Disorder-free localization in a simple U(1) lattice gauge theory

Papaefstathiou, Irene; Smith, Adam; Knolle, Johannes

Abstract

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. A number of disorder-free localization mechanisms have been put forward connected to local symmetries of lattice gauge theories. Here, starting from translationally invariant (1+1)-dimensional quantum electrodynamics, we modify the dynamics of the gauge field which allows us to construct a lattice model with a U(1) local gauge symmetry revealing a mechanism of disorder-free localization. We consider two different discretizations of the continuum model resulting in a free-fermion soluble model in one case and an interacting model in the other. We diagnose the localization of our translationally invariant model in the far-from-equilibrium dynamics following a global quantum quench.

Citation

Papaefstathiou, I., Smith, A., & Knolle, J. (2020). Disorder-free localization in a simple U(1) lattice gauge theory. Physical Review B, 102(16), Article 165132. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.102.165132

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 18, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 16, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 15, 2020
• Deposit Date: Mar 21, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 21, 2022
• Journal: Physical Review B
• Print ISSN: 2469-9950
• Electronic ISSN: 2469-9969
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 102
• Issue: 16
• Article Number: 165132
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.102.165132
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7616823
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.165132