Interacting lattice systems with quantum dissipation: A quantum Monte Carlo study

Abstract

Quantum dissipation arises when a large system can be split in a quantum system and an environment to which the energy of the former flows. Understanding the effect of dissipation on quantum many-body systems is of particular importance due to its potential relationship with quantum information. We propose a conceptually simple approach to introduce dissipation into interacting quantum systems in a thermodynamical context, in which every site of a one-dimensional (1D) lattice is coupled off-diagonally to its own bath. The interplay between quantum dissipation and interactions gives rise to counterintuitive interpretations such as a compressible zero-Temperature state with spontaneous discrete symmetry breaking and a thermal phase transition in a 1D dissipative quantum many-body system as revealed by quantum Monte Carlo path-integral simulations.