title: Work and quantum phase transitions: quantum latency.
abstract: We study the physics of quantum phase transitions from the perspective of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. For first-order quantum phase transitions, we find that the average work done per quench in crossing the critical point is discontinuous. This leads us to introduce the quantum latent work in analogy with the classical latent heat of first order classical phase transitions. For second order quantum phase transitions the irreversible work is closely related to the fidelity susceptibility for weak sudden quenches of the system Hamiltonian. We demonstrate our ideas with numerical simulations of first, second, and infinite order phase transitions in various spin chain models.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mascarenhas
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bragança
authors.affiliation: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom and Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dorner
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: França Santos
authors.affiliation: Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom and Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543 and Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vedral
authors.affiliation: School of Physics, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Modi
authors.affiliation: The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goold
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D044367:Phase Transition; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013816:Thermodynamics