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 onto 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.
Highlights
It is the general expectation that realistic isolated quantum many-body systems driven out of equilibrium eventually thermalize such that the relaxed long-time steady states become locally indistinguishable from thermal ensembles [1,2,3,4,5,6]
It is tempting to ask whether the exotic dynamics and nonequilibrium quantum order are related to the low-energy non-Abelian Ising topological order [20,87]
In the strongly anisotropic coupling regime which in zero temperature exhibits a distinct Abelian Z2 topological order [88], we find a similar high-energy critical mode and subdiffusive dynamics as well as critical correlation, which goes beyond the low-energy universality class [40]
Summary
It is the general expectation that realistic isolated quantum many-body systems driven out of equilibrium eventually thermalize such that the relaxed long-time steady states become locally indistinguishable from thermal ensembles [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Recent years have witnessed a new type of mechanism for nonergodic dynamics unique to lattice gauge theories where static local gauge charge or flux serves as a source for an effective internal disorder [15,16,17]. This so-called disorder-free localization scenario does not rely on breaking translational invariance and can even occur in interacting two-dimensional (2D) models [18,19], opening up a promising route targeting the challenge of realizing quantum states in 2D nonergodic systems with properties beyond any equilibrium counterpart. Either by introducing the gauge redundancy [20] and fixing the gauge or by a Jordan-Wigner transformation [35,36], one can map Honto an interacting Majorana fermion minimally coupled with Z2 gauge field on the links, Jμiu j,l β j αl + hiu j,kuk,l (α j αl + β j βl )
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