Designing non-equilibrium states of quantum matter through stochastic resetting

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to engineer non-equilibrium quantum states in many-body systems using stochastic resetting, enabling control over quantum phases and potential applications in quantum sensing.

Contribution

It analytically constructs non-equilibrium stationary states resulting from stochastic resetting, linking quantum quenches to open system dynamics in many-body systems.

Findings

Signatures of quantum phase transitions appear in reset steady states

Reset dynamics can prevent dissipation and heating in quantum systems

Controlled resetting enables on-demand creation of quantum states

Abstract

We consider closed quantum many-body systems subject to stochastic resetting. This means that their unitary time evolution is interrupted by resets at randomly selected times. When a reset takes place the system is reinitialized to a state chosen from a set of reset states conditionally on the outcome of a measurement taken immediately before resetting. We construct analytically the resulting non-equilibrium stationary state, thereby establishing an explicit connection between quantum quenches in closed systems and the emergent open system dynamics induced by stochastic resetting. We discuss as an application the paradigmatic transverse-field quantum Ising chain. We show that signatures of its ground-state quantum phase transition are visible in the steady state of the reset dynamics as a sharp crossover. Our findings show that a controlled stochastic resetting dynamics allows to design non-equilibrium stationary states of quantum many-body systems, where uncontrolled dissipation and heating can be prevented. These states can thus be created on demand and exploited, e.g., as a resource for quantum enhanced sensing on quantum simulator platforms.