Continuous unitary transformations in two-level boson systems

Abstract

Two-level boson systems displaying a quantum phase transition from a spherical (symmetric) to a deformed (broken) phase are studied. A formalism to diagonalize Hamiltonians with O(2L+1) symmetry for large number of bosons is worked out. Analytical results beyond the simple mean-field treatment are deduced by using the continuous unitary transformations technique. In this scheme, a 1/N expansion for different observables is proposed and allows one to compute the finite-size scaling exponents at the critical point. Analytical and numerical results are compared and reveal the power of the present approach to compute the finite-size corrections in such a context. © 2005 The American Physical Society.