Verified Universal Breakdown of Kibble-Zurek Scaling in Fast Quenches

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Rao, Xinxin, Liu, Yang, Li, Mingshen, Liu, Teng, Zeng, Huabi, Luo, Le
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866913884775907328
author Rao, Xinxin
Liu, Yang
Li, Mingshen
Liu, Teng
Zeng, Huabi
Luo, Le
author_facet Rao, Xinxin
Liu, Yang
Li, Mingshen
Liu, Teng
Zeng, Huabi
Luo, Le
contents The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) predicts that when a system is driven through a continuous phase transition, the density of topological defects scales universally with the quench rate. Recent theoretical work [H.-B. Zeng \textit{et al.}, \textit{Phys. Rev. Lett.} \textbf{130}, 060402 (2023)] has challenged this picture, showing that under sufficiently fast quenches, both the defect density and freezing time become independent of the quench rate and instead scale universally with the quench range. Here, we experimentally test this prediction using a single trapped-ion qubit to simulate fast quantum quenches in the Landau-Zener and 1D Rice-Mele models. We identify a critical quench rate \( v_c \) that scales with the quench range \( δ_{\max} \), separating two distinct dynamical regimes. In the Rice-Mele model, for \( v < v_c \), the defect density follows the KZM scaling \( \sim v^{1/2} \); for \( v > v_c \), it exhibits a universal scaling \( \sim δ_{\max} \), independent of the quench rate. Our results provide direct experimental evidence of the predicted breakdown of KZM universality under fast quenches.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_06841
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Verified Universal Breakdown of Kibble-Zurek Scaling in Fast Quenches
Rao, Xinxin
Liu, Yang
Li, Mingshen
Liu, Teng
Zeng, Huabi
Luo, Le
Quantum Physics
The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) predicts that when a system is driven through a continuous phase transition, the density of topological defects scales universally with the quench rate. Recent theoretical work [H.-B. Zeng \textit{et al.}, \textit{Phys. Rev. Lett.} \textbf{130}, 060402 (2023)] has challenged this picture, showing that under sufficiently fast quenches, both the defect density and freezing time become independent of the quench rate and instead scale universally with the quench range. Here, we experimentally test this prediction using a single trapped-ion qubit to simulate fast quantum quenches in the Landau-Zener and 1D Rice-Mele models. We identify a critical quench rate \( v_c \) that scales with the quench range \( δ_{\max} \), separating two distinct dynamical regimes. In the Rice-Mele model, for \( v < v_c \), the defect density follows the KZM scaling \( \sim v^{1/2} \); for \( v > v_c \), it exhibits a universal scaling \( \sim δ_{\max} \), independent of the quench rate. Our results provide direct experimental evidence of the predicted breakdown of KZM universality under fast quenches.
title Verified Universal Breakdown of Kibble-Zurek Scaling in Fast Quenches
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06841