It is shown that the infinite random Heisenberg XXZ spin-$\frac12$ chain exhibits slow propagation of information (logarithmic light cone), a key signature of many-body localization (MBL), in any fixed energy interval at the bottom of the spectrum. The relevant parameter regime, which covers both weak interaction and strong disorder, is determined solely by the energy interval.
We study disordered XXZ spin chains in the Ising phase exhibiting droplet localization, a single cluster localization property we previously proved for random XXZ spin chains. It holds in an energy interval $I$ near the bottom of the spectrum, known as the droplet spectrum. We establish dynamical manifestations of localization in the energy window $I$, including non-spreading of information, zero-velocity Lieb-Robinson bounds, and general dynamical clustering. Our results do not rely on knowledge of the dynamical characteristics of the model outside the droplet spectrum. A byproduct of our ana…
We study many-body localization properties of the disordered XXZ spin chain in the Ising phase. Disorder is introduced via a random magnetic field in the $z$-direction. We prove a strong form of dynamical exponential clustering for eigenstates in the droplet spectrum: For any pair of local observables separated by a distance $\ell$, the sum of the associated correlators over these states decays exponentially in $\ell$, in expectation. This exponential clustering persists under the time evolution in the droplet spectrum. Our result applies to the large disorder regime as well as to the strong I…
The iterative methods to diagonalize matrices and many-body Hamiltonians can be reformulated as flows of Hamiltonians towards diagonalization driven by unitary transformations that preserve the spectrum. After a comparative overview of the various types of discrete flows (Jacobi, QR-algorithm) and differential flows (Toda, Wegner, White) that have been introduced in the past, we focus on the random XXZ chain with random fields in order to determine the best closed flow within a given subspace of running Hamiltonians. For the special case of the free-fermion random XX chain with random fields, …
We study a one-dimensional quantum system with an arbitrary number of hard-core particles on the lattice, which are subject to a deterministic attractive interaction as well as a random potential. Our choice of interaction is suggested by the spectral analysis of the XXZ quantum spin chain. The main result concerns a version of high-disorder Fock-space localization expressed here in the configuration space of hard-core particles. The proof relies on an energetically motivated Combes-Thomas estimate and an effective one-particle analysis. As an application, we show the exponential decay of the …
We present an eigensystem multiscale analysis for proving localization (pure point spectrum with exponentially decaying eigenfunctions, dynamical localization) for the Anderson model in an energy interval. In particular, it yields localization for the Anderson model in a nonempty interval at the bottom of the spectrum. This eigensystem multiscale analysis in an energy interval treats all energies of the finite volume operator at the same time, establishing level spacing and localization of eigenfunctions with eigenvalues in the energy interval in a fixed box with high probability. In contrast …
We present a new approach to the eigensystem multiscale analysis (EMSA) for random Schrödinger operators that relies on the Wegner estimate. The EMSA treats all energies of the finite volume operator in an energy interval at the same time, simultaneously establishing localization of all eigenfunctions with eigenvalues in the energy interval with high probability. It implies all the usual manifestations of localization (pure point spectrum with exponentially decaying eigenfunctions, dynamical localization). The new method removes the restrictive level spacing hypothesis used in the previous ver…
We study Schrödinger operators on $L^2 (\RR^d)$ and $\ell^2(\ZZ^d)$ with a random potential of alloy-type. The single-site potential is assumed to be exponentially decaying but not necessarily of fixed sign. In the continuum setting we require a generalized step-function shape. Wegner estimates are bounds on the average number of eigenvalues in an energy interval of finite box restrictions of these types of operators. In the described situation a Wegner estimate which is polynomial in the volume of the box and linear in the size of the energy interval holds. We apply the established Wegner est…
In this paper we study random perturbations of first order elliptic operators with periodic potentials. We are mostly interested in Hamiltonians modeling graphene antidot lattices with impurities. The unperturbed operator $H_0 := D_S + V_0$ is the sum of a Dirac-like operator $D_S$ plus a periodic matrix valued potential $V_0$, and is assumed to have an open gap. The random potential $V_ω$ is of Anderson-type with independent, identically distributed coupling constants and moving centers, with absolutely continuous probability distributions. We prove band edge localization, namely that there e…
We establish spectral and dynamical localization for several Anderson models on metric and discrete radial trees. The localization results are obtained on compact intervals contained in the complement of discrete sets of exceptional energies. All results are proved under the minimal hypothesis on the type of disorder: the random variables generating the trees assume at least two distinct values. This level of generality, in particular, allows us to treat radial trees with disordered geometry as well as Schrödinger operators with Bernoulli-type singular potentials. Our methods are based on an i…