TY - JOUR
T1 - Rare-region effects and dynamics near the many-body localization transition
AU - Agarwal, Kartiek
AU - Altman, Ehud
AU - Demler, Eugene
AU - Gopalakrishnan, Sarang
AU - Huse, David A.
AU - Knap, Michael
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
PY - 2017/7
Y1 - 2017/7
N2 - The low-frequency response of systems near the many-body localization phase transition, on either side of the transition, is dominated by contributions from rare regions that are locally “in the other phase”, i.e., rare localized regions in a system that is typically thermal, or rare thermal regions in a system that is typically localized. Rare localized regions affect the properties of the thermal phase, especially in one dimension, by acting as bottlenecks for transport and the growth of entanglement, whereas rare thermal regions in the localized phase act as local “baths” and dominate the low-frequency response of the MBL phase. We review recent progress in understanding these rare-region effects, and discuss some of the open questions associated with them: in particular, whether and in what circumstances a single rare thermal region can destabilize the many-body localized phase. (Figure presented.).
AB - The low-frequency response of systems near the many-body localization phase transition, on either side of the transition, is dominated by contributions from rare regions that are locally “in the other phase”, i.e., rare localized regions in a system that is typically thermal, or rare thermal regions in a system that is typically localized. Rare localized regions affect the properties of the thermal phase, especially in one dimension, by acting as bottlenecks for transport and the growth of entanglement, whereas rare thermal regions in the localized phase act as local “baths” and dominate the low-frequency response of the MBL phase. We review recent progress in understanding these rare-region effects, and discuss some of the open questions associated with them: in particular, whether and in what circumstances a single rare thermal region can destabilize the many-body localized phase. (Figure presented.).
KW - Griffiths effects
KW - localization physics
KW - slow dynamical phenomena
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U2 - 10.1002/andp.201600326
DO - 10.1002/andp.201600326
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85009895623
SN - 0003-3804
VL - 529
JO - Annalen der Physik
JF - Annalen der Physik
IS - 7
M1 - 1600326
ER -