A. Relaño

Theoretical derivation of 1/f noise in quantum chaos

It was recently conjectured that 1/f noise is a fundamental characteristic of spectral fluctuations in chaotic quantum systems. This conjecture is based on the power spectrum behavior of the excitation energy fluctuations, which is different for chaotic and integrable systems. Using random matrix theory, we derive theoretical expressions that explain without free parameters the universal behavior of the excitation energy fluctuations power spectrum. The theory gives excellent agreement with numerical calculations and reproduces to a good approximation the 1/f (1/f(2)) power law characteristic of chaotic (integrable) systems. Moreover, the theoretical results are valid for semiclassical systems as well.

1/f^a^l^p^h^a Noise in Spectral Fluctuations of Quantum Systems

The power law 1/f(alpha) in the power spectrum characterizes the fluctuating observables of many complex natural systems. Considering the energy levels of a quantum system as a discrete time series where the energy plays the role of time, the level fluctuations can be characterized by the power spectrum. Using a family of quantum billiards, we analyze the order-to-chaos transition in terms of this power spectrum. A power law 1/f(alpha) is found at all the transition stages, and it is shown that the exponent alpha is related to the chaotic component of the classical phase space of the quantum system.

Misleading signatures of quantum chaos

The main signature of chaos in a quantum system is provided by spectral statistical analysis of the nearest-neighbor spacing distribution P(s) and the spectral rigidity given by the Delta(3)(L) statistic. It is shown that some standard unfolding procedures, such as local unfolding and Gaussian broadening, lead to a spurious saturation of Delta(3)(L) that spoils the relationship of this statistic with the regular or chaotic motion of the system. This effect can also be misinterpreted as Berrys saturation.

Quantum quenches in disordered systems: approach to thermal equilibrium without a typical relaxation time

We study spectral properties and the dynamics after a quench of one-dimensional spinless fermions with short-range interactions and long-range random hopping. We show that a sufficiently fast decay of the hopping term promotes localization effects at finite temperature, which prevents thermalization even if the classical motion is chaotic. For slower decays, we find that thermalization does occur. However, within this model, the latter regime falls in an unexpected universality class, namely, observables exhibit a power-law (as opposed to an exponential) approach to their thermal expectation values.

Decoherence as a signature of an excited-state quantum phase transition

We analyze the decoherence induced on a single qubit by the interaction with a two-level boson system with critical internal dynamics. We explore how the decoherence process is affected by the presence of quantum phase transitions in the environment. We conclude that the dynamics of the qubit changes dramatically when the environment passes through a continuous excited state quantum phase transition. If the system-environment coupling energy equals the energy at which the environment has a critical behavior, the decoherence induced on the qubit is maximal and the fidelity tends to zero with finite size scaling obeying a power law.

1/ f noise in the two-body random ensemble

We show that the spectral fluctuations of the two-body random ensemble exhibit 1/f noise. This result supports a recent conjecture stating that chaotic quantum systems are characterized by 1/f noise in their energy level fluctuations. After suitable individual averaging, we also study the distribution of the exponent alpha in the 1/ f(alpha) noise for the individual members of the ensemble. Almost all the exponents lie inside a narrow interval around alpha=1, suggesting that also individual members exhibit 1/f noise, provided they are individually unfolded.

Approximated integrability of the Dicke model

A very approximate second integral of motion of the Dicke model is identified within a broad region above the ground state, and for a wide range of values of the external parameters. This second integral, obtained from a Born Oppenheimer approximation, classifies the whole regular part of the spectrum in bands labelled by its corresponding eigenvalues. Results obtained from this approximation are compared with exact numerical diagonalization for finite systems in the superradiant phase, obtaining a remarkable accord. The region of validity of our approach in the parameter space, which includes the resonant case, is unveiled. The energy range of validity goes from the ground state up to a certain upper energy where chaos sets in, and extends far beyond the range of applicability of a simple harmonic approximation around the minimal energy configuration. The upper energy validity limit increases for larger values of the coupling constant and the ratio between the level splitting and the frequency of the field. These results show that the Dicke model behaves like a two-degree of freedom integrable model for a wide range of energies and values of the external parameters.

Irreversible processes without energy dissipation in an isolated Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model.

For a certain class of isolated quantum systems, we report the existence of irreversible processes in which the energy is not dissipated. After a closed cycle in which the initial energy distribution is fully recovered, the expectation value of a symmetry-breaking observable changes from a value differing from zero in the initial state to zero in the final state. This entails the unavoidable loss of a certain amount of information and constitutes a source of irreversibility. We show that the von Neumann entropy of time-averaged equilibrium states increases in the same magnitude as a consequence of the process. We support this result by means of numerical calculations in an experimentally feasible system, the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model.

From thermal to excited-state quantum phase transition: The Dicke model

We study the thermodynamics of the full version of the Dicke model, including all the possible values of the total angular momentum j, with both microcanonical and canonical ensembles. We focus on both the excited-state quantum phase transition, appearing in the microcanonical description of the maximum angular momentum sector, j=N/2, and the thermal phase transition, which occurs when all the sectors are taken into account. We show that two different features characterize the full version of the Dicke model. If the system is in contact with a thermal bath and is described by means of the canonical ensemble, the parity symmetry becomes spontaneously broken at the critical temperature. In the microcanonical ensemble, and despite that all the logarithmic singularities which characterize the excited-state quantum phase transition are ruled out when all the j sectors are considered, there still exists a critical energy (or temperature) dividing the spectrum into two regions: one in which the parity symmetry can be broken, and another in which this symmetry is always well defined.

Excited-state phase transition leading to symmetry-breaking steady states in the Dicke model

We study the phase diagram of the Dicke model in terms of the excitation energy and the radiation-matter coupling constant lambda. Below a certain critical value lambda(c), all the energy levels have a well-defined parity. For lambda > lambda(c) the energy spectrum exhibits two different phases separated by a critical energy E-c that proves to be independent of lambda. In the upper phase, the energy levels have also a well-defined parity, but below E-c the energy levels are doubly degenerated. We show that the long-time behavior of appropriate parity-breaking observables distinguishes between these two different phases of the energy spectrum. Steady states reached from symmetry-breaking initial conditions restore the symmetry only if their expected energies are above the critical. This fact makes it possible to experimentally explore the complete phase diagram of the excitation spectrum of the Dicke model.