# Transient trapping into metastable states in systems with competing orders

## TL;DR

This paper models the non-equilibrium dynamics of systems with competing orders after a rapid thermal quench, revealing how metastable states can form due to the dominance of faster-relaxing order parameters.

## Contribution

It introduces a Ginzburg-Landau based relaxational dynamics framework to explain transient metastable states in systems with competing orders following a thermal quench.

## Key findings

- Metastable states often form from the order parameter with faster relaxation.
- Thermal fluctuations exponentially grow and influence the evolution.
- The model explains laser-induced metastable states observed experimentally.

## Abstract

The quench dynamics of a system involving two competing orders is investigated using a Ginzburg-Landau theory with relaxational dynamics. We consider the scenario where a pump rapidly heats the system to a high temperature, after which the system cools down to its equilibrium temperature. We study the evolution of the order parameter amplitude and fluctuations in the resulting time dependent free energy landscape. Exponentially growing thermal fluctuations dominate the dynamics. The system typically evolves into the phase associated with the faster-relaxing order parameter, even if it is not the global free energy minimum. This theory offers a natural explanation for the widespread experimental observation that metastable states may be induced by laser induced collapse of a dominant equilibrium order parameter.