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Universal spectral form factor for many-body localization

Abhishodh Prakash1,*, J. H. Pixley2,†, and Manas Kulkarni1,‡

  • 1International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Shivakote, Hesaraghatta Hobli, Bengaluru 560089, India
  • 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Center for Materials Theory, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA

  • *abhishodh.prakash@icts.res.in, he/him/his
  • †jed.pixley@physics.rutgers.edu
  • ‡manas.kulkarni@icts.res.in
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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L012019 – Published 22 February, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L012019

Abstract

We theoretically study correlations present deep in the spectrum of many-body-localized systems. An exact analytical expression for the spectral form factor of Poisson spectra can be obtained and is shown to agree well with numerical results on two models exhibiting many-body localization: a disordered quantum spin chain and a phenomenological l-bit model based on the existence of local integrals of motion. We also identify a universal regime that is insensitive to the global density of states as well as spectral edge effects.

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Research 3, L012019– Published 22 February, 2021
  • Received 6 November 2020
  • Revised 9 January 2021
  • Accepted 11 January 2021
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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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