Time-dependent Correlation Functions in Open Quadratic Fermionic Systems

TL;DR

This paper develops methods to compute dynamic correlation functions in open quadratic fermionic systems driven by Lindblad processes, revealing novel non-equilibrium phenomena and phase transitions in models like the XY and Kitaev chains.

Contribution

It provides explicit formulas and numerical analysis for correlation functions in open fermionic systems, including new insights into non-equilibrium phase transitions and light cone behavior.

Findings

Asymmetric light cone behavior in driven chains

Discovery of a non-equilibrium phase transition in the XY model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions

Analytical expressions for dissipation corrections in the Kitaev chain

Abstract

We formulate and discuss explicit computation of dynamic correlation functions in open quadradic fermionic systems which are driven and dissipated by the Lindblad jump processes that are linear in canonical fermionic operators. Dynamic correlators are interpreted in terms of local quantum quench where the pre-quench state is the non-equilibrium steady state, i.e. a fixed point of the Liouvillian. As an example we study the XY spin 1/2 chain and the Kitaev Majorana chains with boundary Lindblad driving, whose dynamics exhibits asymmetric (skewed) light cone behaviour. We also numerically treat the two dimensional XY model and the XY spin chain with additional Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions. The latter exhibits a new non-equilibrium phase transition which can be understood in terms of bifurcations of the quasi-particle dispersion relation. Finally, considering in some detail the periodic Kitaev chain (fermionic ring) with dissipation at a single (arbitrary) site, we present analytical expressions for the first order corrections (in the strength of dissipation) to the spectrum and the non-equilibrium steady state (NESS) correlation functions.