English

Controlling quantum scars and engineering subharmonic responses with a two frequency drive

Quantum Gases 2025-08-19 v1 Statistical Mechanics Quantum Physics

Abstract

We demonstrate that a continuous two frequency drive is a versatile and robust protocol to control the lifetime of quantum many body scars and to engineer non-equilibrium phases of driven quantum matter. By modulating the frequency ratio cc (any rational number), we systematically explore prethermal features across a broad frequency range. For small integer values of cc, we observe ergodicity breaking even at moderately low frequencies, signaling long-lived scarred dynamics. By continuously increasing cc, one can generate non-monotonic transitions between ergodic and non-ergodic dynamics. These observations are consistent with the predictions of an effective Floquet Hamiltonian based approach. Furthermore, we exploit this tunability to engineer fractional subharmonic responses, highlighting the potential of two-frequency driving as a theoretical platform for controlling scars, prethermalization, and time crystal-like behavior.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2508.12809,
  title  = {Controlling quantum scars and engineering subharmonic responses with a two frequency drive},
  author = {Pinaki Dutta and Kamal L Panigrahi and Vishwanath Shukla},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.12809},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

13 pages, 13 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T04:54:35.469Z