Kibble--Zurek Mechanism and Defect Freezing in Imbalanced-Pairing Kitaev Models

Abstract

We investigate driven dynamics across critical and exceptional points in the one- and two-dimensional imbalanced-pairing Kitaev models using both the wave-function normalization approach and the biorthogonal framework. For a positive pairing imbalance parameter, the quasiparticle spectrum remains real, and a pairing imbalance neither shifts the equilibrium phase boundaries nor generates imaginary eigenenergies. In this regime, the defect density follows the conventional Kibble--Zurek scaling in one dimension and the extended Kibble--Zurek scaling, arising from a gapless manifold, in two dimensions within both frameworks. The corresponding scaling exponents are therefore governed by those of the Hermitian transition. For a negative pairing imbalance parameter, time-reversal symmetry is broken, the quasiparticle spectrum develops complex eigenvalues, and the gap closes at exceptional points. For ramps ending at an exceptional point, the defect density follows the modified Kibble--Zurek scaling in the wave-function normalization approach, whereas it obeys the conventional Kibble--Zurek scaling in the biorthogonal framework. When the ramp traverses the time-reversal-symmetry-broken region, a finite density of defects remains even in the adiabatic limit, leading to defect freezing in both frameworks. Although this frozen background indicates a breakdown of adiabaticity, the excess defects generated on top of this background continue to obey the conventional Kibble--Zurek scaling in one dimension and the extended Kibble--Zurek scaling in two dimensions.