Magnetic Domains Stabilized by Symmetry-Protected Zero Modes
Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 160402 – Published 14 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/29qr-n6mw
Abstract
Understanding mechanisms for the breakdown of thermalization in closed quantum systems is a central problem in quantum many-body physics. We demonstrate strong nonergodic behavior in the XX model on coupled chains, where domain-wall initial states retain an inhomogeneous magnetization profile for arbitrarily long times. We find that this effect arises due to zero modes protected by chiral symmetry. Using an analysis based on the Lanczos algorithm, we identify evidence for a localization transition in the thermodynamic limit at a critical coupling between the chains. We further show that antiferromagnetic defects in the initial state and symmetry-breaking perturbations restore slow thermalization, whereas it remains robust for symmetry-conserving perturbations. These results establish that degenerate, symmetry-protected subspaces can give rise to thermodynamically stable nonergodic dynamics in experimentally accessible quantum systems.
