Quantum criticality of a one-dimensional Bose-Fermi mixture

Abstract

The one-dimensional interacting Bose-Fermi mixtures, exhibiting quantum phase transitions at zero temperature, are particularly valuable for the study of quantum critical phenomena. In the present paper, we analytically study the quantum phase diagram, equation of state, and quantum criticality of the Bose-Fermi mixture using the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz equations. We show that thermodynamical properties display universal scaling behavior at quantum criticality. Furthermore, quantum criticality of the Bose-Fermi mixture in a harmonic trap is also studied within the local-density approximation. We thus demonstrate that the phase diagram and critical properties of the bulk system provide insight into understanding the universal features of many-body critical phenomena. © 2012 American Physical Society.