The two-body random spin ensemble and a new type of quantum phase transition

Abstract

We study in this paper the properties of a two-body random matrix ensemble for distinguishable spins. We require the ensemble to be invariant under the group of local transformations and analyze a parametrization in terms of the group parameters and the remaining parameters associated with the 'entangling' part of the interaction. We then specialize to a spin chain with nearest-neighbour interactions and numerically find a new type of quantum-phase transition related to the strength of a random external field, i.e. the time-reversal-breaking one-body interaction term. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.