Bull, K, Hallam, A, Papić, Z et al. (1 more author) (2022) Tuning between Continuous Time Crystals and Many-Body Scars in Long-Range XYZ Spin Chains. Physical Review Letters, 129 (14). 140602. ISSN 0031-9007
Abstract
Persistent oscillatory dynamics in nonequilibrium many-body systems is a tantalizing manifestation of ergodicity breakdown that continues to attract much attention. Recent works have focused on two classes of such systems: discrete time crystals and quantum many-body scars (QMBS). While both systems host oscillatory dynamics, its origin is expected to be fundamentally different: discrete time crystal is a phase of matter which spontaneously breaks the Z₂ symmetry of the external periodic drive, while QMBS span a subspace of nonthermalizing eigenstates forming an su(2) algebra representation. Here, we ask a basic question: is there a physical system that allows us to tune between these two dynamical phenomena? In contrast to much previous work, we investigate the possibility of a continuous time crystal (CTC) in undriven, energy-conserving systems exhibiting prethermalization. We introduce a long-range XYZ spin model and show that it encompasses both a CTC phase as well as QMBS. We map out the dynamical phase diagram using numerical simulations based on exact diagonalization and time-dependent variational principle in the thermodynamic limit. We identify a regime where QMBS and CTC order coexist, and we discuss experimental protocols that reveal their similarities as well as key differences.
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 American Physical Society. This is an author produced version of an article, published in Physical Review Letters. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. | ||||||
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Institution: | The University of Leeds | ||||||
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Theoretical Physics (Leeds) | ||||||
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Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications | ||||||
Date Deposited: | 18 Nov 2022 12:01 | ||||||
Last Modified: | 18 Nov 2022 12:01 | ||||||
Status: | Published | ||||||
Publisher: | American Physical Society | ||||||
Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.129.140602 |