Many-Body Localization in Periodically Driven Systems

Pedro Ponte (1) , Zlatko Papic (1) , François Huveneers (2) , Abanin Dmitry (1)

1 Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics [Waterloo]
2 CEREMADE - CEntre de REcherches en MAthématiques de la DEcision

We consider disordered many-body systems with periodic time-dependent Hamiltonians in one spatial dimension. By studying the properties of the Floquet eigenstates, we identify two distinct phases: (i) a many-body localized (MBL) phase, in which almost all eigenstates have area-law entanglement entropy, and the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) is violated, and (ii) a delocalized phase, in which eigenstates have volume-law entanglement and obey the ETH. The MBL phase exhibits logarithmic in time growth of entanglement entropy when the system is initially prepared in a product state, which distinguishes it from the delocalized phase. We propose an effective model of the MBL phase in terms of an extensive number of emergent local integrals of motion, which naturally explains the spectral and dynamical properties of this phase. Numerical data, obtained by exact diagonalization and time-evolving block decimation methods, suggest a direct transition between the two phases.

Mots clés: 7343Cd; 0530Jp; 3710Jk; 7110Fd

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]

Pedro Ponte, Zlatko Papic, François Huveneers, Abanin Dmitry. Many-Body Localization in Periodically Driven Systems. Physical Review Letters, 2015, 114, pp.140401. ⟨hal-01099147v2⟩