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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Subdiffusive dynamics and critical quantum correlations in a disorder-free localized Kitaev honeycomb model out of equilibrium

Guo-Yi Zhu* and Markus Heyl

  • Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Straße 38, Dresden 01187, Germany

  • *timeexplorer1991@gmail.com
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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L032069 – Published 17 September, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L032069

Abstract

Disorder-free localization has recently emerged as a mechanism for ergodicity breaking in homogeneous lattice gauge theories. In this work we show that this mechanism can lead to unconventional states of quantum matter as the absence of thermalization lifts constraints imposed by equilibrium statistical physics. We study a Kitaev honeycomb model in a skew magnetic field subject to a quantum quench from a fully polarized initial product state and observe nonergodic dynamics as a consequence of disorder-free localization. We find that the system exhibits a subballistic power-law entanglement growth and quantum correlation spreading, which is otherwise typically associated with thermalizing systems. In the asymptotic steady state the Kitaev model develops volume-law entanglement and power-law decaying dimer quantum correlations even at a finite energy density. Our work sheds light on the potential for disorder-free localized lattice gauge theories to realize quantum states in two dimensions with properties beyond what is possible in an equilibrium context.

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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L032069– Published 17 September, 2021
  • Received 21 December 2020
  • Accepted 20 August 2021
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