Nonequilibrium Peierls Transition

TL;DR

This paper investigates nonequilibrium phase transitions in an open Takayama-Lin Liu-Maki chain, revealing how bias voltage and current influence the order of phase transitions and electrical characteristics like negative differential conductivity.

Contribution

It introduces a combined mean-field and algebraic field approach to analyze nonequilibrium phase transitions in a quantum chain coupled with reservoirs, highlighting the effects of control parameters.

Findings

Phase transition order depends on control parameter choice.

Voltage-current characteristics can be S-shaped.

Negative differential conductivity appears at low temperature.

Abstract

Nonequlibrium phase transition of an open Takayama-Lin Liu-Maki chain coupled with two reservoirs is investigated by combining a mean-field approximation and a formula characterizing nonequlibrium steady states, which is obtained from the algebraic field approach to nonequlibrium statistical mechanics. When the bias voltage is chosen to be a control parameter, the phase transition between ordered and normal phases is found to be first or second order. Then, the voltage-current characteristics is S-shaped in some parameter region. In contrast, when the current is chosen to be a control parameter, all the non-trivial solutions of the self-consistent equation are found to become stable. In this case, the phase transition between the ordered and normal phases is always second order and negative differential conductivity appears at low temperature.