Transient Trapping into Metastable States in Systems with Competing Orders
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 t...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Physical Review X |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.10.021028 |
| Summary: | 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. |
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| ISSN: | 2160-3308 |