Disorder-free localization has been recently introduced as a mechanism for ergodicity breaking in low-dimensional homogeneous lattice gauge theories caused by local constraints imposed by gauge invariance. We show that also genuinely interacting systems in two spatial dimensions can become nonergodic as a consequence of this mechanism. Specifically, we prove nonergodic behavior in the quantum link model by obtaining a rigorous bound on the localization-delocalization transition through a classical correlated percolation problem implying a fragmentation of Hilbert space on the nonergodic side of the transition. We study the quantum dynamics in this system by means of an efficient and perturbatively controlled representation of the wavefunction in terms of a variational network of classical spins akin to artificial neural networks. We identify a distinguishing dynamical signature by studying the propagation of line defects, yielding different light cone structures in the localized and ergodic phases, respectively. The methods we introduce in this work can be applied to any lattice gauge theory with finite-dimensional local Hilbert spaces irrespective of spatial dimensionality.
Disorder-free localization is a paradigm of nonergodicity in translation-invariant quantum many-body systems hosting gauge symmetries. The quench dynamics starting from simple initial states, which correspond to extensive superpositions of gauge superselection sectors, exhibits many-body localization with the system dynamically inducing its own disorder. An open question concerns the stability of disorder-free localization in the presence of gauge-breaking errors, and whether processes due to the latter can be controllably suppressed. Here, we show that translation-invariant \textit{single-bod…
Disorder-free localization is a paradigm of strong ergodicity breaking that has been shown to occur in global quenches of lattice gauge theories when the system is initialized in a superposition over an extensive number of gauge sectors. Here, we show that preparing the system in a thermal Gibbs ensemble without any coherences between different gauge sectors also gives rise to disorder-free localization, with temperature acting as a disorder strength. We demonstrate our findings by calculating the quench dynamics of the imbalance of thermal ensembles in both $\mathrm{U}(1)$ and $\mathbb{Z}_2$ …
The properties of the entanglement entropy (EE) in one-dimensional disordered interacting systems are studied. Anderson localization leaves a clear signature on the average EE, as it saturates on length scale exceeding the localization length. This is verified by numerically calculating the EE for an ensemble of disordered realizations using density matrix renormalization group (DMRG). A heuristic expression describing the dependence of the EE on the localization length, which takes into account finite size effects, is proposed. This is used to extract the localization length as function of th…
The venerable phenomena of Anderson localization, along with the much more recent many-body localization, both depend crucially on the presence of disorder. The latter enters either in the form of quenched disorder in the parameters of the Hamiltonian, or through a special choice of a disordered initial state. Here we present a model with localization arising in a very simple, completely translationally invariant quantum model, with only local interactions between spins and fermions. By identifying an extensive set of conserved quantities, we show that the system generates purely dynamically i…
We present numerical results within the one-dimensional disordered Hubbard model for several characteristic indicators of the many-body localization (MBL). Considering traditionally studied charge disorder (i.e., the same disorder strength for both spin orientations) we find that even at strong disorder all signatures consistently show that while charge degree of freedom is non-ergodic, the spin is delocalized and ergodic. This indicates the absence of the full MBL in the model that has been simulated in recent cold-atom experiments. Full localization can be restored if spin-dependent disorder…
While many-body localization has primarily been studied in systems with a single local degree of freedom, experimental studies of many-body localization in cold atom systems motivate exploration of the disordered Hubbard model. With two coupled local degrees of freedom it is natural to ask how localization in spin relates to disorder in charge and vice versa. Most prior work has addressed disorder in only one of these sectors and often has not used measures of localization which distinguish between charge and spin. Here we explore localization in the Hubbard model with a wide range of independ…
Localization due to the presence of disorder has proven crucial for our current understanding of relaxation in isolated quantum systems. The many-body localized phase constitutes a robust alternative to the thermalization of complex interacting systems, but recently the importance of disorder has been brought into question. Starting from translationally invariant $(1 + 1)$-dimensional quantum electrodynamics, we modify the dynamics of the gauge field and reveal a mechanism of disorder-free localization. We consider two different discretizations of the continuum model resulting in a free-fermio…
Many-body localization occurs in isolated quantum systems when Anderson localization persists in the presence of finite interactions. Despite strong evidence for the existence of a many-body localization transition a reliable extraction of the critical disorder strength is difficult due to a large drift with system size in the studied quantities. In this work we explore two entanglement properties that are promising for the study of the manybody localization transition: the variance of the half-chain entanglement entropy of exact eigenstates and the long time change in entanglement after a loc…
We investigate the role of localization effects in the Kondo disorder mechanism for non-Fermi liquid behavior in disordered Kondo lattices. We find that the distribution of Kondo temperatures is strongly affected by fluctuations of the conduction electron density of states, a feature neglected in the previous treatment. For moderate disorder, the self-consistent distribution of Kondo temperatures flows to a universal log-normal form, irrespective of the form of the bare disorder distribution. For sufficient disorder, the system enters a Griffiths phase with diverging thermodynamic responses.
We investigate the Mott-Anderson physics in interacting disordered one-dimensional chains through the average single-site entanglement quantified by the linear entropy, which is obtained via density-functional theory calculations. We show that the minimum disorder strength required to the so-called full Anderson localization $-$ characterized by the real-space localization of pairs $-$ is strongly dependent on the interaction regime. The degree of localization is found to be intrinsically related to the interplay between the correlations and the disorder potential. In magnetized systems, the m…
The magnetic ground state phase diagram of the disordered Hubbard model at half-filling is computed in dynamical mean-field theory supplemented with the spin resolved, typical local density of states. The competition between many-body correlations and disorder is found to stabilize paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic metallic phases at weak interactions. Strong disorder leads to Anderson localization of the electrons and suppresses the antiferromagnetic long-range order. Slater and Heisenberg antiferromagnets respond characteristically different to disorder. The results can be tested with cold …
We discuss the effects of a novel polaronic disorder in the recently proposed two-fluid model for manganites. Using effective field theory as well as direct numerical simulations, we show that this disorder can have dramatic effects in terms of the transition from ferromagnetic insulator to ferromagnetic metal upon hole-doping, including an Anderson localized regime where variable range hopping may be observed.
We study the interplay of disorder and interaction effects including bosonic degrees of freedom in the framework of a generic one-dimensional transport model, the Anderson-Edwards model. Using the density-matrix renormalization group technique, we extract the localization length and the renormalization of the Tomonaga Luttinger liquid parameter from the charge-structure factor by a elaborate sample-average finite-size scaling procedure. The properties of the Anderson localized state can be described in terms of scaling relations of the metallic phase without disorder. We analyze how disorder c…
Exponential localization of wavefunctions in lattices, whether in real or synthetic dimensions, is a fundamental wave interference phenomenon. Localization of Bloch-type functions in space-periodic lattice, triggered by spatial disorder, is known as Anderson localization and arrests diffusion of classical particles in disordered potentials. In time-periodic Floquet lattices, exponential localization in a periodically driven quantum system similarly arrests diffusion of its classically chaotic counterpart in the action-angle space. Here we demonstrate that nonlinear optical response allows for …
We present a self-consistent theory of Anderson localization that yields a simple algorithm to obtain \emph{typical local density of states} as an order parameter, thereby reproducing the essential features of a phase-diagram of localization-delocalization quantum phase transition in the standard lattice models of disordered electron problem. Due to the local character of our theory, it can easily be combined with dynamical mean-field approaches to strongly correlated electrons, thus opening an attractive avenue for a genuine {\em non-perturbative} treatment of the interplay of strong interact…
The interplay between local, repulsive interactions and disorder acting only on one spin orientation of lattice fermions ("spin-dependent disorder") is investigated. The nonmagnetic disorder vs. interaction phase diagram is computed using Dynamical Mean-Field Theory in combination with the geometric average over disorder. The latter determines the typical local density of states and is therefore sensitive to Anderson localization. The effect of spin-dependent disorder is found to be very different from that of conventional disorder. In particular, it destabilizes the metallic solution and lead…
We explore the physics of the disordered XYZ spin chain using two complementary numerical techniques: exact diagonalization (ED) on chains of up to 17 spins, and time-evolving block decimation (TEBD) on chains of up to 400 spins. Our principal findings are as follows. First, the clean XYZ spin chain shows ballistic energy transport for all parameter values that we investigated. Second, for weak disorder there is a stable diffusive region that persists up to a critical disorder strength that depends on the XY anisotropy. Third, for disorder strengths above this critical value energy transport b…
We study fermionic ladders with identical disorder along the leg direction. Following recent experiments we focus, in particular, on how an initial occupation imbalance evolves in time. By considering different initial states and different ladder geometries we conclude that in generic cases interchain coupling leads to a destruction of the imbalance over time, both for Anderson and for many-body localized systems.
