We present here the results obtained during my PhD work. We report the study of the many body localization transition in a spin chain and the breaking of ergodicity measured in terms of return probability in a state evolution. Moreover, we introduce the Richardson model, an exactly solvable model, that turns out to be suitable for investigating the many-body localized phase. Then we turn to the analysis of the quench problem in an ensemble of random matrices. We analyze the thermalization properties and the validity of the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis for the typical case, where the quench parameter explicitly breaks a Z_2 symmetry.
We investigate the effects of localized integrability-breaking perturbations on the large times dynamics of thermodynamic quantum and classical systems. In particular, we suddenly activate an impurity which breaks the integrability of an otherwise homogeneous system. We focus on the large times dynamics and on the thermalization properties of the impurity, which is shown to have mere perturbative effects even at infinite times, thus preventing thermalization. This is in clear contrast with homogeneous integrability-breaking terms, which display the prethermalization paradigm and are expected t…
We study the effects of integrability breaking perturbations on the non-equilibrium evolution of many-particle quantum systems. We focus on a class of spinless fermion models with weak interactions. We employ equation of motion techniques that can be viewed as generalizations of quantum Boltzmann equations. We benchmark our method against time dependent density matrix renormalization group computations and find it to be very accurate as long as interactions are weak. For small integrability breaking, we observe robust prethermalization plateaux for local observables on all accessible time scal…
Nonintegrability is a necessary condition for the thermalization of a generic Hamiltonian system. In practice, the integrability can be broken in various ways. As illustrating examples, we numerically studied the thermalization behaviors of two types of one-dimensional (1D) diatomic chains in the thermodynamic limit. One chain was the diatomic Toda chain whose nonintegrability was introduced by unequal masses. The other chain was the diatomic Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou-$β$ chain whose nonintegrability was introduced by quartic nonlinear interaction. We found that these two different methods of d…
We employ equation of motion techniques to study the non-equilibrium dynamics in a lattice model of weakly interacting spinless fermions. Our model provides a simple setting for analyzing the effects of weak integrability breaking perturbations on the time evolution after a quantum quench. We establish the accuracy of the method by comparing results at short and intermediate times to time-dependent density matrix renormalization group computations. For sufficiently weak integrability-breaking interactions we always observe prethermalization plateaux, where local observables relax to non-therma…
We conjecture that thermalization following a quantum quench in a strongly correlated quantum system is closely connected to many-body delocalization in the space of quasi-particles. This scenario is tested in the anisotropic Heisenberg spin chain with different types of integrability-breaking terms. We first quantify the deviations from integrability by analyzing the level spacing statistics and the inverse participation ratio of the system's eigenstates. We then focus on thermalization, by studying the dynamics after a sudden quench of the anisotropy parameter. Our numerical simulations clea…
We use quantum quenches to study the dynamics and thermalization of hardcore bosons in finite one-dimensional lattices. We perform exact diagonalizations and find that, far away from integrability, few-body observables thermalize. We then study the breakdown of thermalization as one approaches an integrable point. This is found to be a smooth process in which the predictions of standard statistical mechanics continuously worsen as the system moves toward integrability. We establish a direct connection between the presence or absence of thermalization and the validity or failure of the eigensta…
We solve a model that has basic features that are desired for quantum annealing computations: entanglement in the ground state, controllable annealing speed, ground state energy separated by a gap during the whole evolution, and a programmable computational problem that is encoded by parameters of the Ising part of the spin Hamiltonian. Our solution enables exact nonperturbative characterization of final nonadiabatic excitations, including a scaling of their number with the annealing rate and the system size. We prove that quantum correlations can accelerate computations and, at the end of the…
Isolated quantum many-body systems with integrable dynamics generically do not thermalize when taken far from equilibrium. As one perturbs such systems away from the integrable point, thermalization sets in, but the nature of the crossover from integrable to thermalizing behavior is an unresolved and actively discussed question. We explore this question by studying the dynamics of the momentum distribution function in a dipolar quantum Newton's cradle consisting of highly magnetic dysprosium atoms. This is accomplished by creating the first one-dimensional Bose gas with strong magnetic dipole-…
In this work we analyze the simultaneous emergence of diffusive energy transport and local thermalization in a nonequilibrium one-dimensional quantum system, as a result of integrability breaking. Specifically, we discuss the local properties of the steady state induced by thermal boundary driving in a XXZ spin chain with staggered magnetic field. By means of efficient large-scale matrix product simulations of the equation of motion of the system, we calculate its steady state in the long-time limit.We start by discussing the energy transport supported by the system, finding it to be ballistic…
We study a one-dimensional gas of hard rods trapped in a harmonic potential, which breaks integrability of the hard-rod interaction in a non-uniform way. We explore the consequences of such broken integrability for the dynamics of a large number of particles and find three distinct regimes: initial, chaotic, and stationary. The initial regime is captured by an evolution equation for the phase-space distribution function. For any finite number of particles, this hydrodynamics breaks down and the dynamics become chaotic after a characteristic time scale determined by the inter-particle distance …
We investigate the relation between thermalization following a quantum quench and many-body localization in quasiparticle space in terms of the long-time full distribution function of physical observables. In particular, expanding on our recent work [E. Canovi {\em et al.}, Phys. Rev. B {\bf 83}, 094431 (2011)], we focus on the long-time behavior of an integrable XXZ chain subject to an integrability-breaking perturbation. After a characterization of the breaking of integrability and the associated localization/delocalization transition using the level spacing statistics and the properties of …
We investigate the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) in integrable models, focusing on the spin-1/2 isotropic Heisenberg (XXX) chain. We provide numerical evidence that ETH holds for typical eigenstates (weak ETH scenario). Specifically, using a numerical implementation of state-of-the-art Bethe ansatz results, we study the finite-size scaling of the eigenstate-to-eigenstate fluctuations of the reduced density matrix. We find that fluctuations are normally distributed, and their standard deviation decays in the thermodynamic limit as L^{-1/2}, with L the size of the chain. This is in …
By means of full exact diagonalization, we study level statistics and the structure of the eigenvectors of one-dimensional gapless bosonic and fermionic systems across the transition from integrability to quantum chaos. These systems are integrable in the presence of only nearest-neighbor terms, whereas the addition of next-nearest neighbor hopping and interaction may lead to the onset of chaos. We show that the strength of the next-nearest neighbor terms required to observe clear signatures of nonintegrability is inversely proportional to the system size. Interestingly, the transition to chao…
Quantum many-body scar (QMBS) and quantum integrability(QI) have been recognized as two distinct mechanisms for the breakdown of eigenstate thermalization hypothesis(ETH) in an isolated system. In this work, we reveal a smooth route to connect these two ETH-breaking mechanisms in the Ising chain with transverse and longitudinal fields. Specifically, starting from an initial Ising anti-ferromagnetic state, we find that the dynamical system undergoes a smooth non-thermal crossover from QMBS to QI by changing the Ising coupling($J$) and longitudinal field($h$) simultaneously while keeping their r…
Motivated by dynamical experiments on cold atomic gases, we develop a quantum kinetic approach to weakly perturbed integrable models out of equilibrium. Using the exact matrix elements of the underlying integrable model we establish an analytical approach to real-time dynamics. The method addresses a broad range of timescales, from the intermediate regime of pre-thermalization to late-time thermalization. Predictions are given for the time-evolution of physical quantities, including effective temperatures and thermalization rates. The approach provides conceptual links between perturbed quantu…
We numerically investigate the relaxation dynamics in an isolated quantum system of interacting bosons trapped in a double-well potential after an integrability breaking quench. Using the statistics of the spectrum, we identify the postquench Hamiltonian as nonchaotic and close to integrability over a wide range of interaction parameters. We demonstrate that the system exhibits thermalization in the context of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH). We also explore the possibility of an initial state to delocalize with respect to the eigenstates of the postquench Hamiltonian even for e…
We study how the proximity to an integrable point or to localization as one approaches the atomic limit, as well as the mixing of symmetries in the chaotic domain, may affect the onset of thermalization in finite one-dimensional systems. We consider systems of hard-core bosons at half-filling with nearest neighbor hopping and interaction, and next-nearest neighbor interaction. The latter breaks integrability and induces a ground-state superfluid to insulator transition. By full exact diagonalization, we study chaos indicators and few-body observables. We show that when different symmetry secto…
We propose a novel framework to characterize the thermalization of many-body dynamical systems close to integrable limits using the scaling properties of the full Lyapunov spectrum. We use a classical unitary map model to investigate macroscopic weakly nonintegrable dynamics beyond the limits set by the KAM regime. We perform our analysis in two fundamentally distinct long-range and short-range integrable limits which stem from the type of nonintegrable perturbations. Long-range limits result in a single parameter scaling of the Lyapunov spectrum, with the inverse largest Lyapunov exponent bei…
We consider quantum quenches in an integrable quantum chain with tuneable-integrability-breaking interactions. In the case where these interactions are weak, we demonstrate that at intermediate times after the quench local observables relax to a prethermalized regime, which can be described by a density matrix that can be viewed as a deformation of a generalized Gibbs ensemble. We present explicit expressions for the approximately conserved charges characterizing this ensemble. We do not find evidence for a crossover from the prethermalized to a thermalized regime on the time scales accessible…
Novel cluster spin model with interactions and disorder is introduced and studied. In specific type of interactions, we find an extensive number of local integrals of motion (LIOMs), which are a modified version of the stabilizers in quantum information, i.e., mutually commuting operators specifying all quantum states in the system. These LIOMs can be defined for any strength of the interactions and disorder, and are of compact-support instead of exponentially-decaying tail. Hence, even under the presence of interactions, integrability is held, and all energy eigenstates are labeled by these L…
The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) is a conjecture on the nature of isolated quantum systems that guarantees the thermal behavior of subsystems when it is satisfied. ETH has been tested in various forms on a number of local many-body interacting systems. Here we examine the validity of ETH in a class of nonlocal disordered many-body interacting systems --- the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Majorana (SYK) models --- that may be tuned from chaotic behavior to integrability. Our analysis shows that SYK$_4$ (with quartic couplings), which is maximally chaotic in the large system size limit, satisf…
Eigenstate thermalization at the edge of the many-body spectrum
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay（印度理工学院孟买分校）；Kyoto University（京都大学）；Indian Institute of Technology Madras（印度理工学院马德拉斯分校）；Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University（冲绳科学技术大学院大学）
Despite being ubiquitous, out-of-equilibrium quantum systems are much less understood than systems at equilibrium. Progress in the field has benefited from a symbiotic relationship between theoretical studies and new experiments on coherent dynamics. The present work strengthens this connection by providing a general picture of the relaxation process of isolated lattice many-body quantum systems that are routinely studied in experiments with cold atoms, ions traps, and nuclear magnetic resonance. We show numerically and analytically that the long-time decay of the probability for finding the s…
Using the ergodicity principle for the expectation values of several types of observables, we investigate the thermalization process in isolated fermionic systems. These are described by the two-body random ensemble, which is a paradigmatic model to study quantum chaos and specially the dynamical transition from integrability to chaos. By means of exact diagonalizations we analyze the relevance of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis as well as the influence of other factors, like the energy and structure of the initial state, or the dimension of the Hilbert space. We also obtain analytica…
Exactly solvable models that exhibit quantum signatures of classical chaos are both rare as well as important - more so in view of the fact that the mechanisms for ergodic behavior and thermalization in isolated quantum systems and its connections to non-integrability are under active investigation. In this work, we study quantum systems of few qubits collectively modeled as a kicked top, a textbook example of quantum chaos. In particular, we show that the 3 and 4 qubit cases are exactly solvable and yet, interestingly, can display signatures of ergodicity and thermalization. Deriving analytic…
Symmetries play a central role in single-particle localization. Recent research focused on many-body localized (MBL) systems, characterized by new kind of integrability, and by the area-law entanglement of eigenstates. We investigate the effect of a non-Abelian $SU(2)$ symmetry on the dynamical properties of a disordered Heisenberg chain. While $SU(2)$ symmetry is inconsistent with the conventional MBL, a new non-ergodic regime is possible. In this regime, the eigenstates exhibit faster than area-law, but still a strongly sub-thermal scaling of entanglement entropy. Using exact diagonalization…
Thermalizing quantum systems are conventionally described by statistical mechanics at equilibrium. However, not all systems fall into this category, with many body localization providing a generic mechanism for thermalization to fail in strongly disordered systems. Many-body localized (MBL) systems remain perfect insulators at non-zero temperature, which do not thermalize and therefore cannot be described using statistical mechanics. In this Colloquium we review recent theoretical and experimental advances in studies of MBL systems, focusing on the new perspective provided by entanglement and …
We propose a new quantity called modulus fidelity to measure the closeness of two quantum pure states. Especially, we use it to investigate the closeness of eigenstates of quantum many-body systems. When the system is integrable, the modulus fidelity of neighbor eigenstates displays a large fluctuation. But the modulus fidelity is close to a constant when system becomes non-integrable with fluctuation reduced drastically. Average modulus fidelity of neighbor eigenstates increases with the increase of parameters that destroy the integrability, which also indicates the integrable-chaos transitio…
Systems of interacting bosons in triple-well potentials are of significant theoretical and experimental interest. They are explored in contexts that range from quantum phase transitions and quantum dynamics to semiclassical analysis. Here, we systematically investigate the onset of quantum chaos in a triple-well model that moves away from integrability as its potential gets tilted. Even in its deepest chaotic regime, the system presents features reminiscent of integrability. Our studies are based on level spacing distribution and spectral form factor, structure of the eigenstates, diagonal and…
In quantum statistical mechanics, closed many-body systems that do not exhibit thermalization after an arbitrarily long time in spite of the presence of interactions are called as many-body localized systems, and recently have been vigorously investigated. After a brief review of this topic, we consider a many-body interacting quantum system in one dimension, which has conformal symmetry and integrability. We exactly solve the system and discuss its thermal or non-thermal behavior.
Recent discovery of persistent revivals in quantum simulators based on Rydberg atoms have pointed to the existence of a new type of dynamical behavior that challenged the conventional paradigms of integrability and thermalization. This novel collective effect has been named quantum many-body scars by analogy with weak ergodicity breaking of a single particle inside a stadium billiard. In this overview, we provide a pedagogical introduction to quantum many-body scars and highlight the newly emerged connections with the semiclassical quantization of many-body systems. We discuss the relation bet…
This work explores a fundamental dynamical structure for a wide range of many-body quantum systems under periodic driving. Generically, in the thermodynamic limit, such systems are known to heat up to infinite temperature states after infinite-time evolution, irrespective of dynamical details. In the present study, instead of considering infinitely long-time scale, we aim to provide a framework to understand the long but finite time behavior, namely the transient dynamics. In the analysis, we focus on the Floquet-Magnus (FM) expansion that gives a formal expression of the effective Hamiltonian…
One key issue of the foundation of statistical mechanics is the emergence of equilibrium ensembles in isolated and closed quantum systems. Recently, it was predicted that in the thermodynamic ($N\rightarrow\infty$) limit of large quantum many-body systems canonical density matrices emerge for small subsystems from almost all pure states. This notion of canonical typicality is assumed to originate from the entanglement between subsystem and environment and the resulting intrinsic quantum complexity of the many-body state. For individual eigenstates it has been shown that local observables show …
