Kavli Affiliate: Zheng Zhu
| First 5 Authors: Yule Ma, Yule Ma, , ,
| Summary:
Thermalization in isolated quantum systems is governed by the eigenstate
thermalization hypothesis, while strong disorder can induce its breakdown via
many-body localization. Here we show that disorder can also generate a narrow
band of thermal eigenstates embedded in an otherwise non-thermal spectrum. We
illustrate this generic mechanism using paradigmatic spin-1 models, including
Heisenberg, XY, and Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) models with several
types of disorder. By analyzing their level statistics, entanglement properties
and quench dynamics, we show that the disorder-induced states are genuinely
thermal and we trace their origin to the null space of the disorder term in the
Hamiltonian. Our results demonstrate that disorder can give rise to an
unexpected coexistence of thermal and non-thermal dynamics within the same
many-body spectrum.
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