Clustering of Nonergodic Eigenstates in Quantum Spin Glasses

C. L. Baldwin, C. R. Laumann, A. Pal, and A. Scardicchio
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 127201 – Published 23 March 2017
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Abstract

The two primary categories for eigenstate phases of matter at a finite temperature are many-body localization (MBL) and the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH). We show that, in the paradigmatic quantum p-spin models of the spin-glass theory, eigenstates violate the ETH yet are not MBL either. A mobility edge, which we locate using the forward-scattering approximation and replica techniques, separates the nonergodic phase at a small transverse field from an ergodic phase at a large transverse field. The nonergodic phase is also bounded from above in temperature, by a transition in configuration-space statistics reminiscent of the clustering transition in the spin-glass theory. We show that the nonergodic eigenstates are organized in clusters which exhibit distinct magnetization patterns, as characterized by an eigenstate variant of the Edwards-Anderson order parameter.

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  • Received 14 November 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.127201

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

C. L. Baldwin1,2, C. R. Laumann1, A. Pal3, and A. Scardicchio4,5

  • 1Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
  • 3Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom
  • 4Abdus Salam ICTP Trieste, Strada Costiera 11, 34151 Trieste, Italy
  • 5INFN, Sezione di Trieste, Via Valerio 2, 34127 Trieste, Italy

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Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 12 — 24 March 2017

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