Sharp phase transitions in a small frustrated network of trapped ion spins
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Journal Volume
106
Journal Issue
23
Date Issued
2011
Author(s)
Abstract
Sharp quantum phase transitions typically require a large system with many particles. Here we show that, for a frustrated fully connected Ising spin network represented by trapped atomic ions, the competition between different spin orders leads to rich phase transitions whose sharpness scales exponentially with the number of spins. This unusual finite-size scaling behavior opens up the possibility of observing sharp quantum phase transitions in a system of just a few trapped ion spins. © 2011 American Physical Society.
Other Subjects
Atomic ions; Finite-size scaling behavior; Ising-spin networks; Large system; Quantum phase transitions; Spin order; Trapped ion; Ising model; Phase transitions; Quantum theory; Ions
Type
journal article