Bridging quantum many-body scars and quantum integrability in Ising chains with transverse and longitudinal fields

Abstract

Quantum many-body scar (QMBS) and quantum integrability (QI) have been recognized as two distinct mechanisms for the breakdown of eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) in an isolated system. In this paper, we reveal a smooth route to connect these two ETH-breaking mechanisms in the Ising chain with transverse and longitudinal fields. Specifically, starting from an initial Ising antiferromagnetic state, we find that the dynamical system undergoes a smooth nonthermal crossover from QMBS to QI by changing the Ising coupling ($J$) and longitudinal field ($h$) simultaneously while keeping their ratio fixed, which corresponds to the Rydberg Hamiltonian with an arbitrary nearest-neighbor repulsion. Deviating from this ratio, we further identify a continuous thermalization trajectory in the ($h,J$) plane that is exactly given by the Ising transition line, signifying an intimate relation between thermalization and quantum critical point. Finally, we map out a completely different dynamical phase diagram starting from an initial ferromagnetic state, where the thermalization is shown to be equally facilitated by the resonant spin flip at special ratios of $J$ and $h$. By bridging QMBS and QI in Ising chains, our results demonstrate the breakdown of ETH in much broader physical settings, which also suggest an alternative way to characterize quantum phase transition via thermalization in nonequilibrium dynamics.