Diverging conditional correlation lengths in the approach to high temperature

Abstract

The Markov length was recently proposed as an information-theoretic diagnostic for quantum mixed-state phase transitions [Sang & Hsieh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 070403 (2025)]. Here, we show that the Markov length diverges even under classical stochastic dynamics, when a low-temperature ordered state is quenched into the high temperature phase. Conventional observables do not exhibit growing length scales upon quenching into the high-temperature phase; however, the Markov length grows exponentially in time. Consequently, the state of a system as it heats becomes increasingly non-Gibbsian, and the range of its putative "parent Hamiltonian" must diverge with the Markov length. From this information-theoretic point of view the late-time limit of thermalization is singular. We introduce a numerical technique for computing the Markov length based on matrix-product states, and explore its dynamics under general thermal quenches in the one-dimensional classical Ising model. For all cases, we provide simple information-theoretic arguments that explain our results.