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Journal of Applied Physics

Nonintegrability and quantum spin chains

Gerhard H. Muller, J. C. Bonner, John B. Parkinson

Published Apr 15, 1987• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This study concerns the concept of nonintegrability in quantum many-body systems, which is related to the important and unresolved problem of quantum chaos. Our findings strongly indicate that nonintegrability affects the reliability of many approximation techniques which have proved to be successful in the study of integrable models. This report is based on finite-size studies of the low-lying spectral excitations of both integrable and nonintegrable 1D quantum spin models. In integrable cases, the characteristic excitation pattern of the infinite system is apparent even in relatively short chains. This is generally not the case in nonintegrable systems where we observe several classes of excitations with qualitatively different character. In some situations, the nature of the lowest-lying excitations actually changes with increasing system size, which makes finite-size studies very vulnerable to misleading conclusions if care is not taken.

DOI
10.1063/1.338594

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This study concerns the concept of nonintegrability in quantum many-body systems, which is related to the important and unresolved problem of quantum chaos. Our findings strongly indicate that nonintegrability affects the reliability of many approximation techniques which have proved to be successful in the study of integrable models. This report is based on finite-size studies of the low-lying spectral excitations of both integrable and nonintegrable 1D quantum spin models. In integrable cases, the characteristic excitation pattern of the infinite system is apparent even in relatively short chains. This is generally not the case in nonintegrable systems where we observe several classes of excitations with qualitatively different character. In some situations, the nature of the lowest-lying excitations actually changes with increasing system size, which makes finite-size studies very vulnerable to misleading conclusions if care is not taken.
A novel concept for quantum chaos in spin systems is proposed which differs distinctively from concepts currently in use. It is argued (a) that the definition of quantum chaos cannot be based on the correspondence principle and (b) that quantum chaos is not equivalent to statistical behavior. Quantum chaos in spin systems implies the existence of a new type of spectrum consisting of excitations which do not form regular patterns with a multiparameter continuum structure in the thermodynamic limit, thus removing the constraint imposed by van Hove singularities that time-dependent correlation functions for pure quantum states cannot decay more rapidly than as powers of t. The irregular spectrum is caused by strong level repulsion resulting from the lack of a sufficient number of conservation laws in nonintegrable quantum many-body systems. The similarities and differences between quantum and classical chaos and, more generally, between quantum (non)integrability and classical (non)integrability are discussed in detail.
The integrability of a quantum many-body system, which is characterized by the presence or absence of local conserved quantities, drastically impacts the dynamics of isolated systems, including thermalization. Nevertheless, a rigorous and comprehensive method for determining integrability or nonintegrability has remained elusive. In this paper, we address this challenge by introducing rigorously provable tests for integrability and nonintegrability of quantum spin systems with finite-range interactions. Our results significantly simplify existing proofs of nonintegrability, such as those for the S=1/2S=1/2S=1/2 Heisenberg chain with nearest-and next-nearest-neighbor interactions, the S=1S=1S=1 bilinear-biquadratic chain and the S=1/2S=1/2S=1/2 XYZ model in two or higher dimensions. Moreover, our results also yield the first proof of nonintegrability for models such as the S=1/2S=1/2S=1/2 Heisenberg chain with a non-uniform magnetic field, the S=1/2S=1/2S=1/2 XYZ model on the triangular lattice, and the general spin XYZ model. This work also offers a partial resolution to the long-standing conjecture that integrability is governed by the existence of local conserved quantities with small support. Our framework ensures that the nonintegrability of one-dimensional spin systems with translational symmetry can be verified algorithmically, independently of system size.
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The non-integrability of quantum systems, often associated with chaotic behavior, is a concept typically applied to cases with a high-dimensional Hilbert space. Among different indicators signaling this behavior, the study of the long-time oscillations of the Out-of-Time Ordered Correlator (OTOC) appears as a versatile tool, that can be adapted to the case of systems with a small number of degrees of freedom. Using such an approach, we consider the oscillations observed after the scrambling time in the measurement of OTOCs of local operators for an Ising spin chain on a nuclear magnetic resonance quantum simulator ( Li J. et al., Phys. Rev. X , 7 (2017) 031011). We show that the systematic of the OTOC oscillations describes qualitatively well, in a chain with only 4 spins, the integrability-to-chaos transition inherited from the infinite chain.
The non-integrability of quantum systems, often associated with chaotic behavior, is a concept typically applied to cases with a high-dimensional Hilbert space. Among different indicators signaling this behavior, the study of the long-time oscillations of the Out-of-Time Ordered Correlator (OTOC) appears as a versatile tool, that can be adapted to the case of systems with a small number of degrees of freedom. Using such an approach, we consider the oscillations observed after the scrambling time in the measurement of OTOCs of local operators for an Ising spin chain on a nuclear magnetic resonance quantum simulator (Li J. et al., Phys. Rev. X, 7 (2017) 031011). We show that the systematic of the OTOC oscillations describes qualitatively well, in a chain with only 4 spins, the integrability-to-chaos transition inherited from the infinite chain.
Spin-1 chain models have been extensively studied in condensed matter physics, significantly advancing our understanding of quantum magnetism and low-dimensional systems, which exhibit unique properties compared to their spin-1/21/21/2 counterparts. Despite substantial progress in this area, a rigorous proof of nonintegrability for the bilinear-biquadratic chain model has been lacking. While integrable solutions are known for specific parameter values, a comprehensive understanding of the model's general integrability has remained elusive. In this paper, we present a rigorous proof of nonintegrability for general spin-1 bilinear-biquadratic chain models, by extending the proofs of nonintegrability on spin-1/21/21/2 models. Our proof not only confirms the nonintegrability of widely studied models but also provides offer deeper insights into several areas. These include the identification of the absence of local conserved quantities in quantum many-body scar systems with perfect fidelity revivals, such as the AKLT model. This paper marks a significant step toward understanding the complex dynamics of spin-1 systems.