The Statistics of the Work Done on a Quantum Critical System by Quenching a Control Parameter

Abstract

We study the statistics of the work done on a quantum critical system by quenching a control parameter in the Hamiltonian. We elucidate the relation between the probability distribution of the work and the Loschmidt echo, a quantity emerging usually in the context of dephasing. Using this connection we characterize the statistics of the work done on a quantum Ising chain by quenching locally or globally the transverse field. We show that for local quenches starting at criticality the probability distribution of the work displays an interesting edge singularity.

4 pages, 1 figure, final version

References in corpus (5)

• Fluctuation theorems: Work is not an observable
• Universal adiabatic dynamics across a quantum critical point
• Entanglement and correlation functions following a local quench: a conformal field theory approach
• Quench dynamics across quantum critical points
• Decoherence induced by interacting quantum spin baths

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Quantum Quench from a Thermal Initial State
• Quenches in quantum many-body systems: One-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model reexamined
• Adiabatic dynamics in open quantum critical many-body systems
• Quantum quenches from integrability: the fermionic pairing model
• Exact results for the criticality of quench dynamics in quantum Ising models
• Universal Dephasing of Many-Body Rabi Oscillations of Atoms in One-Dimensional Traps