Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.2
2.0
Journals
Entropy
Special Issues
Non-Equilibrium Quantum Many-Body Dynamics
entropy-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Entropy Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Non-Equilibrium Quantum Many-Body Dynamics

A special issue of Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300). This special issue belongs to the section "Quantum Information".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 3586

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ricardo Puebla

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, University Carlos III de Madrid, Avda. de la Universidad 30, 28911 Leganés, Spain
Interests: quantum control; quantum sensing and metrology; quantum thermodynamics; quantum criticality; quantum networks; quantum state engineering
Dr. Fernando Gómez-Ruiz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Física, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Avda. de la Universidad 30, 28911 Leganés, Spain
Interests: statistical mechanics and quantum thermodynamics; quantum information science; quantum science and technology; quantum criticality; quantum control; quantum algorithms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Understanding non-equilibrium phenomena is a cornerstone of modern physics, essential for its explanatory power and practical applications in leveraging quantum dynamics for specific objectives. A paradigmatic example is the breakdown of adiabatic dynamics in critical phenomena, which leads to the emergence of topological defects and excitations within driven systems. These effects significantly affect adiabatic quantum algorithms—the foundation of quantum annealing and adiabatic quantum computation (AQC).

In AQC, classical optimization problems are addressed by encoding the solution within the ground state of a many-body spin Hamiltonian. According to the adiabatic theorem, the system begins in the ground state of a trivial Hamiltonian, gradually evolving into the ground state of the problem Hamiltonian. If the evolution remains adiabatic, the system’s final state encodes the optimal solution. However, nonadiabatic excitations can arise due to critical slowing down or finite-time driving, leading to computational errors and suboptimal results.

This Special Issue aims to showcase novel and groundbreaking results in non-equilibrium quantum dynamics, while also expanding its scope to include quantum sensing, quantum metrology, and their interplay with quantum computation. Quantum metrological schemes, particularly those exploiting non-equilibrium or criticality-enhanced protocols, offer new paths to ultraprecise measurements and robust sensing strategies. Similarly, insights from non-equilibrium physics are being increasingly harnessed to improve the performance and resilience of quantum sensors and information-processing devices.

We invite contributions that explore both fundamental and applied aspects of these areas, including (but not limited to) the following:

  • Non-equilibrium dynamics in quantum many-body systems.
  • Quantum phase transitions and critical phenomena in driven systems.
  • Adiabatic and nonadiabatic quantum algorithms.
  • Quantum annealing and optimization.
  • Quantum thermodynamics and entropy production.
  • Quantum sensing and metrology protocols.
  • Applications of non-equilibrium effects to quantum-enhanced measurements.
  • Experimental advances and technological implementations.

This Special Issue accepts original research articles and comprehensive reviews that reflect the latest developments and advancements across these rapidly evolving and interconnected fields.

Dr. Ricardo Puebla
Dr. Fernando Gómez-Ruiz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Entropy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • quantum annealing
  • adiabatic quantum computation
  • Kibble–Zurek mechanism
  • driven quantum systems
  • collective quantum phenomena
  • exploiting quantum coherence

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 729 KiB  
Article
Characterization of the Performance of an XXZ Three-Spin Quantum Battery
by Suman Chand, Dario Ferraro and Niccolò Traverso Ziani
Entropy 2025, 27(5), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/e27050511 - 10 May 2025
Viewed by 881
Abstract
Quantum batteries represent a new and promising technological application of quantum mechanics, offering the potential for enhanced energy storage and fast charging. In this work, we study a quantum battery composed of three two-level systems with XXZ coupling operating under open boundary conditions. [...] Read more.
Quantum batteries represent a new and promising technological application of quantum mechanics, offering the potential for enhanced energy storage and fast charging. In this work, we study a quantum battery composed of three two-level systems with XXZ coupling operating under open boundary conditions. We investigate the role played by ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic initial configurations on the charging dynamics of the battery. Two charging mechanisms are explored: static charging, where the battery interacts with a constant classical external field, and harmonic charging, where the field oscillates periodically over time. Our results demonstrate that static charging can be more efficient in the ferromagnetic case, achieving maximum energy due to complete population inversion between the ground and excited states. In contrast, harmonic charging excels in the antiferromagnetic case. By analyzing the stored energy and the average charging power in these two regimes, we highlight the impact of anisotropy on the performance of quantum batteries. Our findings provide valuable insights for optimizing quantum battery performance based on the system’s initial state and coupling configuration, paving the way for the study of more efficient quantum devices for energy storage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Non-Equilibrium Quantum Many-Body Dynamics)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 437 KiB  
Article
Critical Relaxation in the Quantum Yang–Lee Edge Singularity
by Yue-Mei Sun, Xinyu Wang and Liang-Jun Zhai
Entropy 2025, 27(2), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/e27020170 - 6 Feb 2025
Viewed by 763
Abstract
We study the relaxation dynamics near the critical points of the Yang–Lee edge singularities (YLESs) in the quantum Ising chain in an imaginary longitudinal field with a polarized initial state. We find that scaling behaviors are manifested in the relaxation process after a [...] Read more.
We study the relaxation dynamics near the critical points of the Yang–Lee edge singularities (YLESs) in the quantum Ising chain in an imaginary longitudinal field with a polarized initial state. We find that scaling behaviors are manifested in the relaxation process after a non-universal transient time. We show that for the paramagnetic Hamiltonian, the magnetization oscillates periodically with the period being inversely proportional to the gap between the lowest energy level; for the ferromagnetic Hamiltonian, the magnetization decays to a saturated value; while for the critical Hamiltonian, the magnetization increases linearly. A scaling theory is developed to describe these scaling properties. In this theory, we show that for a small- and medium-sized system, the scaling behavior is described by the (0+1)-dimensional YLES. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Non-Equilibrium Quantum Many-Body Dynamics)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 1508 KiB  
Article
Quantum Information Scrambling in Adiabatically Driven Critical Systems
by Ricardo Puebla and Fernando J. Gómez-Ruiz
Entropy 2024, 26(11), 951; https://doi.org/10.3390/e26110951 - 5 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1053
Abstract
Quantum information scrambling refers to the spread of the initially stored information over many degrees of freedom of a quantum many-body system. Information scrambling is intimately linked to the thermalization of isolated quantum many-body systems, and has been typically studied in a sudden [...] Read more.
Quantum information scrambling refers to the spread of the initially stored information over many degrees of freedom of a quantum many-body system. Information scrambling is intimately linked to the thermalization of isolated quantum many-body systems, and has been typically studied in a sudden quench scenario. Here, we extend the notion of quantum information scrambling to critical quantum many-body systems undergoing an adiabatic evolution. In particular, we analyze how the symmetry-breaking information of an initial state is scrambled in adiabatically driven integrable systems, such as the Lipkin–Meshkov–Glick and quantum Rabi models. Following a time-dependent protocol that drives the system from symmetry-breaking to a normal phase, we show how the initial information is scrambled, even for perfect adiabatic evolutions, as indicated by the expectation value of a suitable observable. We detail the underlying mechanism for quantum information scrambling, its relation to ground- and excited-state quantum phase transitions, and quantify the degree of scrambling in terms of the number of eigenstates that participate in the encoding of the initial symmetry-breaking information. While the energy of the final state remains unaltered in an adiabatic protocol, the relative phases among eigenstates are scrambled, and so is the symmetry-breaking information. We show that a potential information retrieval, following a time-reversed protocol, is hindered by small perturbations, as indicated by a vanishingly small Loschmidt echo and out-of-time-ordered correlators. The reported phenomenon is amenable for its experimental verification, and may help in the understanding of information scrambling in critical quantum many-body systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Non-Equilibrium Quantum Many-Body Dynamics)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop