Charging a Dimerized Quantum XY Chain

TL;DR

This paper investigates a dimerized quantum XY chain as a model for quantum batteries, showing that the stored energy depends on the quantum phase diagram and symmetry properties of the system.

Contribution

It introduces the analysis of a dimerized quantum XY chain as a quantum battery prototype, linking energy storage to quantum phase transitions and symmetry breaking.

Findings

Stored energy varies with quantum phase diagram.

Quantum phase transitions influence energy storage capacity.

Symmetry properties affect charging performance.

Abstract

Quantum batteries are quantum systems designed to store energy and release it on demand. The optimization of their performance is an intensively studied topic within the realm of quantum technologies. Such optimization forces the question: how do quantum many-body systems work as quantum batteries? To address this issue, we rely on symmetry and symmetry breaking via quantum phase transitions. Specifically, we analyze a dimerized quantum XY chain in a transverse field as a prototype of an energy storage device. This model, which is characterized by ground states with different symmetries depending on the Hamiltonian parameters, can be mapped onto a spinless fermionic chain with superconducting correlations, displaying a rich quantum phase diagram. We show that the stored energy strongly depends on the quantum phase diagram of the model when large charging times are considered.