Orthogonalization speed-up from quantum coherence after a sudden quench

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Donelli, Beatrice, De Chiara, Gabriele, Scazza, Francesco, Gherardini, Stefano
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Donelli, Beatrice
De Chiara, Gabriele
Scazza, Francesco
Gherardini, Stefano
author_facet Donelli, Beatrice
De Chiara, Gabriele
Scazza, Francesco
Gherardini, Stefano
contents We introduce a nonequilibrium phenomenon, reminiscent of Anderson's orthogonality catastrophe (OC), that arises in the transient dynamics following an interaction quench between a quantum system and a localized defect. Even if the system comprises only a single particle, the overlap between the asymptotic and initial superposition states vanishes according to a power-law scaling with the number of energy eigenstates entering the initial state and an exponent that depends on the interaction strength. The presence of quantum coherence in the initial state is reflected onto the discrete counterpart of an infinite discontinuity in the quasiprobability distribution of work due to the quench transformation, and onto the subsequent power-law decay of the work distribution. The positivity loss of the work distribution is directly linked with a reduction of the minimal time imposed by quantum mechanics for the state to orthogonalize, thus leading to a quantum coherence-enhanced state-orthogonalization. We propose an experimental test of coherence-enhanced orthogonalization dynamics based on Ramsey interferometry of a trapped cold-atom system.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_21313
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Orthogonalization speed-up from quantum coherence after a sudden quench
Donelli, Beatrice
De Chiara, Gabriele
Scazza, Francesco
Gherardini, Stefano
Quantum Physics
Quantum Gases
Statistical Mechanics
We introduce a nonequilibrium phenomenon, reminiscent of Anderson's orthogonality catastrophe (OC), that arises in the transient dynamics following an interaction quench between a quantum system and a localized defect. Even if the system comprises only a single particle, the overlap between the asymptotic and initial superposition states vanishes according to a power-law scaling with the number of energy eigenstates entering the initial state and an exponent that depends on the interaction strength. The presence of quantum coherence in the initial state is reflected onto the discrete counterpart of an infinite discontinuity in the quasiprobability distribution of work due to the quench transformation, and onto the subsequent power-law decay of the work distribution. The positivity loss of the work distribution is directly linked with a reduction of the minimal time imposed by quantum mechanics for the state to orthogonalize, thus leading to a quantum coherence-enhanced state-orthogonalization. We propose an experimental test of coherence-enhanced orthogonalization dynamics based on Ramsey interferometry of a trapped cold-atom system.
title Orthogonalization speed-up from quantum coherence after a sudden quench
topic Quantum Physics
Quantum Gases
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.21313