Superdiffusive finite-temperature transport has been recently observed in a variety of integrable systems with non-Abelian global symmetries. Superdiffusion is caused by giant Goldstone-like quasiparticles stabilized by integrability. Here, we argue that these giant quasiparticles remain long-lived and give divergent contributions to the low-frequency conductivity σ(ω), even in systems that are not perfectly integrable. We find, perturbatively, that σ(ω)∼ω^{-1/3} for translation-invariant static perturbations that conserve energy and σ(ω)∼|logω| for noisy perturbations. The (presumable) crossover to regular diffusion appears to lie beyond low-order perturbation theory. By contrast, integrability-breaking perturbations that break the non-Abelian symmetry yield conventional diffusion. Numerical evidence supports the distinction between these two classes of perturbations.
Superdiffusive transport with dynamical exponent
z=3/2 has been firmly established at finite temperature for a class of integrable systems with a non-abelian global symmetry
G. On the inclusion of integrability-breaking perturbations, diffusive transport with
z=2 is generically expected to hold in the limit of late time. Recent studies of the classical Haldane-Ishimori-Skylanin model have found that perturbations that preserve the global symmetry lead to a much slower timescale for the onset of diffusion, albeit with uncertainty over the exact scaling exponent. That is, for perturbations of strength
λ, the characteristic timescale for diffusion goes as
t∗∼λ−α for some
α. Using large-scale matrix product state simulations, we investigate this behavior for perturbations to the canonical quantum model showing superdiffusion: the
S=1/2 quantum Heisenberg chain. We consider a ladder configuration and look at various perturbations that either break or preserve the
SU(2) symmetry, leading to scaling exponents consistent with those observed in one classical study arXiv:2402.18661:
α=2 for symmetry-breaking terms and
α=6 for symmetry-preserving terms. We also consider perturbations from another integrable point of the ladder model with
G=SU(4) and find consistent results. Finally, we consider a generalization to an
SU(3) ladder and find that the
α=6 scaling appears to be universal across superdiffusive systems when the perturbations preserve the non-abelian symmetry
G.
Anomalous finite-temperature transport has recently been observed in numerical studies of various integrable models in one dimension; these models share the feature of being invariant under a continuous non-Abelian global symmetry.This work offers a comprehensive group-theoretic account of this elusive phenomenon.For an integrable quantum model with local interactions, invariant under a global non-Abelian simple Lie group G, we find that finite-temperature transport of Noether charges associated with symmetry G in thermal states that are invariant under G is universally superdiffusive and characterized by the dynamical exponent z ¼ 3=2.This conclusion holds regardless of the Lie algebra symmetry, local degrees of freedom (on-site representations), Lorentz invariance, or particular realization of microscopic interactions: We accordingly dub it "superuniversal."The anomalous transport behavior is attributed to long-lived giant quasiparticles dressed by thermal fluctuations.We provide an algebraic viewpoint on the corresponding dressing transformation and elucidate formal connections to fusion identities amongst the quantum-group characters.We identify giant quasiparticles with nonlinear soliton modes of classical field theories that describe low-energy excitations above ferromagnetic vacua.Our analysis of these field theories also provides a complete classification of the low-energy (i.e., Goldstone-mode) spectra of quantum isotropic ferromagnetic chains.
Finite-temperature spin transport in integrable isotropic spin chains (i.e., spin chains with continuous non-Abelian symmetries) is known to be superdiffusive, with anomalous transport properties displaying remarkable robustness to isotropic integrability-breaking perturbations. Using a discrete-time classical model, we numerically study the crossover to conventional diffusion resulting from both noisy and Floquet isotropic perturbations of strength $\ensuremath{\lambda}$. We identify an anomalously-long crossover timescale ${t}_{★}\ensuremath{\sim}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ with $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\approx}6$ in both cases. We discuss our results in terms of a kinetic theory of transport that characterizes the lifetimes of large solitons responsible for superdiffusion.
Superdiffusion is surprisingly easily observed even in systems without the integrability underpinning this phenomenon. Indeed, the classical Heisenberg chain-one of the simplest many-body systems, and firmly believed to be nonintegrable-evinces a long-lived regime of anomalous, superdiffusive spin dynamics at finite temperature. Similarly, superdiffusion persists for long timescales, even at high temperature, for small perturbations around a related integrable model. Eventually, however, ordinary diffusion is believed to be asymptotically restored. We examine the timescales governing the lifetime of the superdiffusive regime, and argue that it diverges algebraically fast-both in deviation from the integrable limit, and at low temperature, where we find t^{*}∼T^{-ζ} with an exponent possibly as large as ζ=8. This can render the crossover to ordinary diffusion practically inaccessible.
Understanding the physics of the integrable spin-1/2 XXZ chain has witnessed substantial progress, due to the development and application of sophisticated analytical and numerical techniques. In particular, infinite-temperature magnetization transport has turned out to range from ballistic, over superdiffusive, to diffusive behavior in different parameter regimes of the anisotropy. Since integrability is rather the exception than the rule, a crucial question is the change of transport under integrability-breaking perturbations. This question includes the stability of superdiffusion at the isotropic point and the change of diffusion constants in the easy-axis regime. In our work, we study this change of diffusion constants by a variety of methods and cover both, linear response theory in the closed system and the Lindblad equation in the open system, where we throughout focus on periodic boundary conditions. In the closed system, we compare results from the recursion method to calculations for finite systems and find evidence for a continuous change of diffusion constants over the full range of perturbation strengths. In the open system weakly coupled to baths, we find diffusion constants in quantitative agreement with the ones in the closed system in a range of nonweak perturbations, but disagreement in the limit of weak perturbations. Using a simple model in this limit, we point out the possibility of a diverging diffusion constant in such an open system.
The dynamics of spin at finite temperature in the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain was found to be superdiffusive in numerous recent numerical and experimental studies. Theoretical approaches to this problem have emphasized the role of nonabelian SU(2) symmetry as well as integrability, but the associated methods cannot be readily applied when integrability is broken. We examine spin transport in a spin-1/2 chain in which the exchange couplings fluctuate in space and time around a nonzero mean J, a model introduced by De Nardis et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 057201 (2021).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.127.057201]. We show that operator dynamics in the strong noise limit at infinite temperature can be analyzed using conventional perturbation theory as an expansion in J. We find that regular diffusion persists at long times, albeit with an enhanced diffusion constant. The finite time spin dynamics is analyzed and compared with matrix product operator simulations.