one to obtain analytic predictions for several observables when the density of excitations produced by the quench is small. At the same time, a novel generalized hydrodynamic (GHD) approach, which captures exactly many asymptotic features of the integrable dynamics, has recently been introduced. Interestingly, also this theory has a natural interpretation in terms of semiclassical particles and it is then natural to compare the two approaches. This is the objective of this work: we carry out a systematic comparison between the two methods in the prototypical example of the sine-Gordon field theory. In particular, we study the "bipartitioning protocol" where the two halves of a system initially prepared at different temperatures are joined together and then left to evolve unitarily with the same Hamiltonian. We identify two different limits in which the semiclassical predictions are analytically recovered from GHD: a particular non-relativistic limit and the low temperature regime. Interestingly, the transport of topological charge becomes sub-ballistic in these cases. Away from these limits we find that the semiclassical predictions are only approximate and, in contrast to the latter, the transport is always ballistic. This statement seems to hold true even for the so-called "hybrid" semiclassical approach, where finite time DMRG simulations are used to describe the evolution in the internal space.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figure

1D Lieb-Liniger Bose Gas as Non-Relativistic Limit of the Sinh-Gordon Model

The repulsive Lieb-Liniger model can be obtained as the non-relativistic limit of the Sinh-Gordon model: all physical quantities of the latter model (S-matrix, Lagrangian and operators) can be put in correspondence with those of the former. We use this mapping, together with the Thermodynamical Bethe Ansatz equations and the exact form factors of the Sinh-Gordon model, to set up a compact and general formalism for computing the expectation values of the Lieb-Liniger model both at zero and finite temperature. The computation of one-point correlators is thoroughly detailed and, when possible, compared with known results in the literature.Comment: published version, 27 pages, 10 figure

Bethe Ansatz Matrix Elements as Non-Relativistic Limits of Form Factors of Quantum Field Theory

We show that the matrix elements of integrable models computed by the Algebraic Bethe Ansatz can be put in direct correspondence with the Form Factors of integrable relativistic field theories. This happens when the S-matrix of a Bethe Ansatz model can be regarded as a suitable non-relativistic limit of the S-matrix of a field theory, and when there is a well-defined mapping between the Hilbert spaces and operators of the two theories. This correspondence provides an efficient method to compute matrix elements of Bethe Ansatz integrable models, overpassing the technical difficulties of their direct determination. We analyze this correspondence for the simplest example in which it occurs, i.e. the Quantum Non-Linear Schrodinger and the Sinh-Gordon models.Comment: 10 page

Quench dynamics of the Ising field theory in a magnetic field

We numerically simulate the time evolution of the Ising field theory after quenches starting from the $E_8$ integrable model using the Truncated Conformal Space Approach. The results are compared with two different analytic predictions based on form factor expansions in the pre-quench and post-quench basis, respectively. Our results clarify the domain of validity of these expansions and suggest directions for further improvement. We show for quenches in the $E_8$ model that the initial state is not of the integrable pair state form. We also construct quench overlap functions and show that their high-energy asymptotics are markedly different from those constructed before in the sinh/sine-Gordon theory, and argue that this is related to properties of the ultraviolet fixed point

Perturbative post-quench overlaps in Quantum Field Theory

In analytic descriptions of quantum quenches, the overlaps between the initial pre-quench state and the eigenstates of the time evolving Hamiltonian are crucial ingredients. We construct perturbative expansions of these overlaps in quantum field theories where either the pre-quench or the post-quench Hamiltonian is integrable. Using the $E_8$ Ising field theory for concrete computations, we give explicit expressions for the overlaps up to second order in the quench size, and verify our results against numerical results obtained using the Truncated Conformal Space Approach. We demonstrate that the expansion using the post-quench basis is very effective, but find some serious limitations for the alternative approach using the pre-quench basis