Non-equilibrium glassy arrest and discontinuous transitions at avoided quantum critical points

Abstract

The non-equilibrium dynamics of an order parameter confined by an external constraint field are investigated within a spatially extended Belitz-Kirkpatrick-Vojta framework. A generic non-monotonic dissipation peak arises at avoided criticality due to the interplay between macroscopic free-energy flattening and microscopic disorder-induced trapping. Near this regime, suppressed deterministic forces enhance activated trapping, leading to an effective violation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem and ultimate glassy arrest. At higher fields, the system undergoes a discontinuous phase transition that bypasses this flat free-energy region. These explicit analytical scalings establish a generic mechanism for non-equilibrium arrest in disordered condensed matter systems.