The common intuition says that generic isolated quantum systems even when prepared in a strongly non-equilibrium settings quickly reach the thermal equilibrium (thermalize). The only known exceptions are non-interacting systems, Bethe-ansatz integrable systems in one spatial dimension, and many-body localization.
The many-body localized phase is the localized phase with interactions. The breakdown of thermalization in the many-body localized phase can be understood from the emergent quasi-local integrals of motion. In our research we aim to better understand the properties of the many-body localized phase. In addition, we are interested in better understanding the delocalization transition, as it may provide valuable insights into possible mechanisms of thermalization and its breakdown.
Below we provide some examples of recent results in this direction.
- Colloquium: Many-body localization, thermalization, and entanglement
- Paper on analytically solvable RG appears at PRL
- Probing dynamics by matrix elements