Ballistic front dynamics after joining two semi-infinite quantum Ising chains

Abstract

We consider two semi-infinite quantum Ising chains initially at thermal equilibrium at two different temperatures and subsequently joined by an interaction between their end points. Transport properties such as the heat current are determined by the dynamics of the left- and right-moving fermionic quasi-particles which characterize the ensuing unitary dynamics. Within the so-called semi-classical space-time scaling limit we extend known results by determining the full space and time dependence of the density and current of energy and of fermionic quasi-particles. Upon approaching the edge of the propagating front, these quantities as well as the two-point correlation function display qualitatively different behaviors depending on the transverse field of the chain being critical or not. While in the latter case corrections to the leading behavior are described, as expected, by the Airy kernel, in the former a novel scaling form emerges with universal features.