Many body localization with long range interactions
Abstract
Many body localization (MBL) has emerged as a powerful paradigm for understanding non-equilibrium quantum dynamics. Folklore based on perturbative arguments holds that MBL only arises in systems with short range interactions. Here we advance non-perturbative arguments indicating that MBL can arise in systems with long range (Coulomb) interactions. In particular, we show using bosonization that MBL can arise in one dimensional systems with ~ r interactions, a problem that exhibits charge confinement. We also argue that (through the Anderson-Higgs mechanism) MBL can arise in two dimensional systems with log r interactions, and speculate that our arguments may even extend to three dimensional systems with 1/r interactions. Our arguments are `asymptotic' (i.e. valid up to rare region corrections), yet they open the door to investigation of MBL physics in a wide array of long range interacting systems where such physics was previously believed not to arise.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1705.06290,
title = {Many body localization with long range interactions},
author = {Rahul M. Nandkishore and S. L. Sondhi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.06290},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
Expanded discussion of higher dimensions, updated references