Kibble-Zurek Mechanism in Driven Dissipative Systems Crossing a Nonequilibrium Phase Transition

Year: 2020

Authors: Zamora A., Dagvadorj G., Comaron P., Carusotto I., Proukakis NP., Szymanska MH.

Autors Affiliation: UCL, Dept Phys & Astron, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT, England; Univ Warwick, Dept Phys, Coventry CV4 7AL, W Midlands, England; Newcastle Univ, Joint Quantum Ctr JQC Durham Newcastle, Sch Math Stat & Phys, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU, Tyne & Wear, England; Polish Acad Sci, Inst Phys, Aleja Lotnikw 32-46, PL-02668 Warsaw, Poland; INO CNR BEC Ctr, Via Sommar 14, I-38123 Povo, Italy; Univ Trento, Via Sommar 14, I-38123 Povo, Italy.

Abstract: The Kibble-Zurek mechanism constitutes one of the most fascinating and universal phenomena in the physics of critical systems. It describes the formation of domains and the spontaneous nucleation of topological defects when a system is driven across a phase transition exhibiting spontaneous symmetry breaking. While a characteristic dependence of the defect density on the speed at which the transition is crossed was observed in a vast range of equilibrium condensed matter systems, its extension to intrinsically driven dissipative systems is a matter of ongoing research. In this Letter, we numerically confirm the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in a paradigmatic family of driven dissipative quantum systems, namely exciton-polaritons in microcavities. Our findings show how the concepts of universality and critical dynamics extend to driven dissipative systems that do not conserve energy or particle number nor satisfy a detailed balance condition.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

Volume: 125 (9)      Pages from: 095301-1  to: 095301-6

More Information: We would like to thank A. Ferrier and M. Matuszewski for fruitful discussions. We acknowledge financial support from the EPSRC (Grants No. EP/I028900/2 and No. EP/K003623/2) and the Quantera ERA-NET cofund NAQUAS and InterPol projects (EPSRC Grants No. EP/R043434/1 and No. EP/R04399X/1). I. C. acknowledges financial support from the Provincia Autonoma di Trento and from the European Union via the FET-Open Grant “MIR-BOSE” (737017) and the Quantum Flagship Grant “PhoQuS” (820392).
KeyWords: SPONTANEOUS SYMMETRY-BREAKING; STRING FORMATION; VORTEX FORMATION; DYNAMICS; VORTICES; ANALOG; BIG
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.095301

ImpactFactor: 9.161
Citations: 26
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