Quantum entanglement

Physics

Superselection

Mathematics

Logarithm

Lattice field theory

Statistical physics

Lattice gauge theory

Mathematical analysis

Gauss's law

Acoustics

Gauge theory

Lattice (music)

Theoretical physics

Quantum mechanics

Logarithmic growth

Classical mechanics

Quantum

Physical Review Letters

We show how lattice gauge theories can display many-body localization dynamics in the absence of disorder. Our starting point is the observation that, for some generic translationally invariant states, the Gauss law effectively induces a dynamics which can be described as a disorder average over gauge superselection sectors. We carry out extensive exact simulations on the real-time dynamics of a lattice Schwinger model, describing the coupling between U(1) gauge fields and staggered fermions. Our results show how memory effects and slow, double-logarithmic entanglement growth are present in a broad regime of parameters—in particular, for sufficiently large interactions. These findings are immediately relevant to cold atoms and trapped ion experiments realizing dynamical gauge fields and suggest a new and universal link between confinement and entanglement dynamics in the many-body localized phase of lattice models.Received 28 June 2017Revised 17 October 2017DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.030601© 2018 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasEigenstate thermalizationMany-body localizationNonequilibrium statistical mechanicsStatistical PhysicsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Many-Body Localization Dynamics from Gauge Invariance