Gherardini Stefano, Buffoni Lorenzo, Defenu Nicolò
CNR-<a href="https://ror.org/02dp3a879">INO</a>, Largo Enrico Fermi 6, I-50125 Firenze, Italy.
<a href="https://ror.org/04x48z588">LENS</a>, Università di Firenze, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
Phys Rev Lett. 2024 Sep 13;133(11):113401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.113401.
Quasi-static transformations, or slow quenches, of many-body quantum systems across quantum critical points generate topological defects. The Kibble-Zurek mechanism regulates the appearance of defects in a local quantum system through a classical combinatorial process. However, long-range interactions disrupt the conventional Kibble-Zurek scaling and lead to a density of defects that is independent of the rate of the transformation. In this Letter, we analytically determine the complete full counting statistics of defects generated by slow annealing a strong long-range system across its quantum critical point. We demonstrate that the mechanism of defect generation in long-range systems is a purely quantum process with no classical equivalent. Furthermore, universality is not only observed in the defect density but also in all the moments of the distribution. Our findings can be tested on various experimental platforms, including Rydberg gases and trapped ions.
多体量子系统在量子临界点附近的准静态变换或缓慢猝灭会产生拓扑缺陷。基布尔-祖雷克机制通过经典组合过程调节局部量子系统中缺陷的出现。然而，长程相互作用会破坏传统的基布尔-祖雷克标度关系，并导致缺陷密度与变换速率无关。在本信函中，我们通过解析确定了强长程系统在其量子临界点缓慢退火时产生的缺陷的完整全计数统计。我们证明，长程系统中缺陷产生的机制是一个没有经典对应物的纯量子过程。此外，普遍性不仅体现在缺陷密度上，还体现在分布的所有矩上。我们的发现可以在各种实验平台上进行测试，包括里德堡气体和捕获离子。
