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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Separation of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism from quantum criticality

R. Jafari1,2,* and Alireza Akbari3,4,†

  • *Contact author: raadmehr.jafari@gmail.com
  • †Contact author: alireza@bimsa.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L022027 – Published 13 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9ts3-z9sk

Abstract

When a system is swept through a quantum critical point, the Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts that the average number of topological defects follows a universal power-law scaling with the ramp timescale. This scaling behavior is determined by the equilibrium critical exponents of the underlying phase transition. We show that the correspondence between Kibble-Zurek scaling and quantum criticality does not hold generally. In particular, the defect density can exhibit a suppression faster than the Kibble-Zurek prediction even when the quench crosses a critical point, while conventional Kibble-Zurek scaling may persist for quenches through a noncritical point. Our results, based on models representative of a broad class of quasi-one-dimensional Fermi systems, identify the dynamical conditions under which universal defect scaling emerges and clarify the relation between defect generation and equilibrium criticality.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L022027– Published 13 May, 2026
  • Received 20 July 2025
  • Revised 15 September 2025
  • Accepted 2 March 2026
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