Litcius/Paper detail

Absence versus Presence of Dissipative Quantum Phase Transition in Josephson Junctions

Kanta Masuki, Hiroyuki Sudo, Masaki Oshikawa, Yuto Ashida

2022Physical Review Letters35 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

Dissipative quantum phase transition has been widely believed to occur in a Josephson junction coupled to a resistor despite a lack of concrete experimental evidence. Here, on the basis of both numerical and analytical nonperturbative renormalization group analyses, we reveal breakdown of previous perturbative arguments and defy the common wisdom that the transition always occurs at the quantum resistance R_{Q}=h/(4e^{2}). We find that renormalization group flows in nonperturbative regimes induce nonmonotonic renormalization of the charging energy and lead to a qualitatively different phase diagram, where the insulator phase is strongly suppressed to the deep charge regime (Cooper pair box), while the system is always superconducting in the transmon regime. We identify a previously overlooked dangerously irrelevant term as an origin of the failure of conventional understandings. Our predictions can be tested in recent experiments realizing high-impedance long superconducting waveguides and would provide a solution to the long-standing controversy about the fate of dissipative quantum phase transition in the resistively shunted Josephson junction.

Topics & Concepts

Josephson effectPhysicsDissipative systemCondensed matter physicsQuantum phase transitionRenormalization groupPi Josephson junctionQuantumPhase diagramSuperconductivityQuantum mechanicsQuantum fluctuationPhase transitionRenormalizationPhase (matter)Quantum electrodynamicsPhysics of Superconductivity and MagnetismQuantum and electron transport phenomenaCold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates