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arXiv:2507.16042 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Beyond fragmented dopant dynamics in quantum spin lattices: Robust localization and non-Gaussian diffusion

Mingru Yang, Sajant Anand, K. Knakkergaard Nielsen

Published Oct 7, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

The motion of dopants in magnetic spin lattices has received tremendous attention for at least four decades due to its connection to high-temperature superconductivity. Despite these efforts, we lack a complete understanding of their behavior, especially out of the equilibrium and at nonzero temperatures. In this paper, we take a significant step towards a much deeper understanding based on state-of-the-art matrix-product-state calculations. In particular, we investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of a dopant in two-leg t − J ladders with antiferromagnetic XXZ spin interactions. In the Ising limit, we find that the dopant is for all investigated temperatures due to an emergent disordered potential, with a localization length controlled by the underlying correlation length of the spin lattice, which increases exponentially with decreasing temperature. The dopant, hereby, only delocalizes asymptotically in the zero temperature limit. This greatly generalizes the localization effect discovered recently in Hilbert space fragmented models [, ]. In the presence of spin-exchange processes at rate α , the dopant diffuses with a diffusion coefficient, D h , depending nonmonotonically on α . It initially increases linearly as D h ∝ α for α ≪ 1 before dropping off as α − 1 for α > 1 . Moreover, we show that the underlying spin dynamics at infinite temperature behaves qualitatively the same, albeit with important quantitative differences. We substantiate these findings by showing that the dynamics features self-similar scaling behavior, which strongly deviates from the Gaussian behavior of regular diffusion, especially for weak spin exchange. Finally, we show that the diffusion coefficient D h follows an Arrhenius relation at high temperatures, whereby it is exponentially suppressed upon cooling.

DOI
10.1103/clhr-4h26

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The motion of dopants in magnetic spin lattices has received tremendous attention for at least four decades due to its connection to high-temperature superconductivity. Despite these efforts, we lack a complete understanding of their behavior, especially out of the equilibrium and at nonzero temperatures. In this paper, we take a significant step towards a much deeper understanding based on state-of-the-art matrix-product-state calculations. In particular, we investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of a dopant in two-leg t − J ladders with antiferromagnetic XXZ spin interactions. In the Ising limit, we find that the dopant is for all investigated temperatures due to an emergent disordered potential, with a localization length controlled by the underlying correlation length of the spin lattice, which increases exponentially with decreasing temperature. The dopant, hereby, only delocalizes asymptotically in the zero temperature limit. This greatly generalizes the localization effect discovered recently in Hilbert space fragmented models [, ]. In the presence of spin-exchange processes at rate α , the dopant diffuses with a diffusion coefficient, D h , depending nonmonotonically on α . It initially increases linearly as D h ∝ α for α ≪ 1 before dropping off as α − 1 for α > 1 . Moreover, we show that the underlying spin dynamics at infinite temperature behaves qualitatively the same, albeit with important quantitative differences. We substantiate these findings by showing that the dynamics features self-similar scaling behavior, which strongly deviates from the Gaussian behavior of regular diffusion, especially for weak spin exchange. Finally, we show that the diffusion coefficient D h follows an Arrhenius relation at high temperatures, whereby it is exponentially suppressed upon cooling.
I unveil an emergent localization phenomenon pertaining to the motion of a dopant in a thermal spin lattice. This is rendered localized by thermal spin fluctuations, whereby it is in stark constrast to the intrinsic origin of Anderson localization for quenched disorder. The system of interest consists of spin- 1 / 2 particles organized in a two-leg ladder with nearest-neighbor Ising interactions J . The motion of a hole—the dopant—is initialized by suddenly removing a spin from the thermal spin ensemble, which then moves along the ladder via nearest-neighbor hopping t . I find that the hole remains for all values of J / t and for nonzero temperatures. The origin is an effective disorder potential seen by the hole and induced by thermal spin fluctuations. Its length scale is found to match with the underlying spin-spin correlation length at low temperatures. For ferromagnetic couplings ( J < 0 ), the associated localization length of the hole increases with decreasing temperature and becomes proportional to the correlation length at low temperatures, asymptotically delocalizing at low temperatures. For antiferromagnetic couplings ( J > 0 ), there is a smooth crossover between thermal localization at high temperatures to localization driven by the antiferromagnetic order at low temperatures. At infinite temperatures, the dynamics becomes independent of the sign of the spin coupling, whereby the localization length is a universal function of | J | / t , diverging as ( t / J ) 2 for | J | ≪ t . Finally, I analyze a setup with Rydberg-dressed atoms, which naturally realizes finite-range Ising interactions, accessible in current experimental setups. I show that the discovered localization phenomenon can be probed on experimentally accessible length- and timescales, providing a strong testing ground for my predictions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
I demonstrate a pairing mechanism of dopants in a magnetic lattice, emerging from the underlying of the spins. The effect is demonstrated in a mixed-dimensional model, where dopants travel along a two-leg ladder, while the spins feature Ising interactions along the rungs and the legs of the ladder. The dynamics following the sudden immersion of two nearest neighbor dopants in an infinite temperature spin lattice shows that thermal spin disorder frustrates the relative motion of the dopants and enforces them to copropagate. The predictions are shown to be realistically testable in quantum simulation experiments.
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The dynamics of magnetization and energy densities are studied in the two-leg spin-1/21/21/2 ladder. Using an efficient pure-state approach based on the concept of typicality, we calculate spatiotemporal correlation functions for large systems with up to 40 lattice sites. In addition, two subsequent Fourier transforms from real to momentum space as well as from the time to frequency domain yield the respective dynamical structure factors. Summarizing our main results, we unveil the existence of genuine diffusion for both spin and energy. In particular, this finding is based on four distinct signatures which can all be equally well detected: (i) Gaussian density profiles, (ii) time-independent diffusion coefficients, (iii) exponentially decaying density modes, and (iv) Lorentzian line shapes of the dynamical structure factor. The combination of (i)--(iv) provides a comprehensive picture of high-temperature dynamics in this archetypal nonintegrable quantum model.
We study spin transport in the one-dimensional anisotropic S=1S=1S=1 Heisenberg model. Particular emphasis is given to dynamics at infinite temperature, where current autocorrelations and spatiotemporal correlation functions are obtained by means of an efficient pure-state approach based on the concept of typicality. Our comprehensive numerical analysis unveils that high-temperature spin transport is diffusive in the easy-axis regime for strong exchange anisotropies. This finding is based on the combination of numerous signatures, such as (i) Gaussian spreading of correlations, (ii) a time-independent diffusion coefficient, (iii) power-law decay of equal-site correlations, (iv) exponentially decaying long-wavelength modes, and (v) Lorentzian line shapes of the dynamical structure factor. Moreover, we provide evidence that some of these signatures are not exclusively restricted to the infinite-temperature limit but can persist at lower temperatures as well, where we complement our results by additional quantum Monte Carlo simulations of large systems. In contrast to the easy-axis regime, we show that in the case of an isotropic chain, the signatures (i)--(v) are much less pronounced or even entirely absent, suggesting the existence of anomalous spin transport despite the nonintegrability of the model. Eventually, upon introducing a random on-site magnetic field, we observe a breakdown of diffusion and distinctly slower dynamics. In particular, our results exhibit qualitative similarities to disordered spin-1/21/21/2 chains and might be consistent with the onset of many-body localization in the S=1S=1S=1 model for sufficiently strong disorder.
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