Quantum quench dynamics in the presence of a thermal bath

We explore the dynamics of a system driven through a quantum critical point by quenching its associated Hamiltonian at a specific rate in the presence of dissipation due to a thermal bath. In contrast to the quantum version of the well-known Kibble-Zurek mechanism in the absence of the bath, we discuss the enhancement of post-quench defect production due to thermal excitations. We argue that the degree of enhancement depends on an interplay between the out-of-equilibrium dynamics determined by the quench rate and finite temperature, and that it respects a scaling form related to these two quantities. We demonstrate our arguments within the specific context of the transverse Ising system in the presence of a global bath. Our approach is based on the physics of a Landau-Zener system coupled to a dissipative bath and it allows us to extend our analyses to a broad class of systems of differing dimensions and universality classes.