Dynamical phase transitions for single particles in the semiclassical and weak noise limits

Abstract

We present a unifying description of dynamical phase transitions in the unitary evolution of an isolated quantum particle and the dissipative relaxation of a classical Brownian particle, based on a dynamical generat- ing function. In the semiclassical and weak-noise limits, Fisher zeros of this function condense in the complex- time plane and reach the corresponding physical axes, producing dynamical phase transitions through a competition between return trajectories. This establishes a direct connection between quantum and classical (finite-time) dynamical phase transitions, where the semiclassical limit plays the role of the thermodynamic limit. In particular, the established link naturally provides a classical version of the Loschmidt amplitude and shows how dynamical quantum phase transitions, typically associated with isolated many-body systems, can arise in a single-particle quantum system. The dynamical phases are distinguished by a unifying, trajectory- based order parameter, realized as a classical correlation function and a sequential quantum weak value.