Dynamical phase transitions after quenches in non-integrable models

Abstract: We investigate the dynamics following sudden quenches across quantum critical points belonging to different universality classes. Specifically, we use matrix product state methods to study the quantum Ising chain in the presence of two additional terms which break integrability. We find that in all models the rate function for the return probability to the initial state becomes a non-analytic function of time in the thermodynamic limit. This so-called dynamical phase transition' was first observed in a recent work by Heyl, Polkovnikov, and Kehrein [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 135704 (2013)] for the exactly-solvable quantum Ising chain, which can be mapped to free fermions. Our results forinteracting theories' indicate that non-analytic dynamics is a generic feature of sudden quenches across quantum critical points. We discuss potential connections to the dynamics of the order parameter.