Nonequilibrium Dark Space Phase Transition

Carollo, Federico; Lesanovsky, Igor

Abstract

We introduce the concept of dark space phase transition, which may occur in open many-body quantum systems where irreversible decay, interactions, and quantum interference compete. Our study is based on a quantum many-body model that is inspired by classical nonequilibrium processes which feature phase transitions into an absorbing state, such as epidemic spreading. The possibility for different dynamical paths to interfere quantum mechanically results in collective dynamical behavior without classical counterpart. We identify two competing dark states, a trivial one corresponding to a classical absorbing state and an emergent one which is quantum coherent. We establish a nonequilibrium phase transition within this dark space that features a phenomenology which cannot be encountered in classical systems. Such emergent two-dimensional dark space may find technological applications, e.g., for the collective encoding of a quantum information.

Citation

Carollo, F., & Lesanovsky, I. (2022). Nonequilibrium Dark Space Phase Transition. Physical Review Letters, 128(4), Article 040603. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.040603

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 6, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jan 27, 2022
• Publication Date: Jan 28, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jan 7, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 27, 2022
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Print ISSN: 0031-9007
• Electronic ISSN: 1079-7114
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 128
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 040603
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.040603
• Keywords: General Physics and Astronomy
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7171385
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.040603