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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Spin subdiffusion in perturbed infinite-U Hubbard chain

J. Rękas1, M. Mierzejewski1, Z. Lenarčič2, and P. Prelovšek2

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Phys. Rev. B 114, L171109 – Published 16 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rxjt-nhxc

Abstract

The t model represents the Hubbard model in the limit U→∞ and is one of the basic models of strongly correlated electrons. On a one-dimensional chain, the model is integrable, and its charge dynamics is equivalent to that of free spinless fermions. However, within its dynamics the sequence of spins is frozen, implying Hilbert-space fragmentation and nontrivial spin dynamics. We focus primarily on perturbed versions of the model in which the perturbations break integrability while preserving fragmentation. Considered examples of such perturbations are spin-dependent hopping and additional spin interaction. We show that these models exhibit a variety of spin-transport regimes. In contrast to the integrable model, which displays either ballistic transport or dissipationless diffusion, the perturbed systems exhibit either normal diffusion or subdiffusion. Due to Hilbert-space fragmentation, spin transport is mediated by charge transport in all cases considered. This leads to a characteristic dependence on the magnetization, most notably resulting in subdiffusive spin transport in the grand-canonical ensemble of the perturbed model. The underlying mechanism is distinct from the subdiffusion observed in disordered systems or in models with dipole conservation.

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Phys. Rev. B 114, L171109– Published 16 September, 2026
  • Received 25 March 2026
  • Revised 8 July 2026
  • Accepted 24 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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