title: Temperature-driven structural phase transition for trapped ions and a proposal for its experimental detection.
abstract: A Wigner crystal formed with trapped ions can undergo a structural phase transition, which is determined only by the mechanical conditions on a classical level. Instead of this classical result, we show that through consideration of quantum and thermal fluctuation, a structural phase transition can be driven solely by a change in the system's temperature. We determine a finite-temperature phase diagram for trapped ions using the renormalization group method and the path integral formalism, and propose an experimental scheme to observe the predicted temperature-driven structural phase transition, which is well within the reach of the current ion trap technology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and MCTP, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Zhe-Xuan
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: G-D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: L-M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Duan