How Does a Locally Constrained Quantum System Localize?

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 121; no. 8; p. 085701
• Main Authors: Chen, Chun, Burnell, Fiona, Chandran, Anushya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 24.08.2018
• ISSN: 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.085701

At low energy, the dynamics of excitations of many physical systems are locally constrained. Examples include frustrated antiferromagnets, fractional quantum Hall fluids, and Rydberg atoms in the blockaded regime. Can such locally constrained systems be fully many-body localized? In this Letter, we answer this question affirmatively and elucidate the structure of the accompanying quasilocal integrals of motion. By studying disordered spin chains subject to a projection constraint in the z direction, we show that full many-body localization (MBL) is stable at strong z-field disorder and identify a new mechanism of localization through resonance at strong transverse disorder. However, MBL is not guaranteed; the constraints can "frustrate" the tendency of the spins to align with the transverse fields and lead to full thermalization or criticality. We further provide evidence that the transition is discontinuous in local observables with large sample-to-sample variations. Our dynamical phase diagram is accessible in current Rydberg atomic experiments which realize programmable constrained Ising Hamiltonians.