Epidemic dynamics in open quantum spin systems

Perez-Espigares, Carlos; Marcuzzi, Matteo; Gutierrez, Ricardo; Lesanovsky, Igor

Abstract

We explore the non-equilibrium evolution and stationary states of an open many-body system which displays epidemic spreading dynamics in a classical and a quantum regime. Our study is motivated by recent experiments conducted in strongly interacting gases of highly excited Rydberg atoms where the facilitated excitation of Rydberg states competes with radiative decay. These systems approximately implement open quantum versions of models for population dynamics or disease spreading where species can be in a healthy, infected or immune state. We show that in a two-dimensional lattice, depending on the dominance of either classical or quantum effects, the system may display a different kind of non-equilibrium phase transition. We moreover discuss the observability of our findings in laser driven Rydberg gases with particular focus on the role of long-range interactions.

Citation

Perez-Espigares, C., Marcuzzi, M., Gutierrez, R., & Lesanovsky, I. (2017). Epidemic dynamics in open quantum spin systems. Physical Review Letters, 119(14), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.140401

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 11, 2017
• Publication Date: Oct 4, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 14, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 4, 2017
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Print ISSN: 0031-9007
• Electronic ISSN: 1079-7114
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 119
• Issue: 14
• Article Number: 140401
• Pages: 1-6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.140401
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/886511
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.140401
• Contract Date: Sep 14, 2017