English

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

Quantum Gases 2026-07-24 v1 Strongly Correlated Electrons Quantum Physics

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\pi-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.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.22288,
  title  = {Understanding interaction-driven transport in flux lattices with evolution-path symmetry},
  author = {Jian-Song Pan and Xiaofan Zhou and Wei Yi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.22288},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

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