Quantum macroscopicity measure for arbitrary spin systems and its application to quantum phase transitions

Abstract

We explore a previously unknown connection between two important problems in physics, i.e., quantum macroscopicity and the quantum phase transition. We devise a general and computable measure of quantum macroscopicity that can be applied to arbitrary spin states. We find that a macroscopic quantum superposition of an extremely large size arises during the quantum phase transition of the transverse Ising model in contrast to some seeming macroscopic quantum phenomena such as superconductivity, superfluidity and Bose-Einstein condensates. Our result may be an important step forward in understanding macroscopic quantum properties of many-body systems.