While global quantum quench has been extensively used in the literature to understand the localization-delocalization transition for the one-dimensional quantum spin chain, the effect of geometric quench (which corresponds to a sudden change of the geometry of the chain) in the context of such transitions is yet to be well understood. In this work, we investigate the effect of geometric quench in the Aubry-Andr\'e model, which supports localization-delocalization transition even in one dimension. We study the spreading of the entanglement and the site occupation with time and find many interesting features that can be used to characterize localization-delocalization transition. We observe that geometric quench causes a power-law type growth of the entanglement entropy in the delocalized phase in contrast to the linear growth which is found in the global quench studies. We also find that the saturation values in the many-body localized (MBL) phase obey area law in contrast to the usual volume law, which is a signature feature of the MBL phase in the context of global quench. This area law can also be understood from the long time site-occupation profile in the MBL phase.
While global quantum quench has been extensively used in the literature to understand the localization-delocalization transition for the one-dimensional quantum spin chain, the effect of geometric quench (which corresponds to a sudden change of the geometry of the chain) in the context of such transitions is yet to be well understood. In this work, we investigate the effect of geometric quench in the Aubry-Andr'e model, which supports localization-delocalization transition even in one dimension. We study the spreading of the entanglement and the site occupation with time and find many interesting features that can be used to characterize localization-delocalization transition. We observe that geometric quench causes a power-law type growth of the entanglement entropy in the delocalized phase in contrast to the linear growth which is found in the global quench studies. We also find that the saturation values in the many-body localized (MBL) phase obey area law in contrast to the usual volume law, which is a signature feature of the MBL phase in the context of global quench. This area law can also be understood from the long time site-occupation profile in the MBL phase.
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=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=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 are much weaker than in the purely random case. This supports the enhancement of 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.
We study the dynamics and the resulting state after relaxation in a quasidisordered integrable lattice system after a sudden quench. Specifically, we consider hard-core bosons in an isolated one-dimensional geometry in the presence of a quasiperiodic potential whose strength is abruptly changed to take the system out of equilibrium. In the delocalized regime, we find that the relaxation dynamics of one-body observables, such as the density, the momentum distribution function, and the occupation of the natural orbitals, follow, to a good approximation, power laws. In that regime, we also show that the observables after relaxation can be described by the generalized Gibbs ensemble, while such a description fails for the momentum distribution and the natural orbital occupations in the presence of localization. At the critical point, the relaxation dynamics is found to be slower than in the delocalized phase.
We investigate the entanglement spreading in the anisotropic spin-1/2 Heisenberg (XXZ) chain after a geometric quench. This corresponds to a sudden change of the geometry of the chain or, in the equivalent language of interacting fermions confined in a box trap, to a sudden increase of the trap size. The entanglement dynamics after the quench is associated with the ballistic propagation of a magnetization wave front. At the free fermion point (XX chain), the von Neumann entropy SA exhibits several intriguing dynamical regimes. Specifically, at short times a logarithmic increase is observed, similar to local quenches. This is accurately described by an analytic formula that we derive from heuristic arguments. At intermediate times partial revivals of the short-time dynamics are superposed with a power-law increase ${S}_{A}\ensuremath{\sim}{t}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$, with $\ensuremath{\alpha}<1$. Finally, at very long times a steady state develops with constant entanglement entropy, apart from oscillations. As expected, since the model is integrable, we find that the steady state is nonthermal, although it exhibits extensive entanglement entropy. We also investigate the entanglement dynamics after the quench from a finite to the infinite chain (sudden expansion). While at long times the entanglement vanishes, we demonstrate that its relaxation dynamics exhibits a number of scaling properties. Finally, we discuss the short-time entanglement dynamics in the XXZ chain in the gapless phase. The same formula that describes the time dependence for the XX chain remains valid in the whole gapless phase.
Many-body localized (MBL) systems are characterized by the absence of transport and thermalization and, therefore, cannot be described by conventional statistical mechanics. In this paper, using analytic arguments and numerical simulations, we study the behavior of local observables in an isolated MBL system following a quantum quench. For the case of a global quench, we find that the local observables reach stationary, highly nonthermal values at long times as a result of slow dephasing characteristic of the MBL phase. These stationary values retain the local memory of the initial state due to the existence of local integrals of motion in the MBL phase. The temporal fluctuations around stationary values exhibit universal power-law decay in time, with an exponent set by the localization length and the diagonal entropy of the initial state. Such a power-law decay holds for any local observable and is related to the logarithmic in time growth of entanglement in the MBL phase. This behavior distinguishes the MBL phase from both the Anderson insulator (where no stationary state is reached) and from the ergodic phase (where relaxation is expected to be exponential). For the case of a local quench, we also find a power-law approach of local observables to their stationary values when the system is prepared in a mixed state. Quench protocols considered in this paper can be naturally implemented in systems of ultracold atoms in disordered optical lattices, and the behavior of local observables provides a direct experimental signature of many-body localization.
Quantum quench is a non-equilibrium process where the Hamiltonian is suddenly changed during the quantum evolution. The change can be made by spatially local perturbations (local quench) or globally switching to a completely different Hamiltonian (global quench). This thesis investigates the post-quench non-equilibrium dynamics with an emphasis on the time dependence of the quantum entanglement. We inspect the scaling of entanglement entropy (EE) to learn how correlation and entanglement built up in a quench. We begin with two local quench examples. In Chap. 2, we apply a local operator to the groundstate of the quantum Lifshitz model and monitor the change of the EE. We find that the entanglement grows according to the dynamical exponent z = 2 and then saturates to the scaling dimension of the perturbing operator -- a value representing its strength. In Chap. 3, we study the evolution after connecting two different one-dimensional critical chains at their ends. The Loschmidt echo which measures the similarity between the evolved state and the initial one decays with a power law, whose exponent is the scaling dimension of the defect (junction). Among other conclusions, we see that the local quench dynamics contain universal information of the (critical) theory. In the global quench scenario, the change of the Hamiltonian affects all parts of the system. In this thesis, we focus on the global chaotic quench driven by generic non-integrable Hamiltonians. In Chap. 4, we propose to use the operator entanglement entropy of the unitary operator as a probe. Its fast linear entanglement production is sharply contrasted to the slow logarithmic spreading of the many-body localized system. The entanglement saturation suggests that the evolution operator in the long time can be modeled by a random unitary matrix. In Chap. 5, we construct a random tensor network which consists of random unitary matrices connected locally to model chaotic evolution with local interactions. We find that the entanglement dynamics is mapped to the statistical mechanics of interacting random walks. This appealing emergent picture allows us to understand the universal linear growth as well as the fluctuations of entanglement in a chaotic quench.
We numerically investigate the link between the delocalization-localization transition and entanglement in a disordered long-range hopping model of spinless fermions by studying various static and dynamical quantities. This includes the inverse participation ratio, level statistics, entanglement entropy, and number fluctuations in the subsystem along with quench and wave-packet dynamics. Finite systems show delocalized, quasilocalized, and localized phases. The delocalized phase shows strong area-law violation, whereas the (quasi)localized phase adheres to (for large subsystems) the strict area law. The idea of ``entanglement contour'' nicely explains the violation of area law and its relationship with ``fluctuation contour'' reveals a signature at the transition point. The relationship between entanglement entropy and number fluctuations in the subsystem also carries signatures for the transition in the model. Results from the Aubry-Andre-Harper model are compared in this context. The propagation of charge and entanglement are contrasted by studying quench and wave-packet dynamics at the single-particle and many-particle levels.