Excited-state phase transition leading to symmetry-breaking steady states in the Dicke model

We study the phase diagram of the Dicke model in terms of the excitation energy and the radiation-matter coupling constant lambda. Below a certain critical value lambda(c), all the energy levels have a well-defined parity. For lambda > lambda(c) the energy spectrum exhibits two different phases separated by a critical energy E-c that proves to be independent of lambda. In the upper phase, the energy levels have also a well-defined parity, but below E-c the energy levels are doubly degenerated. We show that the long-time behavior of appropriate parity-breaking observables distinguishes between these two different phases of the energy spectrum. Steady states reached from symmetry-breaking initial conditions restore the symmetry only if their expected energies are above the critical. This fact makes it possible to experimentally explore the complete phase diagram of the excitation spectrum of the Dicke model