Quantum work statistics across a critical point: full crossover from sudden quench to the adiabatic limit

Abstract: When an external parameter drives a system across a quantum phase transition at a finite rate, work is performed on the system and entropy is dissipated, due to the creation of excitations via the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. Although both the adiabatic and sudden-quench limits have been studied in detail, the quantum work statistics along the crossover connecting these limits has largely been an open question. Here we obtain exact scaling functions for the work statistics along the full crossover from adiabatic to sudden-quench limits for critical quantum impurity problems, by combining linear response theory, conformal field theory, and the numerical renormalization group. These predictions can be tested in charge-multichannel Kondo quantum dot devices, where the dissipated work corresponds to the creation of nontrivial excitations such as Majorana fermions or Fibonacci anyons.