Many-body localization

Abstract: Many-body localization (MBL) is Anderson localization of many interacting quantum degrees of freedom in highly-excited states at conditions that correspond to a nonzero entropy density at thermal equilibrium. The opposite of MBL is thermalization, where the isolated quantum many-body system successfully acts as a thermal bath for itself, bringing all of its small subsystems to thermal equilibrium with each other via the unitary quantum dynamics of the closed system. For finite systems with short-range interactions the transition from thermalization to MBL occurs in two stages as the interactions are reduced: First is a smooth crossover to a “glassy” prethermal MBL regime, where the thermalization time of a large system becomes extremely large but not infinite. Then, at still weaker interaction is the dynamical phase transition in to the MBL phase, which in many cases occurs at a strength of interactions that is so small that it is thermodynamically insignificant in the limit of large systems, even though it has strong long-time dynamical effects.

mathematical physics

Audience: researchers in the discipline

One world IAMP mathematical physics seminar

Series comments: In order to receive announcements, please send an email to IAMPseminars@gmail.com with “subscribe” in the subject line.