Many-body mobility edge in a mean-field quantum spin-glass



Playing this video requires the latest flash player from Adobe.

Download link (right click and 'save-as') for playing in VLC or other compatible player.


Recording Details

Speaker(s): 
Collection/Series: 
PIRSA Number: 
14050078

Abstract

Isolated, interacting quantum systems in the presence of strong disorder can exist in a many-body localized phase where the assumptions of equilibrium statistical physics are violated. On tuning either the parameters of the Hamiltonian or the energy density, the system is expected to transition into the ergodic phase. While the transition at "infinite temperature" as a function of system parameters has been found numerically but, the transition tuned by energy density has eluded such methods.
In my talk I will discuss the nature of the many-body localization-delocalization (MBLD) transition as a function of energy denisty in the quantum random energy model (QREM). QREM provides a mean-field description of the equilibrium spin glass transition. We show that it further exhibits a many-body mobility edge when viewed as a closed quantum system. The mean-field structure of the model allows an analytically tractable description of the MBLD transition. I will also comment on the nature of the critical states in this mean-field model.
This opens the possibility of developing a mean-field theory of this interesting dynamical phase transition.