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arXiv:2212.10625 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Localization challenges quantum chaos in the finite two-dimensional Anderson model

Jan Šuntajs, Tomaž Prosen, Lev Vidmar

Published Feb 21, 2023• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

It is believed that the two-dimensional (2D) Anderson model exhibits localization for any nonzero disorder in the thermodynamic limit and it is also well known that the finite-size effects are considerable in the weak disorder limit. Here we numerically study the quantum chaos to localization transition in the finite 2D Anderson model using standard indicators used in the modern literature such as the level spacing ratio, spectral form factor, variances of observable matrix elements, participation entropy, and the eigenstate entanglement entropy. We show that many features of these indicators may indicate emergence of robust single-particle quantum chaos at weak disorder. However, we argue that a careful numerical analysis is consistent with the single-parameter scaling theory and predicts the breakdown of quantum chaos at any nonzero disorder value in the thermodynamic limit. Among the hallmarks of this breakdown are the universal behavior of the spectral form factor at weak disorder, and the universal scaling of various indicators as a function of the parameter $u={(WlnV)}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ where $W$ is the disorder strength and $V$ is the number of lattice sites.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.107.064205

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It is believed that the two-dimensional (2D) Anderson model exhibits localization for any nonzero disorder in the thermodynamic limit and it is also well known that the finite-size effects are considerable in the weak disorder limit. Here we numerically study the quantum chaos to localization transition in the finite 2D Anderson model using standard indicators used in the modern literature such as the level spacing ratio, spectral form factor, variances of observable matrix elements, participation entropy, and the eigenstate entanglement entropy. We show that many features of these indicators may indicate emergence of robust single-particle quantum chaos at weak disorder. However, we argue that a careful numerical analysis is consistent with the single-parameter scaling theory and predicts the breakdown of quantum chaos at any nonzero disorder value in the thermodynamic limit. Among the hallmarks of this breakdown are the universal behavior of the spectral form factor at weak disorder, and the universal scaling of various indicators as a function of the parameter u=(WlnV)\ensuremath−1u={(WlnV)}^{\ensuremath{-}1}u=(WlnV)\ensuremath−1 where WWW is the disorder strength and VVV is the number of lattice sites.
We investigate the fidelity susceptibility, which quantifies the sensitivity of single-particle eigenstates to perturbations, in the three-dimensional Anderson model. As a function of disorder strength WWW, it exhibits two distinct peaks. The first peak signals a crossover at weak disorder strength from plane-wave states to single-particle quantum chaos, and its position shifts toward W→0W\to 0W→0 in the thermodynamic limit. The second peak emerges, to high numerical accuracy, at the critical disorder strength associated with the Anderson localization transition. We further show that the divergence of the first peak is maximal, scaling as the square of the inverse frequency cutoff, whereas the divergence of the second peak is submaximal. We relate the latter suppression to the fractal structure of single-particle eigenstates at criticality. We discuss two distinct scenarios that give rise to the peaks in the fidelity susceptibilities. Moreover, studying the scaling of typical fidelity susceptibilities above the Anderson transition, we find evidence of two distinct regimes of nonergodic behavior.
We show that the onset of quantum chaos at infinite temperature in two many-body one-dimensional lattice models, the perturbed spin-1/2 XXZ and Anderson models, is characterized by universal behavior. Specifically, we show that the onset of quantum chaos is marked by maxima of the typical fidelity susceptibilities that scale with the square of the inverse average level spacing, saturating their upper bound, and that the strength of the integrability- or localization-breaking perturbation at these maxima decreases with increasing system size. We also show that the spectral function below the ``Thouless'' energy (in the quantum-chaotic regime) diverges when approaching those maxima. Our results suggest that, in the thermodynamic limit, arbitrarily small integrability- or localization-breaking perturbations result in quantum chaos in the many-body quantum systems studied here.
This work demonstrates that sparse long-range random bonds on a one-dimensional lattice alone can generate quantum-chaotic spectral correlations and also drive a localization transition in a noninteracting single-particle Hamiltonian. The model is a one-dimensional ring in which each pair of sites is connected independently with a probability pij=dij−(1+σ)p_{ij}= d_{ij}^{-(1+σ)}pij​=dij−(1+σ)​. Each bond carries identical unit hopping and on-site disorder is absent. Despite the absence of on-site disorder and interaction, the model displays quantum chaotic spectra with Gaussian orthogonal ensemble (GOE) level statistics at small σσσ and localized eigenstates with Poisson statistics at larger σσσ. The transition occurs in the range $ 0.80 \lesssim σ_c \lesssim 0.85,farabovethesummabilitythresholdofthemeanhoppingprofile(, far above the summability threshold of the mean hopping profile (,farabovethesummabilitythresholdofthemeanhoppingprofile(σ=0$). A Gaussian field theory retaining only the mean and variance of the Bernoulli bonds instead predicts a threshold at σ=1σ=1σ=1, suggesting that higher cumulants are infrared-relevant. Our findings hint towards a universality class that is distinct from both the power-law random banded matrix model and the standard Anderson transition.
This work shows that dynamical features typical of full random matrices can be observed also in the simple finite one-dimensional (1D) noninteracting Anderson model with nearest-neighbor couplings. In the thermodynamic limit, all eigenstates of this model are exponentially localized in configuration space for any infinitesimal on-site disorder strength W. But this is not the case when the model is finite and the localization length is larger than the system size L, which is a picture that can be experimentally investigated. We analyze the degree of energy-level repulsion, the structure of the eigenstates, and the time evolution of the finite 1D Anderson model as a function of the parameter ξ∝(W^{2}L)^{-1}. As ξ increases, all energy-level statistics typical of random matrix theory are observed. The statistics are reflected in the corresponding eigenstates and also in the dynamics. We show that the probability in time to find a particle initially placed on the first site of an open chain decays as fast as in full random matrices and much faster than when the particle is initially placed far from the edges. We also see that at long times, the presence of energy-level repulsion manifests in the form of the correlation hole. In addition, our results demonstrate that the hole is not exclusive to random matrix statistics, but emerges also for W=0, when it is in fact deeper.
Localization marks the breakdown of thermalization in subregions of quantum many-body systems in the presence of sufficiently large disorder. In this paper, we use numerical techniques to study thermalization and localization in a many-body system of coupled quantum harmonic oscillators obtained by discretizing a scalar quantum field theory in Minkowski spacetime. We consider a Gaussian initial state, constructed through a global mass quench, with a quadratic Hamiltonian, and solve for the system's exact dynamics without and with disorder in one and two spatial dimensions. We find that finite-size systems localize for sufficiently large disorder in both cases, such that the entanglement entropy of subregions retains its initial area-law behavior, and the system no longer develops long-range correlations. To probe the thermalization-to-localization transition further, we define a frequency gap ratio that measures adjacent gaps in the phase space eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian and study how it varies with disorder strength and system size. We find signatures of a chaotic regime at intermediate disorder in two spatial dimensions and argue that it is a finite-size effect, such that the system would localize for arbitrarily small disorder in the continuum in both one and two spatial dimensions, consistent with Anderson localization. Lastly, we use the frequency gap ratio to argue that in three spatial dimensions, on the other hand, the system would only localize for disorder strengths above a critical value in the continuum, again consistent with Anderson localization.
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.