No Arabic abstract
We study the infinite-temperature properties of an infinite sequence of random quantum spin chains using a real-space renormalization group approach, and demonstrate that they exhibit non-ergodic behavior at strong disorder. The analysis is conveniently implemented in terms of SU(2)$_k$ anyon chains that include the Ising and Potts chains as notable examples. Highly excited eigenstates of these systems exhibit properties usually associated with quantum critical ground states, leading us to dub them quantum critical glasses. We argue that random-bond Heisenberg chains self-thermalize and that the excited-state entanglement crosses over from volume-law to logarithmic scaling at a length scale that diverges in the Heisenberg limit $krightarrowinfty$. The excited state fixed points are generically distinct from their ground state counterparts, and represent novel non-equilibrium critical phases of matter.
Quasiperiodic systems are aperiodic but deterministic, so their critical behavior differs from that of clean systems as well as disordered ones. Quasiperiodic criticality was previously understood only in the special limit where the couplings follow discrete quasiperiodic sequences. Here we consider generic quasiperiodic modulations; we find, remarkably, that for a wide class of spin chains, generic quasiperiodic modulations flow to discrete sequences under a real-space renormalization group transformation. These discrete sequences are therefore fixed points of a emph{functional} renormalization group. This observation allows for an asymptotically exact treatment of the critical points. We use this approach to analyze the quasiperiodic Heisenberg, Ising, and Potts spin chains, as well as a phenomenological model for the quasiperiodic many-body localization transition.
We study the nonequilibrium dynamics of random spin chains that remain integrable (i.e., solvable via Bethe ansatz): because of correlations in the disorder, these systems escape localization and feature ballistically spreading quasiparticles. We derive a generalized hydrodynamic theory for dynamics in such random integrable systems, including diffusive corrections due to disorder, and use it to study non-equilibrium energy and spin transport. We show that diffusive corrections to the ballistic propagation of quasiparticles can arise even in noninteracting settings, in sharp contrast with clean integrable systems. This implies that operator fronts broaden diffusively in random integrable systems. By tuning parameters in the disorder distribution, one can drive this model through an unusual phase transition, between a phase where all wavefunctions are delocalized and a phase in which low-energy wavefunctions are quasi-localized (in a sense we specify). Both phases have ballistic transport; however, in the quasi-localized phase, local autocorrelation functions decay with an anomalous power law, and the density of states diverges at low energy.
Frustration-free (FF) spin chains have a property that their ground state minimizes all individual terms in the chain Hamiltonian. We ask how entangled the ground state of a FF quantum spin-s chain with nearest-neighbor interactions can be for small values of s. While FF spin-1/2 chains are known to have unentangled ground states, the case s=1 remains less explored. We propose the first example of a FF translation-invariant spin-1 chain that has a unique highly entangled ground state and exhibits some signatures of a critical behavior. The ground state can be viewed as the uniform superposition of balanced strings of left and right parentheses separated by empty spaces. Entanglement entropy of one half of the chain scales as log(n)/2 + O(1), where n is the number of spins. We prove that the energy gap above the ground state is polynomial in 1/n. The proof relies on a new result concerning statistics of Dyck paths which might be of independent interest.
Quantum critical points in quasiperiodic magnets can realize new universality classes, with critical properties distinct from those of clean or disordered systems. Here, we study quantum phase transitions separating ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases in the quasiperiodic $q$-state Potts model in $2+1d$. Using a controlled real-space renormalization group approach, we find that the critical behavior is largely independent of $q$, and is controlled by an infinite-quasiperiodicity fixed point. The correlation length exponent is found to be $ u=1$, saturating a modified version of the Harris-Luck criterion.
S=1/2 quantum spin chains and ladders with random exchange coupling are studied by using an effective low-energy field theory and transfer matrix methods. Effects of the nonlocal correlations of exchange couplings are investigated numerically. In particular we calculate localization length of magnons, density of states, correlation functions and multifractal exponents as a function of the correlation length of the exchange couplings. As the correlation length increases, there occurs a phase transition and the above quantities exhibit different behaviors in two phases. This suggests that the strong-randomness fixed point of the random spin chains and random-singlet state get unstable by the long-range correlations of the random exchange couplings.