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arXiv:2109.05249 · SciPost Physics

Exact hydrodynamic solution of a double domain wall melting in the spin-1/2 XXZ model

Stefano Scopa, Pasquale Calabrese, Jérôme Dubail

Published Jun 28, 2022• 28 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the non-equilibrium dynamics of a one-dimensional spin-1/2 XXZ model at zero-temperature in the regime |\Delta|< 1 | Δ | < 1 , initially prepared in a product state with two domain walls i.e, |\downarrow\dots\downarrow\uparrow\dots\uparrow\downarrow\dots\downarrow \rangle | ↓ … ↓ ↑ … ↑ ↓ … ↓ ⟩ . At early times, the two domain walls evolve independently and only after a calculable time a non-trivial interplay between the two emerges and results in the occurrence of a split Fermi sea. For \Delta=0 Δ = 0 , we derive exact asymptotic results for the magnetization and the spin current by using a semi-classical Wigner function approach, and we exactly determine the spreading of entanglement entropy exploiting the recently developed tools of quantum fluctuating hydrodynamics. In the interacting case, we analytically solve the Generalized Hydrodynamics equation providing exact expressions for the conserved quantities. We display some numerical results for the entanglement entropy also in the interacting case and we propose a conjecture for its asymptotic value.

DOI
10.21468/scipostphys.12.6.207

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We investigate the non-equilibrium dynamics of a one-dimensional spin-1/2 XXZ model at zero-temperature in the regime |\Delta|< 1 | Δ | < 1 , initially prepared in a product state with two domain walls i.e, |\downarrow\dots\downarrow\uparrow\dots\uparrow\downarrow\dots\downarrow \rangle | ↓ … ↓ ↑ … ↑ ↓ … ↓ ⟩ . At early times, the two domain walls evolve independently and only after a calculable time a non-trivial interplay between the two emerges and results in the occurrence of a split Fermi sea. For \Delta=0 Δ = 0 , we derive exact asymptotic results for the magnetization and the spin current by using a semi-classical Wigner function approach, and we exactly determine the spreading of entanglement entropy exploiting the recently developed tools of quantum fluctuating hydrodynamics. In the interacting case, we analytically solve the Generalized Hydrodynamics equation providing exact expressions for the conserved quantities. We display some numerical results for the entanglement entropy also in the interacting case and we propose a conjecture for its asymptotic value.
Abstract We revisit the out-of-equilibrium physics arising during the unitary evolution of a one-dimensional XXZ spin chain initially prepared in a domain wall state ∣ψ0⟩=∣⋯↑↑↓↓… ⟩\vert \psi _0\rangle =\vert \dots \uparrow \uparrow \downarrow \downarrow \dots \rangle∣ψ0​⟩=∣⋯↑↑↓↓…⟩ | ψ 0 ⟩ = | ⋯ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ⋯ ⟩ . In absence of interactions, we review the exact lattice calculation of several conserved quantities, including e.g. the magnetization and the spin current profiles. At large distances x and times t, we show how these quantities allow for a ballistic scaling behavior in terms of the scaling variable ζ=x/t\zeta = x/tζ=x/t ζ = x / t , with exactly computable scaling functions. In such a limit of large space-time scales, we show that the asymptotic behavior of the system is suitably captured by the local occupation function of spinless fermionic modes, whose semi-classical evolution in phase space is given by a Euler hydrodynamic equation. Similarly, analytical results for the asymptotic fronts dynamics are obtained for the interacting chain via Generalized Hydrodynamics. In the last part of the work, we include large-scale quantum fluctuations on top of the semi-classical hydrodynamic background in the form of a conformal field theory that lives along the evolving Fermi contour. With this procedure, dubbed quantum generalized hydrodynamics, it is possible to obtain exact asymptotic results for the entanglement spreading during the melting dynamics.
Abstract We consider the non-equilibrium dynamics of the entanglement entropy of a one-dimensional quantum gas of hard-core particles, initially confined in a box potential at zero temperature. At t = 0 the right edge of the box is suddenly released and the system is let free to expand. During this expansion, the initially correlated region propagates with a non-homogeneous profile, leading to the growth of entanglement entropy. This setting is investigated in the hydrodynamic regime, with tools stemming from semi-classical Wigner function approach and with recent developments of quantum fluctuating hydrodynamics. Within this framework, the entanglement entropy can be associated to a correlation function of chiral twist-fields of the conformal field theory that lives along the Fermi contour and it can be exactly determined. Our predictions for the entanglement evolution are found in agreement with and generalize previous results in literature based on numerical calculations and heuristic arguments.
Abstract We study the unitary time evolution of the entanglement Hamiltonian of a free Fermi lattice gas in one dimension initially prepared in a domain wall configuration. To this aim, we exploit the recent development of quantum fluctuating hydrodynamics. Our findings for the entanglement Hamiltonian are based on the effective field theory description of the domain wall melting and are expected to exactly describe the Euler scaling limit of the lattice gas. However, such field theoretical results can be recovered from high-precision numerical lattice calculations only when summing appropriately over all the hoppings up to distant sites.
In spin chains with local unitary evolution preserving the magnetization Sz{S}^{\mathrm{z}}Sz, the domain-wall state $\left|\ensuremath{\cdots}\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\uparrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}\ensuremath{\downarrow}\ensuremath{\cdots}\right\ensuremath{\rangle}$ typically ``melts.'' At large times, a nontrivial magnetization profile develops in an expanding region around the initial position of the domain wall. For nonintegrable dynamics, the melting is diffusive, with entropy production within a melted region of size t\sqrt{t}t​. In contrast, when the evolution is integrable, ballistic transport dominates and results in a melted region growing linearly in time, with no extensive entropy production: The spin chain remains locally in states of zero entropy at any time. Here we show that, for the integrable spin-1/21/21/2 XXZ chain, low-energy quantum fluctuations in the melted region give rise to an emergent Luttinger liquid which, remarkably, differs from the equilibrium one. The striking feature of this emergent Luttinger liquid is its quasiparticle charge (or Luttinger parameter KKK), which acquires a fractal dependence on the XXZ chain anisotropy parameter $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}$.
We consider the out-of-equilibrium dynamics generated by joining two domains with arbitrary opposite magnetizations. We study the stationary state which emerges by the unitary evolution via the spin-1/2 XXZXXZXXZ Hamiltonian, in the gapless regime, where the system develops a stationary spin current. Using the generalized hydrodynamic approach, we present a simple formula for the space-time profile of the spin current and the magnetization exact in the limit of long times. As a remarkable effect, we show that the stationary state has a strongly discontinuous dependence on the strength of interaction as confirmed by the exact analytic expression of the Drude weight that we compute. These features allow us to give a qualitative estimation for the transient behavior of the current which is in good agreement with numerical simulations. Moreover, we analyze the behavior around the edge of the magnetization profile, and we argue that, unlike the XXXXXX free-fermionic point, interactions always prevent the emergence of a Tracy-Widom scaling.
We study the dynamics of a spin- \frac{1}{2} 1 2 XXZ chain which is initially prepared in a domain-wall state. We compare the results of time-dependent Density Matrix Renormalization Group simulations with those of an effective description in terms of a classical anisotropic Landau-Lifshitz (LL) equation. Numerous quantities are analyzed: magnetization ( x x , y y and z z components), energy density, energy current, but also some spin-spin correlation functions or entanglement entropy in the quantum chain. Without any adjustable parameter a quantitative agreement is observed between the quantum and the LL problems in the long time limit, when the models are close to the isotropic point. This is explained as a consequence of energy conservation. At the isotropic point the mapping between the LL equation and the nonlinear Schrödinger equation is used to construct a variational solution capturing several aspects of the problem.