Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2004.01719 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Ergodicity breaking transition in finite disordered spin chains

Jan Šuntajs, J. Bonča, Tomaž Prosen, Lev Vidmar

Published Aug 14, 2020• 188 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study disorder-induced ergodicity breaking transition in high-energy eigenstates of interacting spin-1/2 chains. Using exact diagonalization, we introduce a cost function approach to quantitatively compare different scenarios for the eigenstate transition. We study ergodicity indicators such as the eigenstate entanglement entropy and the spectral level spacing ratio, and we consistently find that an (infinite-order) Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition yields a lower cost function when compared to a finite-order transition. Interestingly, we observe that the ergodicity breaking transition in systems studied by exact diagonalization (with around 20 lattice sites) takes place at disorder values lower than those reported in previous works. As a consequence, the crossing point in finite systems exhibits nearly thermal properties, i.e., ergodicity indicators at the transition are close to the random matrix theory predictions.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.102.064207

Related papers

Quantum chaos challenges many-body localization

Jan Šuntajs, J. Bonča, Tomaž Prosen +1 more

Characterizing states of matter through the lens of their ergodic properties is a fascinating new direction of research. In the quantum realm, the many-body localization (MBL) was proposed to be the paradigmatic ergodicity breaking phenomenon, which extends the concept of Anderson localization to interacting systems. At the same time, random matrix theory has established a powerful framework for characterizing the onset of quantum chaos and ergodicity (or the absence thereof) in quantum many-body systems. Here we numerically study the spectral statistics of disordered interacting spin chains, which represent prototype models expected to exhibit MBL. We study the ergodicity indicator g=log_{10}(t_{H}/t_{Th}), which is defined through the ratio of two characteristic many-body time scales, the Thouless time t_{Th} and the Heisenberg time t_{H}, and hence resembles the logarithm of the dimensionless conductance introduced in the context of Anderson localization. We argue that the ergodicity breaking transition in interacting spin chains occurs when both time scales are of the same order, t_{Th}≈t_{H}, and g becomes a system-size independent constant. Hence, the ergodicity breaking transition in many-body systems carries certain analogies with the Anderson localization transition. Intriguingly, using a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless correlation length we observe a scaling solution of g across the transition, which allows for detection of the crossing point in finite systems. We discuss the observation that scaled results in finite systems by increasing the system size exhibit a flow towards the quantum chaotic regime.

arXiv:1905.06345•Physical review. E•Dec 24, 2020•392 citations

Finite-size scaling analysis of the many-body localization transition in quasiperiodic spin chains

Adith Sai Aramthottil, Titas Chanda, Piotr Sierant +1 more

We analyze the finite-size scaling of the average gap ratio and the entanglement entropy across the many-body localization (MBL) transition in one dimensional Heisenberg spin chain with quasiperiodic (QP) potential. By using the recently introduced cost-function approach, we compare different scenarios for the transition using exact diagonalization of systems up to 22 lattice sites. Our findings suggest that the MBL transition in the QP Heisenberg chain belongs to the class of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, the same as in the case of uniformly disordered systems as advocated in recent studies. Moreover, we observe that the critical disorder strength shows a clear sublinear drift with the system size as compared to the linear drift seen in random disordered models, suggesting that the finite-size effects in the MBL transition for the QP systems are less severe than that in the random disordered scenario. Moreover, deep in the ergodic regime, we find an unexpected double-peak structure of distribution of on-site magnetizations that can be traced back to the strong correlations present in the QP potential.

arXiv:2109.08408•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Dec 2, 2021•48 citations

Total correlations of the diagonal ensemble as a generic indicator for ergodicity breaking in quantum systems

Francesca Pietracaprina, Christian Gogolin, John Goold

The diagonal ensemble is the infinite time average of a quantum state following unitary dynamics in systems without degeneracies. In analogy to the time average of a classical phase-space dynamics, it is intimately related to the ergodic properties of the quantum system giving information on the spreading of the initial state in the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. In this work we apply a concept from quantum information, known as total correlations, to the diagonal ensemble. Forming an upper bound on the multipartite entanglement, it quantifies the combination of both classical and quantum correlations in a mixed state. We generalize the total correlations of the diagonal ensemble to more general $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-Renyi entropies and focus on the cases $\ensuremath{\alpha}=1$ and $\ensuremath{\alpha}=2$ with further numerical extensions in mind. Here we show that the total correlations of the diagonal ensemble is a generic indicator of ergodicity breaking, displaying a subextensive behavior when the system is ergodic. We demonstrate this by investigating its scaling in a range of spin chain models focusing not only on the cases of integrability breaking but also emphasize its role in understanding the transition from an ergodic to a many-body localized phase in systems with disorder or quasiperiodicity.

arXiv:1611.02046•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Mar 14, 2017•14 citations

Eigenstate Thermalization and Spectral Imprints of the Hamiltonian in Local Observables

Shivam Mishra, C Jisha, Ravi Prakash

The Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis explains thermalization in isolated quantum systems through the statistical properties of observables in the energy eigenbasis. We investigate the crossover from integrability to chaos in the spin-$1/2$ XXZ chain, establishing a direct correspondence between the spectral correlations of the Hamiltonian and local observables expressed in the energy eigenbasis as a signature of ergodicity breaking. By introducing a local perturbation that drives the system from integrability to chaos, we track the standard ETH indicators and the eigenstate entanglement entropy. We introduce a submatrix-based framework for analyzing local observables in the energy eigenbasis. By extracting real-symmetric blocks along the diagonal of the local observables represented in eigenbasis, we show that these submatrices exhibit both the short-range and long-range spectral features of the Hamiltonian. Remarkably, this correspondence persists even in a partially ergodic regime, indicating that the emergence of chaos is already encoded locally within the observables' matrix structure and that small blocks are sufficient to capture the underlying spectral correlations.

quant-pharXiv:2601.09340•Jan 15, 2026•0 citations

Extreme statistics as a probe of the superfluid to Bose-glass Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition

Jeanne Colbois, Natalia Chepiga, Shaffique Adam +2 more

Recent studies of delocalization-localization transitions in disordered quantum chains have highlighted the role of rare, chain-breaking events that favor localization, in particular for high-energy eigenstates related to many-body localization. In this context, we revisit the random-field XXZ spin-1/2 chain at zero temperature with ferromagnetic interactions, equivalent to interacting fermions or hard-core bosons in a random potential with attractive interactions. We argue that localization in this model can be characterized by chain-breaking events, which are probed by the extreme values of simple local observables, such as the on-site density or the local magnetization, that are readily accessible in both experiments and numerical simulations. Adopting a bosonic language, we study the disorder-induced Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) quantum phase transition from superfluid (SF) to Bose glass (BG), and focus on the strong disorder regime where localization is driven by weak links. Based on high-precision density matrix renormalization group simulations, we numerically show that extreme local densities accurately capture the BKT transition, even for relatively short chains ranging from a few dozen to a hundred sites. We also discuss the SF-BG transition in the weak disorder regime, where finite-size effects pose greater challenges. Overall, our work seeks to establish a solid foundation for using extreme statistics of local observables, such as density, to probe delocalization-localization transitions in disordered quantum chains, both in the ground state and at high energy.

cond-mat.dis-nnCross-listedarXiv:2512.09029•New Journal of Physics•Dec 11, 2025•0 citations

Ergodicity Breaking Transition in Zero Dimensions

Jan Šuntajs, Lev Vidmar

It is of great current interest to establish toy models of ergodicity breaking transitions in quantum many-body systems. Here, we study a model that is expected to exhibit an ergodic to nonergodic transition in the thermodynamic limit upon tuning the coupling between an ergodic quantum dot and distant particles with spin-1/2. The model is effectively zero dimensional; however, a variant of the model was proposed by De Roeck and Huveneers to describe the avalanche mechanism of ergodicity breaking transition in one-dimensional disordered spin chains. We show that exact numerical results based on the spectral form factor calculation accurately agree with theoretical predictions, and hence unambiguously confirm existence of the ergodicity breaking transition in this model. We benchmark specific properties that represent hallmarks of the ergodicity breaking transition in finite systems.

arXiv:2203.08844•Physical Review Letters•Aug 5, 2022•43 citations
We study disorder-induced ergodicity breaking transition in high-energy eigenstates of interacting spin-1/2 chains. Using exact diagonalization, we introduce a cost function approach to quantitatively compare different scenarios for the eigenstate transition. We study ergodicity indicators such as the eigenstate entanglement entropy and the spectral level spacing ratio, and we consistently find that an (infinite-order) Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition yields a lower cost function when compared to a finite-order transition. Interestingly, we observe that the ergodicity breaking transition in systems studied by exact diagonalization (with around 20 lattice sites) takes place at disorder values lower than those reported in previous works. As a consequence, the crossing point in finite systems exhibits nearly thermal properties, i.e., ergodicity indicators at the transition are close to the random matrix theory predictions.
Characterizing states of matter through the lens of their ergodic properties is a fascinating new direction of research. In the quantum realm, the many-body localization (MBL) was proposed to be the paradigmatic ergodicity breaking phenomenon, which extends the concept of Anderson localization to interacting systems. At the same time, random matrix theory has established a powerful framework for characterizing the onset of quantum chaos and ergodicity (or the absence thereof) in quantum many-body systems. Here we numerically study the spectral statistics of disordered interacting spin chains, which represent prototype models expected to exhibit MBL. We study the ergodicity indicator g=log_{10}(t_{H}/t_{Th}), which is defined through the ratio of two characteristic many-body time scales, the Thouless time t_{Th} and the Heisenberg time t_{H}, and hence resembles the logarithm of the dimensionless conductance introduced in the context of Anderson localization. We argue that the ergodicity breaking transition in interacting spin chains occurs when both time scales are of the same order, t_{Th}≈t_{H}, and g becomes a system-size independent constant. Hence, the ergodicity breaking transition in many-body systems carries certain analogies with the Anderson localization transition. Intriguingly, using a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless correlation length we observe a scaling solution of g across the transition, which allows for detection of the crossing point in finite systems. We discuss the observation that scaled results in finite systems by increasing the system size exhibit a flow towards the quantum chaotic regime.
We analyze the finite-size scaling of the average gap ratio and the entanglement entropy across the many-body localization (MBL) transition in one dimensional Heisenberg spin chain with quasiperiodic (QP) potential. By using the recently introduced cost-function approach, we compare different scenarios for the transition using exact diagonalization of systems up to 22 lattice sites. Our findings suggest that the MBL transition in the QP Heisenberg chain belongs to the class of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, the same as in the case of uniformly disordered systems as advocated in recent studies. Moreover, we observe that the critical disorder strength shows a clear sublinear drift with the system size as compared to the linear drift seen in random disordered models, suggesting that the finite-size effects in the MBL transition for the QP systems are less severe than that in the random disordered scenario. Moreover, deep in the ergodic regime, we find an unexpected double-peak structure of distribution of on-site magnetizations that can be traced back to the strong correlations present in the QP potential.
The diagonal ensemble is the infinite time average of a quantum state following unitary dynamics in systems without degeneracies. In analogy to the time average of a classical phase-space dynamics, it is intimately related to the ergodic properties of the quantum system giving information on the spreading of the initial state in the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. In this work we apply a concept from quantum information, known as total correlations, to the diagonal ensemble. Forming an upper bound on the multipartite entanglement, it quantifies the combination of both classical and quantum correlations in a mixed state. We generalize the total correlations of the diagonal ensemble to more general $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-Renyi entropies and focus on the cases $\ensuremath{\alpha}=1$ and $\ensuremath{\alpha}=2$ with further numerical extensions in mind. Here we show that the total correlations of the diagonal ensemble is a generic indicator of ergodicity breaking, displaying a subextensive behavior when the system is ergodic. We demonstrate this by investigating its scaling in a range of spin chain models focusing not only on the cases of integrability breaking but also emphasize its role in understanding the transition from an ergodic to a many-body localized phase in systems with disorder or quasiperiodicity.
The Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis explains thermalization in isolated quantum systems through the statistical properties of observables in the energy eigenbasis. We investigate the crossover from integrability to chaos in the spin-1/21/21/2 XXZ chain, establishing a direct correspondence between the spectral correlations of the Hamiltonian and local observables expressed in the energy eigenbasis as a signature of ergodicity breaking. By introducing a local perturbation that drives the system from integrability to chaos, we track the standard ETH indicators and the eigenstate entanglement entropy. We introduce a submatrix-based framework for analyzing local observables in the energy eigenbasis. By extracting real-symmetric blocks along the diagonal of the local observables represented in eigenbasis, we show that these submatrices exhibit both the short-range and long-range spectral features of the Hamiltonian. Remarkably, this correspondence persists even in a partially ergodic regime, indicating that the emergence of chaos is already encoded locally within the observables' matrix structure and that small blocks are sufficient to capture the underlying spectral correlations.
Recent studies of delocalization-localization transitions in disordered quantum chains have highlighted the role of rare, chain-breaking events that favor localization, in particular for high-energy eigenstates related to many-body localization. In this context, we revisit the random-field XXZ spin-1/2 chain at zero temperature with ferromagnetic interactions, equivalent to interacting fermions or hard-core bosons in a random potential with attractive interactions. We argue that localization in this model can be characterized by chain-breaking events, which are probed by the extreme values of simple local observables, such as the on-site density or the local magnetization, that are readily accessible in both experiments and numerical simulations. Adopting a bosonic language, we study the disorder-induced Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) quantum phase transition from superfluid (SF) to Bose glass (BG), and focus on the strong disorder regime where localization is driven by weak links. Based on high-precision density matrix renormalization group simulations, we numerically show that extreme local densities accurately capture the BKT transition, even for relatively short chains ranging from a few dozen to a hundred sites. We also discuss the SF-BG transition in the weak disorder regime, where finite-size effects pose greater challenges. Overall, our work seeks to establish a solid foundation for using extreme statistics of local observables, such as density, to probe delocalization-localization transitions in disordered quantum chains, both in the ground state and at high energy.
It is of great current interest to establish toy models of ergodicity breaking transitions in quantum many-body systems. Here, we study a model that is expected to exhibit an ergodic to nonergodic transition in the thermodynamic limit upon tuning the coupling between an ergodic quantum dot and distant particles with spin-1/2. The model is effectively zero dimensional; however, a variant of the model was proposed by De Roeck and Huveneers to describe the avalanche mechanism of ergodicity breaking transition in one-dimensional disordered spin chains. We show that exact numerical results based on the spectral form factor calculation accurately agree with theoretical predictions, and hence unambiguously confirm existence of the ergodicity breaking transition in this model. We benchmark specific properties that represent hallmarks of the ergodicity breaking transition in finite systems.