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arXiv:2607.22288

Understanding interaction-driven transport in flux lattices with evolution-path symmetry

Jian-Song Pan, Xiaofan Zhou, Wei Yi

cond-mat.quant-gascond-mat.str-elquant-phSubmitted Jul 24, 2026• Announced Jul 27, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

The destruction of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) caging by interaction and the emergence of interaction-induced chiral currents in flux lattices are two paradigmatic examples of interaction-driven quantum transport. While various mechanisms, such as bound-state formation and chiral spectral imbalance, have been proposed, a unifying physical picture remains elusive. Here, we employ the concept of \textit{evolution-path symmetry} (EPS) and its interaction-induced breaking as a framework to understand interaction-induced delocalization in flux lattices. EPS is defined as the invariance of a path's contribution under combined geometric and phase transformations. We demonstrate that in a $π$-flux rhombic lattice, interactions break the EPS present in the non-interacting limit by modifying the phase accumulation of many-body paths, thereby lifting the destructive interference responsible for AB caging. Furthermore, we apply this framework to explain interaction-induced chiral transport in flux ladders, where interactions break the phase relationship between symmetric paths, leading to a non-vanishing chiral current. Our work establishes EPS as a powerful tool for understanding transport phenomena beyond conventional eigenstate analysis.

Comments
12 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physical Review A

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The destruction of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) caging by interaction and the emergence of interaction-induced chiral currents in flux lattices are two paradigmatic examples of interaction-driven quantum transport. While various mechanisms, such as bound-state formation and chiral spectral imbalance, have been proposed, a unifying physical picture remains elusive. Here, we employ the concept of \textit{evolution-path symmetry} (EPS) and its interaction-induced breaking as a framework to understand interaction-induced delocalization in flux lattices. EPS is defined as the invariance of a path's contribution under combined geometric and phase transformations. We demonstrate that in a πππ-flux rhombic lattice, interactions break the EPS present in the non-interacting limit by modifying the phase accumulation of many-body paths, thereby lifting the destructive interference responsible for AB caging. Furthermore, we apply this framework to explain interaction-induced chiral transport in flux ladders, where interactions break the phase relationship between symmetric paths, leading to a non-vanishing chiral current. Our work establishes EPS as a powerful tool for understanding transport phenomena beyond conventional eigenstate analysis.
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Aharonov-Bohm (AB) caging is the complete wavefunction localization effect in translational-invariant lattices induced by destructive phase interference. These phases originate from the gauge fields such as the penetrated magnetic fields, which are directly related to several novel topological quantum states of matter. Recently, this effect has shown significant potential for applications in quantum simulation and topological quantum computation. Here, we propose a scalable protocol to derive universal conditions for AB caging with multi-flux. The numerical simulations validate the theoretical predictions by directly observing AB caging phenomena. We also investigate the breakage of the caging effect with onsite detuning, decoherence and non-Hermitian transitions. Our protocol provides an alternative approach for advancing quantum simulation of exotic states of matter.
The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) caging is the phenomenon of extreme localization of particles subjected to magnetic fields in certain tight binding lattices. While the AB caging involves the localization of noninteracting particles, it often breaks down due to the effect of interaction, resulting in delocalization. In this study, however, we show that interactions under proper conditions can restore the AB caging of particles. By analyzing the dynamics of two bosons possessing both onsite and nearest neighbor interactions on a one-dimensional diamond/rhombus lattice pierced by an artificial gauge field, we show that the AB caging is restored when both interactions are of equal strength. Furthermore, the interaction induced AB caged bosons, with the onset of an antisymmetric correlated onsite disorder in the lattice, escape from the cages, demonstrating the phenomenon of inverse Anderson transition, which is known to be exhibited by the noninteracting AB caged particles. We also obtain a situation similar to the inverse Anderson transition when an external potential gradient is applied to the lattice. These findings offer a route to realize the AB caging and inverse Anderson transition of interacting particles in experiments involving ultracold atoms in optical lattices or superconducting circuits.
Neutral-atom quantum simulators provide a powerful platform for realizing strongly correlated phases, enabling access to dynamical signatures of quasiparticles and symmetry breaking processes. Motivated by recent observations of quantum phases in flux-frustrated ladders with non-vanishing ground state currents, we investigate interacting bosons on the dimerized BBH lattice in two dimensions-originally introduced in the context of higher-order topology. After mapping out the phase diagram, which includes vortex superfluid (V-SF), vortex Mott insulator (V-MI), and featureless Mott insulator (MI) phases, we focus on the integer filling case. There, the MI/V-SF transition simultaneously breaks the Z2T\mathbb Z_2^{T}Z2T​ and U(1) symmetries, where Z2T\mathbb Z_2^{T}Z2T​ corresponds to time-reversal symmetry (TRS). Using a slave-boson description, we resolve the excitation spectrum across the transition and uncover a chiral Higgs mode whose mass softens at criticality, providing a dynamical hallmark of emergent chirality that manifests via the oscillation of the loop currents in quench dynamics. Our results establish an experimentally realistic setting for probing unconventional TRS-broken phases and quasiparticles with intrinsic chirality in strongly interacting quantum matter.
Aharonov-Bohm (AB) caging is a complete localization phenomenon in two-dimensional lattices due to destructive interference induced by the background gauge fields. However, current investigations of AB caging are mostly restricted to the Abelian gauge field case, and the observation of AB caging under non-Abelian gauge fields in a quantum system still remains elusive. Here, we report experimental realization of tunable synthetic non-Abelian SU(2) gauge fields in a rhombic lattice, engineered within the synthetic dimensions of a vibrating trapped ion with multiple levels. We realize AB caging under both Abelian and non-Abelian gauge fields and systematically investigate the distinctive transport properties of the non-Abelian case. In particular, we observe typical emergent quantum dynamics unique to non-Abelian AB caging, including initial-state-dependent dynamics, second-order effects, and asymmetric caging behavior. These observations demonstrate the trapped ion system as a powerful platform for simulating emergent phenomena in high-dimensional quantum systems with exotic synthetic gauge fields.