Stark many-body localization

M. Schulz; C. A. Hooley; R. Moessner; F. Pollmann

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.040606

Stark many-body localization

M. Schulz, C. A. Hooley, R. Moessner, F. Pollmann

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Abstract

We consider spinless fermions on a finite one-dimensional lattice, interacting via nearest-neighbor repulsion and subject to a strong electric field. In the noninteracting case, due to Wannier-Stark localization, the single-particle wave functions are exponentially localized even though the model has no quenched disorder. We show that this system remains localized in the presence of interactions and exhibits physics analogous to models of conventional many-body localization (MBL). In particular, the entanglement entropy grows logarithmically with time after a quench, albeit with a slightly different functional form from the MBL case, and the level statistics of the many-body energy spectrum are Poissonian. We moreover predict that a quench experiment starting from a charge-density wave state would show results similar to those of Schreiber et al. [Science 349, 842 (2015)].

Original language	English
Article number	040606
Number of pages	5
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	122
Issue number	4
Early online date	30 Jan 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.040606
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2019

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10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.040606

PhysRevLett.122.040606
© 2019, American Physical Society. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher's policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.040606
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https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.01250

CM DTC 2014 - 2022: EPSRC centre for doctoral training in condensed matter physics: Renewal of the CM-DTC
King, P. (PI)
EPSRC
1/08/14 → 31/01/24
Project: Standard
Topological Protection and NonEquilibriu: Topological Protection and NonEquilibrium States in Strongly Correlated Electron Systems
Wahl, P. (PI), Baumberger, F. (CoI), Davis, J. C. (CoI), Green, A. (CoI), Hooley, C. (CoI), Keeling, J. M. J. (CoI) & Mackenzie, A. (CoI)
EPSRC
1/09/11 → 31/08/17
Project: Standard

Cite this

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title = "Stark many-body localization",

abstract = "We consider spinless fermions on a finite one-dimensional lattice, interacting via nearest-neighbor repulsion and subject to a strong electric field. In the noninteracting case, due to Wannier-Stark localization, the single-particle wave functions are exponentially localized even though the model has no quenched disorder. We show that this system remains localized in the presence of interactions and exhibits physics analogous to models of conventional many-body localization (MBL). In particular, the entanglement entropy grows logarithmically with time after a quench, albeit with a slightly different functional form from the MBL case, and the level statistics of the many-body energy spectrum are Poissonian. We moreover predict that a quench experiment starting from a charge-density wave state would show results similar to those of Schreiber et al. [Science 349, 842 (2015)].",

author = "M. Schulz and C. A. Hooley and R. Moessner and F. Pollmann",

note = "M. S. acknowledges financial support from the CM-CDT under EPSRC (UK) Grant No. EP/L015110/1. C. A. H. acknowledges financial support from the TOPNES program under EPSRC (UK) Grant No. EP/I031014/1. This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF PHY-1125915. Part of this work was performed at the Aspen Center for Physics, which is supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-1066293. F. P. acknowledges the support of the DFG Research Unit FOR1807 through Grants No. PO1370/2-1 and No. TRR80, the Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) by the German Excellence Initiative, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 771537).",

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T1 - Stark many-body localization

AU - Schulz, M.

AU - Hooley, C. A.

AU - Moessner, R.

AU - Pollmann, F.

N1 - M. S. acknowledges financial support from the CM-CDT under EPSRC (UK) Grant No. EP/L015110/1. C. A. H. acknowledges financial support from the TOPNES program under EPSRC (UK) Grant No. EP/I031014/1. This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF PHY-1125915. Part of this work was performed at the Aspen Center for Physics, which is supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-1066293. F. P. acknowledges the support of the DFG Research Unit FOR1807 through Grants No. PO1370/2-1 and No. TRR80, the Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) by the German Excellence Initiative, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 771537).

PY - 2019/2/1

Y1 - 2019/2/1

N2 - We consider spinless fermions on a finite one-dimensional lattice, interacting via nearest-neighbor repulsion and subject to a strong electric field. In the noninteracting case, due to Wannier-Stark localization, the single-particle wave functions are exponentially localized even though the model has no quenched disorder. We show that this system remains localized in the presence of interactions and exhibits physics analogous to models of conventional many-body localization (MBL). In particular, the entanglement entropy grows logarithmically with time after a quench, albeit with a slightly different functional form from the MBL case, and the level statistics of the many-body energy spectrum are Poissonian. We moreover predict that a quench experiment starting from a charge-density wave state would show results similar to those of Schreiber et al. [Science 349, 842 (2015)].

AB - We consider spinless fermions on a finite one-dimensional lattice, interacting via nearest-neighbor repulsion and subject to a strong electric field. In the noninteracting case, due to Wannier-Stark localization, the single-particle wave functions are exponentially localized even though the model has no quenched disorder. We show that this system remains localized in the presence of interactions and exhibits physics analogous to models of conventional many-body localization (MBL). In particular, the entanglement entropy grows logarithmically with time after a quench, albeit with a slightly different functional form from the MBL case, and the level statistics of the many-body energy spectrum are Poissonian. We moreover predict that a quench experiment starting from a charge-density wave state would show results similar to those of Schreiber et al. [Science 349, 842 (2015)].

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Stark many-body localization

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Projects

CM DTC 2014 - 2022: EPSRC centre for doctoral training in condensed matter physics: Renewal of the CM-DTC

Topological Protection and NonEquilibriu: Topological Protection and NonEquilibrium States in Strongly Correlated Electron Systems

Cite this