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arXiv:2001.04954 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Critical properties of the ground-state localization-delocalization transition in the many-particle Aubry-André model

Tessa Cookmeyer, Johannes Motruk, Joel E. Moore

Published May 13, 2020• 45 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

As opposed to random disorder, which localizes single-particle wave functions in one dimension (1D) at arbitrarily small disorder strengths, there is a localization-delocalization transition for quasiperiodic disorder in the 1D Aubry-Andr\'e model at a finite disorder strength. On the single-particle level, many properties of the ground state at criticality have been revealed by applying a real-space renormalization-group scheme; the critical properties are determined solely by the continued-fraction expansion of the incommensurate frequency of the disorder. Here, we investigate the many-particle localization-delocalization transition in the Aubry-Andr\'e model with and without interactions. In contrast to the single-particle case, we find that the critical exponents depend on a Diophantine equation relating the incommensurate frequency of the disorder and the filling fraction which generalizes the dependence, in the single-particle spectrum, on the continued-fraction expansion of the incommensurate frequency. This equation can be viewed as a generalization of the resonance condition in the commensurate case. When interactions are included, numerical evidence suggests that interactions may be irrelevant at at least some of these critical points, meaning that the critical exponent relations obtained from the Diophantine equation may actually survive in the interacting case.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.101.174203

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As opposed to random disorder, which localizes single-particle wave functions in one dimension (1D) at arbitrarily small disorder strengths, there is a localization-delocalization transition for quasiperiodic disorder in the 1D Aubry-Andr'e model at a finite disorder strength. On the single-particle level, many properties of the ground state at criticality have been revealed by applying a real-space renormalization-group scheme; the critical properties are determined solely by the continued-fraction expansion of the incommensurate frequency of the disorder. Here, we investigate the many-particle localization-delocalization transition in the Aubry-Andr'e model with and without interactions. In contrast to the single-particle case, we find that the critical exponents depend on a Diophantine equation relating the incommensurate frequency of the disorder and the filling fraction which generalizes the dependence, in the single-particle spectrum, on the continued-fraction expansion of the incommensurate frequency. This equation can be viewed as a generalization of the resonance condition in the commensurate case. When interactions are included, numerical evidence suggests that interactions may be irrelevant at at least some of these critical points, meaning that the critical exponent relations obtained from the Diophantine equation may actually survive in the interacting case.
We study localization and many-body localization transition in one-dimensional systems in the presence of deterministic quasiperiodic potential. We use single-particle excitations obtained through single-particle Green's function in real space to characterize the localization to delocalization transition. A single parameter scaling analysis of the ratio of the typical to average value of the local density of states (LDOS) of single-particle excitations shows that the critical exponent with which the correlation length $\ensuremath{\xi}$ diverges at the transition point $\ensuremath{\xi}\ensuremath{\sim}|h\ensuremath{-}{h}_{c}{|}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\nu}}$, coming from the localized side, satisfies the inequality $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\ge}1$ for the noninteracting Aubry-Andre (AA) model. For the interacting system with AA potential, we study single-particle excitations produced in highly excited many-body eigenstates across the MBL transition and found that the critical exponent obtained from finite-size scaling of the ratio of the typical to average value of the LDOS satisfies $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\ge}1$ here as well. This analysis of the local density of states shows that the localization and MBL transition in systems with quasiperiodic potential belong to a different universality class than the localization and MBL transition in systems with random disorder where $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\ge}2$. In complete contrast to this, finite-size scaling of the level spacing ratio is known to support the same universality class for MBL transitions in systems with quasiperiodic as well as random disorder potentials. For the interacting systems with quasiperiodic potentials, though finite-size scaling of the level spacing ratio shows a transition at hclsr{h}_{c}^{\mathrm{lsr}}hclsr​ which is close to the transition point obtained from LDOS within numerical precision, the critical exponent obtained from finite-size scaling of level spacing ratio is $\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\sim}0.54$ in close similarity to the MBL systems with random disorder.
We numerically study spectral and wave-function properties, as well as time evolution, in finite-size commensurate approximations of the 3D Aubry-André model. We explicitly show, through scaling analysis, the existence of two critical points. One of the critical points is a localization-delocalization transition in real-space, similar to the critical point in the 3D Anderson model. The other is a localization-delocalization transition in a dual momentum space, which does not have any analog in the 3D Anderson model. We estimate their values from spectral measures, such as the gap ratio and the spectral form factor, as well as from wave-function measures, such as the inverse participation ratio and the participation entropy. Additionally, we demonstrate that both critical points exhibit hallmarks of critical points between quantum ergodicity and localization. First, the eigenstates and the eigenspectrum at the critical point fulfill the mutual universal relation between the eigenspectrum compressibility χχχ and the eigenstate fractal dimension d(1)d^{(1)}d(1) [S. Jiricek et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 123, e2518027123 (2026)]. Second, the dynamics of the wave packet at the critical point is governed by the critical dynamical exponent zzz, characterized by the spectral fractal dimension and the dimensionality of the lattice [M. Hopjan and L. Vidmar, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 060401 (2025)]. Thus, similarly to the 3D Anderson model, the critical dynamical exponent is sub-diffusive with the value of z=3z=3z=3.
We uncover a systematic structure in the single-particle phase diagram of the quasiperiodic Aubry-Andr\'e-Harper (AAH) model with power-law hoppings ($\ensuremath{\sim}\frac{1}{{r}^{\ensuremath{\sigma}}}$) when the quasiperiodicity parameter is chosen to be a member of the metallic mean family of irrational Diophantine numbers. In addition to the fully delocalized and localized phases, we find a coexistence of multifractal (localized) states with the delocalized states for $\ensuremath{\sigma}<1$ ($\ensuremath{\sigma}>1$). The fraction of delocalized eigenstates in these phases can be obtained from a general sequence, which is a manifestation of a mathematical property of the metallic mean family. The entanglement entropy of the noninteracting many-body ground states respects the area law if the Fermi level belongs in the localized regime while logarithmically violating it if the Fermi level belongs in the delocalized or multifractal regimes. The prefactor of the logarithmically violating term is significantly larger in the delocalized phase in comparison to that in the multifractal phase. Entanglement entropy shows the area law even in the delocalized regime for special filling fractions, which are related to the metallic means.
The Aubry-Andr\'e one-dimensional lattice model describes a particle hopping in a pseudorandom potential. Depending on its strength $\ensuremath{\lambda}$, all eigenstates are either localized $(\ensuremath{\lambda}>1)$ or delocalized $(\ensuremath{\lambda}<1)$. Near the transition, the localization length diverges like $\ensuremath{\xi}\ensuremath{\sim}{(\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{-}1)}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\nu}}$ with $\ensuremath{\nu}=1$. We show that when the particle is initially prepared in a localized ground state and the potential strength is slowly ramped down across the transition, then---in analogy with the Kibble-Zurek mechanism---it enters the delocalized phase having finite localization length $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\xi}}\ensuremath{\sim}{\ensuremath{\tau}}_{Q}^{\ensuremath{\nu}/(1+z\ensuremath{\nu})}$. Here ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{Q}$ is the ramp/quench time and zzz is a dynamical exponent. At $\ensuremath{\lambda}=1$ we determine $z\ensuremath{\simeq}2.37$ from the power-law scaling of an energy gap with a lattice size LLL. Even though for infinite LLL the model is gapless, we show that the gap that is relevant for excitation during the ramp remains finite. Close to the critical point it scales like ${\ensuremath{\xi}}^{\ensuremath{-}z}$ with the value of zzz determined by the finite-size scaling. It is the gap between the ground state and the lowest of those excited states that overlaps with the ground state enough to be accessible for excitation. We propose an experiment with a noninteracting BEC to test our prediction. Our hypothesis is further supported by considering a generalized version of the Aubry-Andr\'e model possessing an energy-dependent mobility edge.
We study quench dynamics in an interacting spin chain with a quasiperiodic on-site field, known as the interacting Aubry-Andr\'e model of many-body localization. Using the time-dependent variational principle, we assess the late-time behavior for chains up to L=50L=50L=50. We find that the choice of periodicity $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}$ of the quasiperiodic field influences the dynamics. For $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}=(\sqrt{5}\ensuremath{-}1)/2$ (the inverse golden ratio) and interaction $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}=1$, the model most frequently considered in the literature, we obtain the critical disorder ${W}_{c}=4.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5$ in units where the noninteracting transition is at W=2W=2W=2. At the same time, for periodicity $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}=\sqrt{2}/2$ we obtain a considerably higher critical value, ${W}_{c}=7.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5$. Finite-size effects on the critical disorder Wc{W}_{c}Wc​ are much weaker than in the purely random case. This supports the enhancement of Wc{W}_{c}Wc​ in the case of a purely random potential by rare ``ergodic spots,'' which do not occur in the quasiperiodic case. Further, the data suggest that the decay of the antiferromagnetic order in the delocalized phase is faster than a power law.
In this study, we investigate the localization transition and quantum criticality {in the ground state of the} disordered Aubry-André-Harper (AAH) model, where a quasiperiodic potential is hybridized with a disordered potential. In the clean limit, the AAH model undergoes a localization transition from an extended phase to a localized phase via an intermediate critical phase as the strength of the quasiperiodic potential is varied. While the staggered potential merely shifts the critical point to a lower value, Fibonacci and Thue-Morse potentials induce immediate localization. This contrast reveals the sensitivity of localization behavior to the structural complexity of the potential, with the onset of localization correlating with the sequence's complexity. More specifically, the system follows a hierarchy defined by the complexity measures of the applied potentials. In addition, the typical fidelity susceptibility exhibits a power-law scaling behavior at the localization transition, enabling reliable extraction of the critical exponent. We focus on the AAH model with the Fibonacci potential due to its minimal finite-size effects compared to other cases. For the disordered AAH model with the Fibonacci potential, we determine critical exponents that differ from those of the AAH model without disorder and the Anderson model. Moreover, despite differences in localization behavior, we find that the disordered AAH models with the staggered potential and the Fibonacci potential share the same correlation-length critical exponent. These findings provide a unified framework for understanding localization transitions in quasiperiodic systems and are amenable to experimental validation using emerging techniques.