Symmetry breaking and fluctuations within stochastic mean-field dynamics: Importance of initial quantum fluctuations

Dynamics of spontaneous symmetry breaking and fluctuations in the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model are investigated in a stochastic mean-field approach. Different from the standard mean-field approach, in the stochastic approach, initial state fluctuations are incorporated. In weak coupling, the approach perfectly reproduces the exact quantal dynamics. On the other hand, for increasing coupling strength, above the symmetry breaking threshold, the approach provides descriptions of gross properties (i.e., time-averaged behavior) of the exact quantal evolution.