Generalized hydrodynamics, quasiparticle diffusion, and anomalous local relaxation in random integrable spin chains

Utkarsh Agrawal, Sarang Gopalakrishnan, Romain Vasseur

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20 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the nonequilibrium dynamics of random spin chains that remain integrable (i.e., solvable via Bethe ansatz): because of correlations in the disorder, these systems escape localization and feature ballistically spreading quasiparticles. We derive a generalized hydrodynamic theory for dynamics in such random integrable systems, including diffusive corrections due to disorder, and use it to study nonequilibrium energy and spin transport. We show that diffusive corrections to the ballistic propagation of quasiparticles can arise even in noninteracting settings, in sharp contrast to clean integrable systems. This implies that operator fronts broaden diffusively in random integrable systems. By tuning parameters in the disorder distribution, one can drive this model through an unusual phase transition, between a phase where all wave functions are delocalized and a phase in which low-energy wave functions are quasilocalized (in a sense we specify). Both phases have ballistic transport; however, in the quasilocalized phase, local autocorrelation functions decay with an anomalous power law, and the density of states diverges at low energy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number174203
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume99
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - May 15 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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