Finite temperature transport in disordered Heisenberg chains

Using numerical diagonalization techniques, we explore the effect of local and bond disorder on the finite temperature spin and thermal conductivities of the one dimensional anisotropic spin-1/2 Heisenberg model. High-temperature results for local disorder show that the dc conductivties are finite, apart from the uncorrelated - XY case - where dc transport vanishes. Moreover, at strong disorder, we find finite dc conductivities at all temperatures $T$, except T=0. The low frequency conductivities are characterized by a nonanalytic cusp shape. Similar behavior is found for bond disorder.

Incoherent transport induced by a single static impurity in a Heisenberg chain

The effect of a single static impurity on the many-body states and on the spin and thermal transport in the one-dimensional anisotropic Heisenberg chain at finite temperatures is studied. Whereas the pure Heisenberg model reveals Poisson level statistics and dissipationless transport due to integrability, we show using the numerical approach that a single impurity induces Wigner-Dyson level statistics and at high enough temperature incoherent transport within the chain, whereby the relaxation time and d.c. conductivity scale linearly with length.