The contact process is a paradigmatic classical stochastic system displaying critical behaviour even in one dimension. It features a non-equilibrium phase transition into an absorbing state that has been widely investigated and shown to belong to the directed percolation universality class. On the contrary, when the process is considered in a quantum regime much less has been established. Only semi-classical studies have been conducted and even the nature of the transition in low dimensions is still debated. Also from a numerical point of view, from which the system looks fairly simple – especially in one dimension – results are lacking. The presence of the absorbing state poses a substantial challenge which appears to affect the reliability of algorithms targeting directly the steady-state. Here we perform real-time numerical simulations of the open dynamics of the quantum contact process and shed light on the existence and on the nature of an absorbing state phase transition in one dimension. We find evidence for the transition being continuous and provide first estimates for the critical exponents.
Ponente: Federico Carollo, University of Nottingham.
Fecha y hora: Viernes 22 de Marzo a las 11:00.
Lugar: Aula de informática. Departamento de Física de la Materia. Planta baja del edificio de Física. Facultad de Ciencias
