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arXiv:2604.05218

Quantum Hilbert Space Fragmentation and Entangled Frozen States

Zihan Zhou, Tian-Hua Yang, Bo-Ting Chen

quant-phcond-mat.stat-mechcond-mat.str-elSubmitted Apr 6, 2026• Announced Apr 8, 2026• 0 citations
v1 · Apr 6, 2026v2 · Apr 27, 2026
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Abstract

We find that rank deficiency of the local Hamiltonian in a classically fragmented model is the key mechanism leading to quantum Hilbert space fragmentation. The rank deficiency produces local null directions that can generate entangled frozen states (EFS): entangled states embedded in mobile classical Krylov sectors that do not evolve under Hamiltonian dynamics. When the entangled frozen subspace is non-empty, the mobile classical sector splits into an mobile quantum Krylov subspace and an entangled frozen subspace, and the model exhibits quantum fragmentation. We establish this mechanism in four models of increasing symmetry structure: an asymmetric qubit projector with no symmetry, the $\mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetric GHZ projector, a $\mathbb{Z}_3$-symmetric cyclic qutrit projector, and the Temperley-Lieb model. For the asymmetric and GHZ projector models, we obtain closed-form expressions for irreducible Krylov dimensions, degeneracies, and sector multiplicities. Further, we introduce the notion of weak and strong quantum fragmentation, the quantum counterpart of the weak-strong distinction in classical fragmentation. After removing the EFS, the mobile quantum Krylov subspace decomposes into irreducible blocks. In the weak case, the number of irreducible blocks remains $\mathcal{O}(1)$, each is individually ergodic with Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE) level statistics, and the unresolved spectrum follows an $m$GOE distribution. In the strong case, the number of irreducible blocks grows with system size, and the gap-ratio distribution approaches Poisson as $L\to\infty$.

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28 pages, 4 figures

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We propose a two-dimensional (2D) quantum breakdown model of hardcore bosons interacting with disordered spins which would be classical without the bosons. It resembles particles incident into supersaturated vapor. The model exhibits a set of subsystem symmetries and has a strong fragmentation into Krylov subspaces in each symmetry sector. The Hamiltonian in each Krylov subspace maps to a single-particle problem in a Cayley-tree-like graph. At zero disorder, the Krylov subspaces exhibit either (possible) integrable features or quantum chaos with quantum scar states showing irregular energy and degeneracy patterns. At nonzero disorders, they enter a 2D many-body localization (MBL) phase beyond certain disorder strength W∗{W}_{*}W∗​, as indicated by Poisson level spacing statistics and entanglement entropy growing as logtlogtlogt with time ttt. Our theoretical arguments suggest W∗{W}_{*}W∗​ is finite or zero for boson number ${N}_{b}\ensuremath{\lesssim}{L}^{\ensuremath{\gamma}}/logL$ ($1/2\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\le}1$) as system size $L\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$. This gives a more stringent condition for MBL than that in the 1D quantum breakdown models. This model reveals the possibility of MBL in systems of quantum particles interacting with classical degrees of freedom.
We demonstrate that a complete class of flat-band lattices with underlying commutative local symmetries exhibit a locally fragmented Hilbert space. The equitable partition theorem ensures distinct parities for the compact localized states (CLSs) present in this class of flat-band lattices and the extended eigenstates of the system. In the presence of on-site bosonic interactions, such models exhibit a conserved quantity, the parity of the number of particles located in all the CLSs in a unit cell. As a consequence, the Hilbert space presents local fragmentation, which is only revealed upon rotating the basis of the Hamiltonian that decouples the CLSs at the single-particle level. We find that the fragmentation is strong and also robust to the addition of long-range interactions. As an example, we numerically analyze the fragmentation of the one-dimensional pyrochlore chain, which exhibits nonintegrable sectors, effective single-particle sectors, and frozen states. We also show that the entanglement entropies form a nested-dome structure typical of these fragmented systems and that thermalization is restricted to each subsector.