Detecting quantum phase transitions in the quasi-stationary regime of Ising chains

Abstract: Recently, single-site observables have been shown to be useful for the detection of dynamical criticality due to an emergence of a universal critically-prethermal temporal regime in the magnetization [arXiv:2105.05986]. Here, we explore the potential of single-site observables as probes of quantum phase transitions in integrable and nonintegrable transverse-field Ising chains (TFIC). We analytically prove the requirement of zero modes for a quasi-stationary temporal regime to emerge at a bulk probe site, and show how this regime gives rise to a non-analytic behavior in the dynamical order profiles. Our $t$-DMRG calculations verify the results of the quench mean-field theory for near-integrable TFIC both with finite-size and finite-time scaling analyses. We find that both finite-size and finite-time analyses suggest a dynamical critical point for a strongly nonintegrable and locally connected TFIC. We finally demonstrate the presence of a quasi-stationary regime in the power-law interacting TFIC, and extract local dynamical order profiles for TFIC in the long-range Ising universality class with algebraic light cones.