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arXiv:2107.05211 · Physical Review Research

Bloch theorem in the presence of an additional conserved charge

Haruki Watanabe

Published Jan 21, 2022• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The Bloch theorem is a general theorem restricting the persistent current associated with a conserved U(1) charge in a ground state or in a thermal equilibrium. It gives an upper bound of the magnitude of the current density, which is inversely proportional to the system size. In a recent paper, Else and Senthil applied the argument for the Bloch theorem to a generalized Gibbs ensemble, assuming the presence of an additional conserved charge, and predicted a nonzero current density in the nonthermal steady state [Else and Senthil, Phys. Rev. B 104, 205132 (2021)]. In this paper, we provide a complementary derivation based on the canonical ensemble, given that the additional charge is strictly conserved within the system by itself. Furthermore, using the example where the additional conserved charge is the momentum operator, we discuss that the persistent current tends to vanish when the system is in contact with an external momentum reservoir in the comoving frame of the reservoir.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.4.013043

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The Bloch theorem is a general theorem restricting the persistent current associated with a conserved U(1) charge in a ground state or in a thermal equilibrium. It gives an upper bound of the magnitude of the current density, which is inversely proportional to the system size. In a recent paper, Else and Senthil applied the argument for the Bloch theorem to a generalized Gibbs ensemble, assuming the presence of an additional conserved charge, and predicted a nonzero current density in the nonthermal steady state [Else and Senthil, Phys. Rev. B 104, 205132 (2021)]. In this paper, we provide a complementary derivation based on the canonical ensemble, given that the additional charge is strictly conserved within the system by itself. Furthermore, using the example where the additional conserved charge is the momentum operator, we discuss that the persistent current tends to vanish when the system is in contact with an external momentum reservoir in the comoving frame of the reservoir.
Abstract The Bloch theorem is a powerful theorem stating that the expectation value of the U(1) current operator averaged over the entire space vanishes in large quantum systems. The theorem applies to the ground state and to the thermal equilibrium at a finite temperature, irrespective of the details of the Hamiltonian as far as all terms in the Hamiltonian are finite ranged. In this work we present a simple yet rigorous proof for general lattice models. For large but finite systems, we find that both the discussion and the conclusion are sensitive to the boundary condition one assumes: under the periodic boundary condition, one can only prove that the current expectation value is inversely proportional to the linear dimension of the system, while the current expectation value completely vanishes before taking the thermodynamic limit when the open boundary condition is imposed. We also provide simple tight-binding models that clarify the limitation of the theorem in dimensions higher than one.
For every conserved quantity written as a sum of local terms, there exists a corresponding current operator that satisfies the continuity equation. The expectation values of current operators at equilibrium define the persistent currents that characterize spontaneous flows in the system. In this Letter, we consider quantum many-body systems on a finite one-dimensional lattice and discuss the scaling of the persistent currents as a function of the system size. We show that, when the conserved quantities are given as the Noether charges associated with internal symmetries or the Hamiltonian itself, the corresponding persistent currents can be bounded by a correlation function of two operators at a distance proportional to the system size, implying that they decay at least algebraically as the system size increases. In contrast, the persistent currents of accidentally conserved quantities can be nonzero even in the thermodynamic limit and even in the presence of the time-reversal symmetry. We discuss "the current of energy current" in S=1/2 XXZ spin chain as an example and obtain an analytic expression of the persistent current.
Abstract In this work we present a computation of the averages of conserved charge densities and currents of (1+1)-dimensional Integrable Quantum Field Theories in generalised Gibbs ensembles. Our approach is based on the quasi-particle description provided by the Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz combined with the principles of Generalised Hydrodynamics, and we focus on Non-Equilibrium Steady State averages. When considering the ultraviolet (i.e. high temperature) limit of such averages, we recover the famous result by Bernard and Doyon (2012) for the energy current and density in Conformal Field Theories, and we extend it to conserved quantities with spin s > 1. We show that their averages are proportional to T L s + 1 ± T R s + 1 , with TL , TR the temperatures of two asymptotic thermal reservoirs. The same power law is obtained when considering some non-thermal generalised Gibbs states. In Conformal Field Theory, the power law is a consequence of the transformation properties of conserved charge operators, while the proportionality coefficient depends on the spin of the operator and on the central charge of the theory. We present an exact analytic expression for this coefficient in the case of a massive free fermion. At equilibrium, proportionality of spin-s density averages to T s + 1 can be thought of as a generalisation of Stefan–Boltzmann’s law, which states that the energy per unit surface area radiated by a black body scales as T 4.
We prove that a recently derived correlation equality between conserved charges and their associated conserved currents for quantum systems far from equilibrium [O.A. Castro-Alvaredo, B. Doyon, and T. Yoshimura, Phys. Rev. X 6, 041065 (2016)], is valid under more general conditions than assumed so far. Similar correlation identities, which in generalized Gibbs ensembles give rise to a current symmetry somewhat reminiscent of the Onsager relations, turn out to hold also in the absence of translation invariance, for lattice models, and in any space dimension, and to imply a symmetry of the non-equilibrium linear response functions.
We suggest a generalization of the expression of the nonequilibrium (NE) density matrix obtained by Hershfield's method for the cases where both heat and charge steady-state currents are present in a quantum open system. The finite-size quantum system, connected to two temperature and particle reservoirs, is driven out of equilibrium by the presence of both a temperature gradient and a chemical potential gradient between the two reservoirs. We show that the NE density matrix is given by a generalized Gibbs-like ensemble and is in full agreement with the general results of the McLennan-Zubarev nonequilibrium ensembles. The extra nonequilibrium terms are related to the entropy production in the system and characterize the fluxes of heat and particle. An explicit example, for the lowest-order expansion, is provide for a model system of noninteracting fermions.
We demonstrate that persistent currents can be induced in a quantum system in contact with a structured reservoir, without the need of any applied gauge field. The working principle of the mechanism leading to their presence is based on the extension to the many-body scenario of nonreciprocal Lindblad dynamics, recently put forward by Metelmann and Clerk, Phys. Rev. X 5, 021025 (2015): Nonreciprocity can be generated by suitably balancing coherent interactions with their corresponding dissipative version, induced by the coupling to a common structured environment, so as to make the total interactions directional. Specifically, we consider an interacting spin- (or boson-) model in a ring-shaped one-dimensional lattice coupled to an external bath. By employing a combination of cluster mean-field, exact diagonalization, and matrix-product-operator techniques, we show that solely dissipative effects suffice to engineer steady states with a persistent current that survives in the limit of large systems. We also verify the robustness of such current in the presence of additional dissipative or Hamiltonian perturbation terms.