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Many-body localization and quantum thermalization

Nature Physics volume 14, pages 979–983 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

It is the common wisdom that time evolution of a many-body system leads to thermalization and washes away quantum correlations. But one class of system—referred to as many-body localized—defy this expectation.

The main thrust of quantum many-body physics in the past 50 years or so has been the effort to classify the zero-temperature quantum phases of matter and describe their low-energy excitations. This remarkably successful endeavour has led to the explanation of striking macroscopic quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity and the quantum Hall effects, and to the theoretical prediction of topological insulators.

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Fig. 1: Schematic phase diagram of a model with a bounded many-body spectrum (for example, lattice fermions or spins).
Fig. 2: Experimental observation of MBL in an ultracold atomic system.
Fig. 3: Subdiffusive transport in the thermal state near the MBL transition.

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  1. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Ehud Altman

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Altman, E. Many-body localization and quantum thermalization. Nature Phys 14, 979–983 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0305-7

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