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Finite-temperature quantum criticality in a complex-parameter plane (1506.05553v2)
Published 18 Jun 2015 in quant-ph
Abstract: A conventional quantum phase transition (QPT) occurs not only at zero temperature, but also exhibits finite-temperature quantum criticality. Motivated by the discovery of the pseudo-Hermiticity of non-Hermitian systems, we explore the finite-temperature quantum criticality in a non-Hermitian PT -symmetric Ising model. We present the complete set of exact eigenstates of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, based on which the mixed-state fidelity in the context of biorthogonal bases is calculated. Analytical and numerical results show that the fidelity approach to finite-temperature QPT can be extended to the non-Hermitian Ising model. This paves the way for experimental detection of quantum criticality in a complex-parameter plane.