A stabilization mechanism for many-body localization in two dimensions
Experiments in cold atom systems see almost identical signatures of many body localization (MBL) in both one-dimensional ($d=1$) and two-dimensional ($d=2$) systems despite the thermal avalanche hypothesis showing that the MBL phase is unstable for $d>1$. Underpinning the thermal avalanche arg...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171748 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Experiments in cold atom systems see almost identical signatures of many body
localization (MBL) in both one-dimensional ($d=1$) and two-dimensional ($d=2$)
systems despite the thermal avalanche hypothesis showing that the MBL phase is
unstable for $d>1$. Underpinning the thermal avalanche argument is the
assumption of exponential localization of local integrals of motion (LIOMs). In
this work we demonstrate that addition of a confining potential -- as is
typical in experimental setups -- allows a non-interacting disordered system to
have super-exponentially (Gaussian) localized wavefunctions, and an interacting
disordered system to undergo a localization transition. Moreover, we show that
Gaussian localization of MBL LIOMs shifts the quantum avalanche critical
dimension from $d=1$ to $d=2$, potentially bridging the divide between the
experimental demonstrations of MBL in these systems and existing theoretical
arguments that claim that such demonstrations are impossible. |
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