Disorder-Free Localization

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction

   • Adam Smith

   Pages 1-39

3. The Model

   • Adam Smith

   Pages 41-54

4. Localization

   • Adam Smith

   Pages 55-69

5. Entanglement Properties

   • Adam Smith

   Pages 71-82

6. Out-of-Time-Ordered Correlators

   • Adam Smith

   Pages 83-96

7. Interactions

   • Adam Smith

   Pages 97-103

8. Experimental Proposal

   • Adam Smith

   Pages 105-115

9. Conclusions and Outlook

   • Adam Smith

   Pages 117-120

10. Back Matter

    Pages 121-143

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This thesis is a contribution at the intersection of a number of active fields in theoretical and experimental condensed matter, particularly those concerned with disordered systems, integrable models, lattice gauge theories, and non-equilibrium quantum dynamics. It contributes an important new facet to our understanding of relaxation in isolated quantum systems by conclusively demonstrating localization without disorder for the first time, answering a long-standing question in this field. This is achieved by introducing a family of models – intimately related to paradigmatic condensed matter models – and studying their non-equilibrium dynamics through a combination of exact analytical mappings and an array of numerical techniques. This thesis also makes contributions relevant to the theory of quantum chaotic behaviour by calculating novel, and often intractable, entanglement measures and out-of-time-ordered correlators. A concrete and feasible proposal is also made for the experimental realization and dynamical study of the family of models, based on currently available technologies.

• Quantum Dynamics
• Non-Equilibrium
• Many-Body Localization
• Lattice Gauge Theories
• Disorder-Free Localization
• Constrained Dynamics
• Disordered Systems

• Fakultät für Physik, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany

  Adam Smith

Adam Smith completed his doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge UK (with Dr. Dmitry Kovrizhin). Following this he took up a Postdoc position at Imperial College London UK and is now a Postdoc at the Technical University Munich, Germany.

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