Quasi-Many-Body Localization in Translation-Invariant Systems

We examine localization phenomena associated with generic, high entropy, states of a translation-invariant, one-dimensional spin ladder. At early times, we find slow growth of entanglement entropy consistent with the known phenomenology of many-body localization in disordered, interacting systems. A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2016-12, Vol.117 (24), p.240601-240601, Article 240601
Main Authors: Yao, N Y, Laumann, C R, Cirac, J I, Lukin, M D, Moore, J E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Decay
Diffusion
Entropy
Ladders
Localization
Position (location)
Spin glass
Thermal properties
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Summary:We examine localization phenomena associated with generic, high entropy, states of a translation-invariant, one-dimensional spin ladder. At early times, we find slow growth of entanglement entropy consistent with the known phenomenology of many-body localization in disordered, interacting systems. At intermediate times, however, anomalous diffusion sets in, leading to full spin polarization decay on an exponentially activated time scale. We identify a single length scale which parametrically controls both the spin transport times and the apparent divergence of the susceptibility to spin glass ordering. Ultimately, at the latest times, the exponentially slow anomalous diffusion gives way to diffusive thermal behavior. We dub the intermediate dynamical behavior, which persists over many orders of magnitude in time, quasi-many-body localization.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.240601