Detection of Quantum Phase Boundary at Finite Temperatures in Integrable Spin Models.

Quantum phase transitions occur when quantum fluctuation destroys order at zero temperature. With an increase in temperature, normally the thermal fluctuation wipes out any signs of this transition. Here, we identify a physical quantity that shows nonanalytic behavior at finite temperatures, when an interaction parameter is quenched across the line of quantum phase transition. This quantity under consideration is the long time limit of a form of quantum fidelity. Our treatment is analytic for XY chain and 2D Kitaev model and is numerical for a 3D Hamiltonian applicable to Weyl semimetals.

Signature of a continuous quantum phase transition in non-equilibrium energy absorption: Footprints of criticality on higher excited states.

Understanding phase transitions in quantum matters constitutes a significant part of present day condensed matter physics. Quantum phase transitions concern ground state properties of many-body systems, and hence their signatures are expected to be pronounced in low-energy states. Here we report signature of a quantum critical point manifested in strongly out-of-equilibrium states with finite energy density with respect to the ground state and extensive (subsystem) entanglement entropy, generated by an external pulse. These non-equilibrium states are evidently completely disordered (e.g., paramagnetic in case of a magnetic ordering transition). The pulse is applied by switching a coupling of the Hamiltonian from an initial value (λI) to a final value (λF) for sufficiently long time and back again. The signature appears as non-analyticities (kinks) in the energy absorbed by the system from the pulse as a function of λF at critical-points (i.e., at values of λF corresponding to static critical-points of the system). As one excites higher and higher eigenstates of the final Hamiltonian H(λF) by increasing the pulse height (|λF - λI|), the non-analyticity grows stronger monotonically with it. This implies adding contributions from higher eigenstates help magnifying the non-analyticity, indicating strong imprint of the critical-point on them. Our findings are grounded on exact analytical results derived for Ising and XY chains in transverse field.

Phase transition in a long-range antiferromagnetic model.

We consider an Ising model where longitudinal components of every pair of spins have antiferromagnetic interaction of the same magnitude. When subjected to a transverse magnetic field at zero temperature, the system undergoes a phase transition of second order to an ordered phase and if the temperature is now increased, there is another phase transition to disordered phase. We provide derivation of these features by perturbative treatment up to the second order and argue that the results are nontrivial and not derivable from the known results about related models.

Phase of Ising spins on modular networks analogous to social polarization.

Coordination processes in complex systems can be related to the problem of collective ordering in networks, many of which have modular organization. Investigating the order-disorder transition for Ising spins on modular random networks, corresponding to consensus formation in society, we observe two distinct phases: (i) ordering within each module at a critical temperature followed by (ii) global ordering at a lower temperature. This indicates polarization of society into groups having contrary opinions can persist indefinitely even when mutual interactions between agents favor consensus.

Multidimensional persistence behavior in an Ising system.

We consider a periodic Ising chain with nearest-neighbor and rth neighbor interaction and quench it from infinite temperature to zero temperature. The persistence probability P(t) , measured as the probability that a spin remains unflipped up to time t , is studied by computer simulation for suitable values of r . We observe that as time progresses, P(t) first decays as t(-0.22) (the first regime), then the P(t)-t curve has a small slope (in log-log scale) for some time (the second regime) and at last it decays nearly as t(-3/8) (the third regime). We argue that in the first regime, the persistence behavior is the usual one for a two-dimensional system, in the second regime it is like that of a noninteracting ("zero-dimensional") system, and in the third regime the persistence behavior is like that of a one-dimensional Ising model. We also provide explanations for such behavior.

Floating phase in the one-dimensional transverse axial next-nearest-neighbor Ising model.

To study the ground state of an axial next-nearest-neighbor Ising chain under transverse field as a function of frustration parameter kappa and field strength Gamma, we present here two different perturbative analyses. In one, we consider the (known) ground state at kappa=0.5 and Gamma=0 as the unperturbed state and treat an increase of the field from 0 to Gamma coupled with an increase of kappa from 0.5 to 0.5+rGamma/J as perturbation. The first-order perturbation correction to eigenvalue can be calculated exactly and we could conclude that there are only two phase-transition lines emanating from the point kappa=0.5, Gamma=0. In the second perturbation scheme, we consider the number of domains of length 1 as the perturbation and obtain the zeroth-order eigenfunction for the perturbed ground state. From the longitudinal spin-spin correlation, we conclude that floating phase exists for small values of transverse field over the entire region intermediate between the ferromagnetic phase and antiphase.

Small-world properties of the Indian railway network.

Structural properties of the Indian railway network is studied in the light of recent investigations of the scaling properties of different complex networks. Stations are considered as "nodes" and an arbitrary pair of stations is said to be connected by a "link" when at least one train stops at both stations. Rigorous analysis of the existing data shows that the Indian railway network displays small-world properties. We define and estimate several other quantities associated with this network.