Reaction-limited quantum reaction-diffusion dynamics

We consider the quantum nonequilibrium dynamics of systems where fermionic particles coherently hop on a one-dimensional lattice and are subject to dissipative processes analogous to those of classical reaction-diffusion models. Particles can either annihilate in pairs, $A+A \to \emptyset$, coagulate upon contact, $A+A \to A$, and possibly also branch, $A \to A+A$. In classical settings, the interplay between these processes and particle diffusion leads to critical dynamics as well as to absorbing-state phase transitions. Here, we analyze the impact of coherent hopping and of quantum superposition, focusing on the so-called reaction-limited regime. Here, spatial density fluctuations are quickly smoothed out due to fast hopping, which for classical systems is described by a mean-field approach. By exploiting the time-dependent generalized Gibbs ensemble method, we demonstrate that quantum coherence and destructive interference play a crucial role in these systems and are responsible for the emergence of locally protected dark states and collective behavior beyond mean-field. This can manifest both at stationarity and during the relaxation dynamics. Our results highlight fundamental differences between classical nonequilibrium dynamics and their quantum counterpart and show that quantum effects indeed change collective universal behavior.
Comment: 6+11 pages, 2+2 figures for main text and supplemental material, respectively. v3: close to published version. Selected as "Editors' Suggestion" in Physical Review Letters