In one dimension, noninteracting particles can undergo a localization-delocalization transition in a quasiperiodic potential. Recent studies have suggested that this transition transforms into a many-body localization (MBL) transition upon the introduction of interactions. It has also been shown that mobility edges can appear in the single particle spectrum for certain types of quasiperiodic potentials. Here, we investigate the effect of interactions in two models with such mobility edges. Employing the technique of exact diagonalization for finite-sized systems, we calculate the level spacing distribution, time evolution of entanglement entropy, optical conductivity, and return probability to detect MBL. We find that MBL does indeed occur in one of the two models we study, but the entanglement appears to grow faster than logarithmically with time unlike in other MBL systems.
We construct a solvable spin chain model of many-body localization (MBL) with a tunable mobility edge. This simple model not only demonstrates analytically the existence of mobility edges in interacting one-dimensional (1D) disordered systems, but also allows us to study their physics. By establishing a connection between MBL and a quantum central limit theorem (QCLT), we show that many-body localization-delocalization transitions can be visualized as tuning a mobility edge in the energy spectrum. Since the effective disorder strength for individual eigenstates depends on energy density, we id…
We provide numerical evidence combined with an analytical understanding of the many-body mobility edge for the strongly anisotropic spin-1/2 XXZ model in a random magnetic field. The system dynamics can be understood in terms of symmetry-constrained excitations about parent states with ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic short range order. These two regimes yield vastly different dynamics producing an observable, tunable many-body mobility edge. We compute a set of diagnostic quantities that verify the presence of the mobility edge and discuss how weakly correlated disorder can tune the mobil…
Non-interacting fermions in one dimension can undergo a localization-delocalization transition in the presence of a quasi-periodic potential as a function of that potential. In the presence of interactions, this transition transforms into a Many-Body Localization (MBL) transition. Recent studies have suggested that this type of transition can also occur in models with quasi-periodic potentials that possess single particle mobility edges. Two such models were studied in PRL 115,230401(2015) but only one was found to exhibit an MBL transition in the presence of interactions while the other one d…
Thermalization of random-field Heisenberg spin chain is probed by time evolution of density correlation functions. Studying the impacts of average energies of initial product states on dynamics of the system, we provide arguments in favor of the existence of a mobility edge in the large system-size limit.
We study kinetics of electrons, scattered by heavy particles undergoing slow diffusive motion. In a three-dimensional space we claim the existence of the crossover region (on the energy axis), which separates the states with fast diffusion and the states with slow diffusion; the latter is determined by the dephasing time. In a two-dimensional space the diffusion coefficient for any value of energy is determined by the dephasing time.
We examine the interplay of interaction and disorder for a Heisenberg spin ladder system with random fields. We identify many-body localized states based on the entanglement entropy scaling, where delocalized and localized states have volume and area laws, respectively. We first establish the quantum phase transition at a critical random field strength $h_c \sim 8.5\pm 0.5$, where all energy eigenstates are localized beyond that value. Interestingly, the entanglement entropy and fluctuation of the bipartite magnetization show distinct probability distributions which characterize different quan…
We investigate localization properties in a two-coupled uniform chains with quasiperiodic modulation on interchain coupling strength. We demonstrate that this ladder is equivalent to a Aubry-Andre (AA) chain when two legs are symmetric. Analytical and numerical results indicate the appearance of mobility edges for asymmetric ladder. We also propose an easily engineered quasiperiodic ladder system which is a moiré superlattice system consisting of two-coupled uniform chains. An irrational lattice constant difference results in quasiperiodic structure. Numerical simulations show that such a syst…
We show that a mobility edge exists in 1D random potentials provided specific long-range correlations. Our approach is based on the relation between binary correlator of a site potential and the localization length. We give the algorithm to construct numerically potentials with mobility edge at any given energy inside allowed zone. Another natural way to generate such potentials is to use chaotic trajectories of non-linear maps. Our numerical calculations for few particular potentials demonstrate the presence of mobility edges in 1D geometry.
We experimentally study many-body localization (MBL) with ultracold atoms in a weak one-dimensional quasiperiodic potential, which in the noninteracting limit exhibits an intermediate phase that is characterized by a mobility edge. We measure the time evolution of an initial charge density wave after a quench and analyze the corresponding relaxation exponents. We find clear signatures of MBL, when the corresponding noninteracting model is deep in the localized phase. We also critically compare and contrast our results with those from a tight-binding Aubry-André model, which does not exhibit a …
Localization properties of non-interacting quantum particles in one-dimensional incommensurate lattices are investigated with an exponential short-range hopping that is beyond the minimal nearest-neighbor tight-binding model. Energy dependent mobility edges are analytically predicted in this model and verified with numerical calculations. The results are then mapped to the continuum Schrodinger equation, and an approximate analytical expression for the localization phase diagram and the energy dependent mobility edges in the ground band obtained.
The equation for the wave-function localization length in terms of the two-point correlation function of a weak random potential in 1D (F. M. Izrailev and A. A. Krokhin, Phys. Rev. Lett. vol. 82, 4062 (1999)) is rederived using the standard weak-localization theory. I propose a modified algorithm for generation of arbitrary correlated random potentials, and show that numerical calculation of the localization length in a specific correlated disorder in 1D is then in accord with the analytic expression, removing the discrepancy noted in the above Letter.
We study the many-body localization aspects of single-particle mobility edges in fermionic systems. We investigate incommensurate lattices and random disorder Anderson models. Many-body localization and quantum nonergodic properties are studied by comparing entanglement and thermal entropy, and by calculating the scaling of subsystem particle number fluctuations, respectively. We establish a nonergodic extended phase as a generic intermediate phase (between purely ergodic extended and nonergodic localized phases) for the many-body localization transition of non-interacting fermions where the e…
In this paper we consider sparsely random potentials in 5 or more dimensional cubic lattice and exhibit localized and extended states. We identify also the mobility edge for a class of potentials going to infinity at infinity. Our treatment includes a large class of unperturbed selfadjoint opeartors commuting with the usual Laplacian on the lattice.
Non-Hermitian effects could create rich dynamical and topological phase structures. In this work, we show that the collaboration between lattice dimerization and non-Hermiticity could generally bring about mobility edges and multiple localization transitions in one-dimensional quasicrystals. Non-Hermitian extensions of the Aubry-André-Harper (AAH) model with staggered onsite potential and dimerized hopping amplitudes are introduced to demonstrate our results. Reentrant localization transitions due to the interplay between quasiperiodic gain/loss and lattice dimerization are found. Quantized wi…
Theory of weak localization is developed for two-dimensional holes in semiconductor heterostructures. Ballistic regime of weak localization where the backscattering occurs from few impurities is studied with account for anisotropic momentum scattering of holes. The transition from weak localization to anti-localization is demonstrated for long dephasing times. For stronger dephasing the conductivity correction is negative at all hole densities due to non-monotonous dependence of the spin relaxation time on the hole wavevector. The anomalous temperature dependent correction to the conductivity …
Time-periodic driving fields could endow a system with peculiar topological and transport features. In this work, we find dynamically controlled localization transitions and mobility edges in non-Hermitian quasicrystals via shaking the lattice periodically. The driving force dresses the hopping amplitudes between lattice sites, yielding alternate transitions between localized, mobility edge and extended non-Hermitian quasicrystalline phases. We apply our Floquet engineering approach to five representative models of non-Hermitian quasicrystals, obtain the conditions of photon-assisted localizat…
The existence of localization and mobility edges in one-dimensional lattices is commonly thought to depend on disorder (or quasidisorder). We investigate localization properties of a disorder-free lattice subject to an equally spaced electric field. We analytically show that, even though the model has no quenched disorder, this system manifests an exact mobility edge and the localization regime extends to weak fields, in contrast to gigantic field for the localization of a usual Stark lattice. For strong fields, the Wannier-Stark ladder is recovered and the number of localized eigenstates is i…
We study the localization transitions for coupled one-dimensional lattices with quasiperiodic potential. Besides the localized and extended phases there is an intermediate mixed phase which can be easily explained decoupling the system so as to deal with effective uncoupled Aubry-André chains with different transition points. We clarify, therefore, the origin of such an intermediate phase finding the conditions for getting a uniquely defined mobility edge for such coupled systems. Finally we consider many coupled chains with an energy shift which compose an extension of the Aubry-André model i…
A mixture of light and heavy atoms is considered. We study the kinetics of the light atoms, scattered by the heavy ones, the latter undergoing slow diffusive motion. In three-dimensional space we claim the existence of a crossover region (in energy), which separates the states of the light atoms with fast diffusion and the states with slow diffusion; the latter is determined by the dephasing time. For the two dimensional case we have a transition between weak localization, observed when the dephasing length is less than the localization length (calculated for static scatterers), and strong loc…
We study a one-dimensional system that includes both a commensurate off-diagonal modulation of the hopping amplitude and an incommensurate, slowly varying diagonal on-site modulation. By using asymptotic heuristic arguments, we identify four closed form expressions for the mobility edges. We further study numerically the inverse participation ratio, the density of states and the Lyapunov exponent. The numerical results are in exact agreement with our theoretical predictions. Besides a metal-insulator transition driven by the strength of the slowly varying potential, another four insulator-meta…
The quantum random energy model provides a mean-field description of the equilibrium spin glass transition. We show that it further exhibits a many-body localization - delocalization (MBLD) transition when viewed as a closed quantum system. The mean-field structure of the model allows an analytically tractable description of the MBLD transition using the forward-scattering approximation and replica techniques. The predictions are in good agreement with the numerics. The MBLD lies at energy density significantly above the equilibrium spin glass transition, indicating that the closed system dyna…
Localization transitions as a function of temperature require a many-body mobility edge in energy, separating localized from ergodic states. We argue that this scenario is inconsistent because local fluctuations into the ergodic phase within the supposedly localized phase can serve as mobile bubbles that induce global delocalization. Such fluctuations inevitably appear with a low but finite density anywhere in any typical state. We conclude that the only possibility for many-body localization to occur are lattice models that are localized at all energies. Building on a close analogy with a mod…
The existence of many-body mobility edges in closed quantum systems has been the focus of intense debate after the emergence of the description of the many-body localization phenomenon. Here we propose that this issue can be settled in experiments by investigating the time evolution of local degrees of freedom, tailored for specific energies and initial states. An interacting model of spinless fermions with exponentially long-ranged tunneling amplitudes, whose non-interacting version known to display single-particle mobility edges, is used as the starting point upon which nearest-neighbor inte…
It has been proposed that disorder may lead to a new type of topological insulator, called topological Anderson insulator (TAI). Here we examine the physical origin of this phenomenon. We calculate the topological invariants and density of states of disordered model in a super-cell of 2-dimensional HgTe/CdTe quantum well. The topologically non-trivial phase is triggered by a band touching as the disorder strength increases. The TAI is protected by a mobility gap, in contrast to the band gap in conventional quantum spin Hall systems. The mobility gap in the TAI consists of a cluster of non-triv…
We review recent developments in the study of out-of-equilibrium topological states of matter in isolated systems. The phenomenon of many-body localization, exhibited by some isolated systems usually in the presence of quenched disorder, prevents systems from equilibrating to a thermal state where the delicate quantum correlations necessary for topological order are often washed out. Instead, many-body localized systems can exhibit a type of eigenstate phase structure wherein their entire many-body spectrum is characterized by various types of quantum order, usually restricted to quantum groun…
We uncover a new non-ergodic phase, distinct from the many-body localized (MBL) phase, in a disordered two-leg ladder of interacting hardcore bosons. The dynamics of this emergent phase, which has no single-particle analog and exists only for strong disorder and finite interaction, is determined by the many-body configuration of the initial state. Remarkably, this phase features the $\textit{coexistence}$ of localized and extended many-body states at fixed energy density and thus does not exhibit a many-body mobility edge, nor does it reduce to a model with a single-particle mobility edge in t…
We provide an account of the static and dynamic properties of hard-core bosons in a one-dimensional lattice subject to a multi-chromatic quasiperiodic potential for which the single-particle spectrum has mobility edges. We use the mapping from strongly interacting bosons to weakly interacting fermions, and provide exact numerical results for hard-core bosons in and out of equilibrium. In equilibrium, we find that the system behaves like a quasi-condensate (insulator) depending on whether the Fermi surface of the corresponding fermionic system lies in a spectral region where the single-particle…
Motivated by recent experiments on interacting bosons in quasi-one-dimensional optical lattice [Nature {\bf 573}, 385 (2019)] we analyse theoretically properties of the system in the crossover between delocalized and localized regimes. Comparison of time dynamics for uniform and density wave like initial states enables demonstration of the existence of the mobility edge. To this end we define a new observable, the mean speed of transport at long times. It gives us an efficient estimate of the critical disorder for the crossover. We also show that the mean velocity growth of occupation fluctuat…
Localization and dephasing of conduction electrons in a low carrier density ferromagnet due to scattering on magnetic fluctuations is considered. We claim the existence of the "mobility edge", which separates the states with fast diffusion and the states with slow diffusion; the latter is determined by the dephasing time. When the "mobility edge" crosses the Fermi energy a large and sharp change of conductivity is observed. The theory provides an explanation for the observed temperature dependence of conductivity in ferromagnetic semiconductors and manganite pyrochlores.
We use dynamic coherent backscattering to study one of the Anderson mobility gaps in the vibrational spectrum of strongly disordered three-dimensional mesoglasses. Comparison of experimental results with the self-consistent theory of localization allows us to estimate the localization (correlation) length as a function of frequency in a wide spectral range covering bands of diffuse transport and a mobility gap delimited by two mobility edges. The results are corroborated by transmission measurements on one of our samples.
Anderson localization is a universal phenomenon affecting non-interacting quantum particles in disorder. In three spatial dimensions it becomes particularly interesting to study because of the presence of a quantum phase transition from localized to extended states, predicted by P.W. Anderson in his seminal work, taking place at a critical energy, the so-called mobility edge. The possible relation of the Anderson transition to the metal-insulator transitions observed in materials has originated a flurry of theoretical studies during the past 50 years, and it is now possible to predict very acc…
The many-body localization (MBL) transition is a quantum phase transition involving highly excited eigenstates of a disordered quantum many-body Hamiltonian, which evolve from "extended/ergodic" (exhibiting extensive entanglement entropies and fluctuations) to "localized" (exhibiting area-law scaling of entanglement and fluctuations). The MBL transition can be driven by the strength of disorder in a given spectral range, or by the energy density at fixed disorder - if the system possesses a many-body mobility edge. Here we propose to explore the latter mechanism by using "quantum-quench spectr…
Scaling analysis and renormalization group on the mobility edge in the quantum random energy model
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems（马克斯·普朗克复杂系统物理研究所）；SISSA（的里雅斯特国际高等研究学校）；INFN, Sezione di Trieste（意大利国家核物理研究院的里雅斯特分部）；The Abdus Salam ICTP（阿卜杜斯·萨拉姆理论物理中心）；Department of Physics, Princeton University（普林斯顿大学物理系）
We study many-body localization (MBL) in the quasiperiodic $t_1$-$t_2$ model, focusing on the role of next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) hopping $t_2$, which introduces a single-particle mobility edge. The calculated phase diagram can be divided into three distinct regimes, depending on the strength of the short-range interaction $U$. For weak interactions ($U\ll t_1$), this model is always nonthermal. For intermediate interactions ($U\sim t_1$), the thermal-MBL phase transition in this model is qualitatively the same as that of the Aubry-Andre (AA) model, which is consistent with existing experiment…
Recent experiments on non-interacting ultra-cold atoms in correlated disorder have yielded conflicting results regarding the so-called mobility edge, i.e. the energy threshold separating Anderson localized from diffusive states. At the same time, there are theoretical indications that the experimental data overestimate the position of this critical energy, sometimes by a large amount. The non-trivial effect of anisotropy in the spatial correlations of experimental speckle potentials have been put forward as a possible cause for such discrepancy. Using extensive numerical simulations we show th…
Many-body localization provides a mechanism to avoid thermalization in isolated interacting quantum systems. The breakdown of thermalization may be complete, when all eigenstates in the many-body spectrum become localized, or partial, when the so-called many-body mobility edge separates localized and delocalized parts of the spectrum. Previously, De Roeck \textit{et al.}[arXiv:1506.01505] suggested a possible instability of the many-body mobility edge in energy density. The local ergodic regions -- so called "bubbles" -- resonantly spread throughout the system, leading to delocalization. In or…
As disorder strength increases in quantum many-body systems a new phase of matter, the so-called anybody localization, emerges across the whole spectrum. This transition is energy dependent, a phenomenon known as mobility edge, such that the mid-spectrum eigenstates tend to localize at larger values of disorder in comparison to eigenstates near the edges of the spectrum. Many-body localization becomes more sophisticated in long-range interacting systems. Here, by focusing on several quantities, we draw the phase diagram as a function of disorder strength and energy spectrum, for a various rang…
Anomalous Localization and Mobility Edges in Non-Hermitian Quasicrystals with Disordered Imaginary Gauge Fields
Sanli Honors College, School of Physics and Electronics Engineering, Shanxi University（山西大学物理与电子工程学院三立荣誉学院）；Institute of Theoretical Physics and State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics Technologies and Devices, Shanxi University（山西大学理论物理研究所量子光学技术与器件国家重点实验室）；State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics Technologies and Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University（山西大学激光光谱研究所量子光学技术与器件国家重点实验室）
Anomalous mobility edges and extended-localized transition in a quasiperiodic emitter-cavity array
School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering & Institute of Theoretical Physics, Ludong University（鲁东大学物理与光电工程学院暨理论物理研究所）；Center for Quantum Sciences, Northeast Normal University（东北师范大学量子科学中心）
We provide a simple and predictive random-matrix framework that naturally generalizes Page's law for ergodic many-body systems by incorporating a finite entanglement localization length. By comparing a highly structured one-dimensional model to a completely unstructured model and a physical system, we uncover a remarkable degree of universality, suggesting that the effective localization length is a universal combination of model parameters up until it drops down to the microscopic scale.
Study how quantum information propagates through spacetime manifold provides a means of identifying, distinguishing, and classifying novel phases of matter fertilized by many-body effects in strongly interacting systems in and out of equilibrium. Via a fuller characterization of key aspects regarding dynamic behaviors of information, we perform such an analysis on constrained many-body localization -- a newly proposed fully localized state under infinite-interaction limit -- in quasirandom Rydberg blockade spin chain models using thermal out-of-time-order commutators (OTOCs). The OTOC light co…
Recent theoretical and numerical evidence suggests that localization can survive in disordered many-body systems with very high energy density, provided that interactions are sufficiently weak. Stronger interactions can destroy localization, leading to a so-called many-body localization transition. This dynamical phase transition is relevant to questions of thermalization in extended quantum systems far from the zero-temperature limit. It separates a many-body localized phase, in which localization prevents transport and thermalization, from a conducting ("ergodic") phase in which the usual as…
Whether the many-body mobility edges can exist in a one-dimensional interacting quantum system is a controversial problem, mainly hampered by the limited system sizes amenable to numerical simulations. We investigate the transition from chaos to localization by constructing a combined random matrix, which has two extremes, one of Gaussian orthogonal ensemble and the other of Poisson statistics, drawn from different distributions. We find that by fixing a scaling parameter, the mobility edges can exist while increasing the matrix dimension $D\rightarrow\infty$, depending on the distribution of …
We investigate localization-delocalization transition in one-dimensional non-Hermitian quasiperiodic lattices with exponential short-range hopping, which possess parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry. The localization transition induced by the non-Hermitian quasiperiodic potential is found to occur at the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry-breaking point. Our results also demonstrate the existence of energy dependent mobility edges, which separate the extended states from localized states and are only associated with the real part of eigen-energies. The level statistics and Loschmidt echo dynamics are al…
One fundamental assumption in statistical physics is that generic closed quantum many-body systems thermalize under their own dynamics. Recently, the emergence of many-body localized systems has questioned this concept, challenging our understanding of the connection between statistical physics and quantum mechanics. Here we report on the observation of a many-body localization transition between thermal and localized phases for bosons in a two-dimensional disordered optical lattice. With our single site resolved measurements we track the relaxation dynamics of an initially prepared out-of-equ…
We study the eigenstates of a paradigmatic model of many-body localization in the Fock basis constructed out of the natural orbitals. By numerically studying the participation ratio, we identify a sharp crossover between different phases at a disorder strength close to the disorder strength at which subdiffusive behaviour sets in, significantly below the many-body localization transition. We repeat the analysis in the conventionally used computational basis, and show that many-body localized eigenstates are much stronger localized in the Fock basis constructed out of the natural orbitals than …
Motivated by a recent optical-lattice experiment by Choi et al.[Science 352, 1547 (2016)], we discuss how domain-wall melting can be used to investigate many-body localization. First, by considering noninteracting fermion models, we demonstrate that experimentally accessible measures are sensitive to localization and can thus be used to detect the delocalization-localization transition, including divergences of characteristic length scales. Second, using extensive time-dependent density matrix renormalization group simulations, we study fermions with repulsive interactions on a chain and a two…
Non-Hermitian effects could trigger spectrum, localization and topological phase transitions in quasiperiodic lattices. We propose a non-Hermitian extension of the Maryland model, which forms a paradigm in the study of localization and quantum chaos by introducing asymmetry to its hopping amplitudes. The resulting nonreciprocal Maryland model is found to possess a real-to-complex spectrum transition at a finite amount of hopping asymmetry, through which it changes from a localized phase to a mobility edge phase. Explicit expressions of the complex energy dispersions, phase boundaries and mobil…
