Behavior of l-bits near the many-body localization transition

Journal article

Eigenstates of fully many-body localized (FMBL) systems are described by quasilocal operators τzi (l-bits), which are conserved exactly under Hamiltonian time evolution. The algebra of the operators τzi and τxi associated with l-bits (τi) completely defines the eigenstates and the matrix elements of local operators between eigenstates at all energies. We develop a non-perturbative construction of the full set of l-bit algebras in the many-body localized phase for the canonical model of MBL. Our algorithm to construct the Pauli-algebra of l-bits combines exact diagonalization and a tensor network algorithm developed for efficient diagonalization of large FMBL Hamiltonians. The distribution of localization lengths of the l-bits is evaluated in the MBL phase and used to characterize the MBL-to-thermal transition.

Authors: Kulshreshtha, A; Pal, A; Wahl, T; Simon, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review B
• Volume: 98
• Pages: 184201
• Publication date: 2018-11-05
• Acceptance date: 2018-09-06
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.98.184201
• EISSN: 2469-9969
• ISSN: 2469-9950