Abstract We use the concept of two-particle probability amplitude to derive the stochastic evolution equation for two-particle four-point correlations in tight-binding networks affected by diagonal dynamic disorder. It is predicted that in the presence of dynamic disorder, the average spatial wavefunction of indistinguishable particle pairs delocalizes and populates all network sites including those which are weakly coupled in the absence of disorder. Interestingly, our findings reveal that correlation elements accounting for particle indistinguishability are immune to the impact of dynamic disorder.
Abstract We use the concept of two-particle probability amplitude to derive the stochastic evolution equation for two-particle four-point correlations in tight-binding networks affected by diagonal dynamic disorder. It is predicted that in the presence of dynamic disorder, the average spatial wavefunction of indistinguishable particle pairs delocalizes and populates all network sites including those which are weakly coupled in the absence of disorder. Interestingly, our findings reveal that correlation elements accounting for particle indistinguishability are immune to the impact of dynamic disorder.
Abstract Quantum walks in dynamically-disordered networks have become an invaluable tool for understanding the physics of open quantum systems. Although much work has been carried out considering networks affected by diagonal disorder, it is of fundamental importance to study the effects of fluctuating couplings. This is particularly relevant in materials science models, where the interaction forces may change depending on the species of the atoms being linked. In this work, we make use of stochastic calculus to derive a master equation for the dynamics of one and two non-interacting correlated particles in tight-binding networks affected by off-diagonal dynamical disorder. We show that the presence of noise in the couplings of a quantum network creates a pure-dephasing-like process that destroys all coherences in the single-particle Hilbert subspace. Moreover, we show that when two or more correlated particles propagate in the network, coherences accounting for particle indistinguishability are robust against the impact of off-diagonal noise, thus showing that it is possible, in principle, to find specific conditions for which many indistinguishable particles can traverse stochastically-coupled networks without losing their ability to interfere.
We consider systems of particles hopping stochastically on d-dimensional lattices with space-dependent probabilities. We map the master equation onto an evolution equation in a Fock space where the dynamics are given by a quantum Hamiltonian (continuous time) or a transfer matrix resp. (discrete time). We show that under certain conditions the time-dependent two-point density correlation function in the N-particle steady state can be computed from the probability distribution of a single particle moving in the same environment. Focussing on exclusion models where each lattice site can be occupied by at most one particle we discuss as an example for such a stochastic process a generalized Heisenberg antiferromagnet where the strength of the spin-spin coupling is space-dependent. In discrete time one obtains for one-dimensional systems the diagonal-to-diagonal transfer matrix of the two-dimensional six-vertex model with space-dependent vertex weights. For a random distribution of the vertex weights one obtains a version of the random barrier model describing diffusion of particles in disordered media. We derive exact expressions for the averaged two-point density correlation functions in the presence of weak, correlated disorder.
Quantum transport in disordered systems poses intriguing fundamental questions about the interplay of disorder, interactions, and decoherence, with important implications for nanoscale energy transfer and quantum information transfer. Here, we investigate the emergence of multiple transport timescales in the dissipative dynamics of a spin impurity coupled to a small, spatially disordered network of spins. Using a two-dimensional tight-binding model with dipolar interactions and local dephasing, we demonstrate that geometric heterogeneity leads to hierarchical coupling strengths and pronounced separation of dynamical timescales. By analyzing different metrics for dynamics, we identify distinct relaxation timescales associated with cluster-level equilibration and global equilibration. A minimal three-site model reveals the physical origin of the longest timescale: strong internal hybridization generates an effective detuning that suppresses transfer to other weakly coupled sites, yielding a parametrically enhanced relaxation time in the weak-dephasing regime. We corroborate this picture with nonequilibrium steady-state transport calculations and simulations of disordered spin configurations, demonstrating orders-of-magnitude slowing of relaxation when hierarchical couplings are present. Our results highlight the central role of geometry and connectivity in spin networks and open quantum systems in general, and provide experimentally relevant predictions for relaxation times in small spin baths.
We consider a one-dimensional (1D) quantum many-body system and investigate how the interplay between interaction and on-site disorder affects spatial localization and quantum correlations. The hopping amplitude is kept constant. To measure localization, we use the number of principal components (NPC), which quantifies the spreading of the system eigenstates over vectors of a given basis set. Quantum correlations are determined by a global entanglement measure Q , which quantifies the degree of entanglement of multipartite pure states. Our studies apply analogously to a 1D system of interacting spinless fermions, hard-core bosons, or yet to an XXZ Heisenberg spin-1/2 chain. Disorder is characterized by both uncorrelated and long-range correlated random on-site energies. Dilute and half-filled chains are analyzed. In half-filled clean chains, delocalization is maximum when the particles do not interact, whereas multi-partite entanglement is largest when they do. In the presence of uncorrelated disorder, NPC and Q show a nontrivial behavior with interaction, peaking in the chaotic region. The inclusion of correlated disorder may further extend two-particle states, but the effect decreases with the number of particles and the strength of their interactions. In half-filled chains with large interaction, correlated disorder may even enhance localization.
We analyze the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of a quantum particle coupled to local magnetic degrees of freedom that undergo a classical phase transition. Specifically, we consider a two-dimensional tight-binding model that interacts with a background of classical spins in thermal equilibrium, which are subject to Ising interactions and act as emergent, correlated disorder for the quantum particle. Particular attention is devoted to temperatures close to the ferromagnet-to-paramagnet transition. To capture the salient features of the classical transition, namely the effects of long-range correlations, we focus on the strong coupling limit, in which the model can be mapped onto a quantum percolation problem on spin clusters generated by the Ising model. By inspecting several dynamical probes such as energy level statistics, inverse participation ratios, and wave-packet dynamics, we provide evidence that the classical phase transition might induce a delocalization-localization transition in the quantum system at certain energies. We also identify further important features due to the presence of Ising correlations, such as the suppression of compact localized eigenstates.
Abstract In the context of unitary evolution of a generic quantum system interrupted at random times with non-unitary evolution due to interactions with either the external environment or a measuring apparatus, we adduce a general theoretical framework to obtain the average density operator of the system at any time during the dynamical evolution. The average is with respect to the classical randomness associated with the random time intervals between successive interactions, which we consider to be independent and identically-distributed random variables. The formalism is very general in that it applies to any quantum system, to any form of non-unitary interaction, and to any probability distribution for the random times. We provide two explicit applications of the formalism in the context of the so-called tight-binding model relevant in various contexts in solid-state physics, e.g. in modelling nano wires. Considering the case of one dimension, the corresponding tight-binding chain models the motion of a charged particle between the sites of a lattice, wherein the particle is for most times localized on the sites, owing to spontaneous quantum fluctuations tunnels between the nearest-neighbour sites. We consider two representative forms of interactions, one that implements a stochastic reset of quantum dynamics in which the density operator is at random times reset to its initial form, and one in which projective measurements are performed on the system at random times. In the former case, we demonstrate with our exact results how the particle is localized on the sites at long times, leading to a time-independent mean-squared displacement (MSD) of the particle about its initial location. This stands in stark contrast to the behavior in the absence of interactions, when the particle has an unbounded growth of the MSD in time, with no signatures of localization. In the case of projective measurements at random times, we show that repeated projection to the initial state of the particle results in an effective suppression of the temporal decay in the probability of the particle to be found on the initial state. The amount of suppression is comparable to the one in conventional Zeno effect scenarios, but which it does not require us to perform measurements at exactly regular intervals that are hallmarks of such scenarios.