Thermodynamic signatures of an underlying quantum phase transition: A grand canonical approach

•The grand-canonical statistics of a quantum phase transition is studied.•Thermodynamic quantities display features related to the quantum phase transition.•A mean field approach allows to obtain the partition function analytically.

The grand canonical formalism is employed to study the thermodynamic structure of a model displaying a quantum phase transition when studied with respect to the canonical formalism. A numerical survey shows that the grand partition function diverges following a power law when the interaction parameter approaches a limiting constant. The power-law exponent takes a distinctive value when such limiting constant coincides with the critical point of the subjacent quantum phase transition. An approximated expression for the grand partition function is derived analytically implementing a mean field scheme and a number of thermodynamic observables are obtained. The system observables show signatures that can be used to track the critical point of the underlying transition. This result provides a simple fact that can be exploited to verify the existence of a quantum phase transition avoiding the zero temperature regime.