Universal breakdown of Kibble-Zurek scaling in fast quenches across a phase transition

TL;DR

This paper investigates the breakdown of Kibble-Zurek scaling during rapid quenches across phase transitions, revealing a universal behavior where defect density becomes independent of quench rate beyond a critical point.

Contribution

It demonstrates the universal breakdown of Kibble-Zurek scaling in fast quenches and establishes new scaling laws for defect density in this regime.

Findings

KZM scaling holds only below a critical quench rate.

Defect density becomes rate-independent at fast quenches.

Universal power-law scaling observed with the final control parameter.

Abstract

The crossing of a continuous phase transition gives rise to the formation of topological defects described by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) in the limit of slow quenches. The KZM predicts a universal power-law scaling of the defect density as a function of the quench time. We focus on the deviations from KZM experimentally observed in rapid quenches and establish their universality. While KZM scaling holds below a critical quench rate, for faster quenches the defect density and the freeze-out time become independent of the quench rate and exhibit a universal power-law scaling with the final value of the control parameter. These predictions are verified in several paradigmatic scenarios in both the classical and quantum domains.