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.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 American Physical Society. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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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) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 22 Aug 2022 12:59 |
Last Modified: | 16 May 2023 15:54 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Physical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.140602 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:190197 |