Spin-helix states in the XXZ spin chain with strong boundary dissipation

Abstract

We investigate the non-equilibrium steady state (NESS) in an open quantum XXZ chain attached at the ends to polarization baths with unequal polarizations. Using the general theory developed in Popkov (2017 Phys. Rev. A 95 052131), we show that in the critical XXZ easy plane case, the steady current in large systems under strong driving shows resonance-like behaviour, by an infinitesimal change of the spin chain anisotropy or other parameters. Alternatively, by fine tuning the system parameters and varying the boundary dissipation strength, we observe a change of the NESS current from diffusive (of order , for small dissipation strength) to ballistic regime (of order 1, for large dissipation strength). This drastic change results from an accompanying structural change of the NESS, which becomes a pure spin-helix state characterized by a winding number which is proportional to the system size. We calculate the critical dissipation strength needed to observe this surprising effect.