Many-body Localization Through the Lens of Ultracold Atoms

Date

Mar 9, 2017

Time

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Speaker

Pranjal Bordia

Language

en

Main Topic

Physik

Other Topics

Physik

Description

Many-body localized (MBL) quantum systems show a drastic disregard for the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH), giving rise to a fundamentally new dynamical quantum many-body phase. The existence of such a phase in *one-dimension* has been supported by multitude of theoretical studies. Much less so can be said about how the quantum many-body state changes from the ETH respecting phase to the MBL phase and even less is known about its dynamics in dimensions higher than one. To confront such cases, I will describe our efforts in creating and probing MBL with ultra-cold atoms in quasi-periodic optical lattices in one and two dimensions. Near the MBL regime we observe drastically slowed down dynamics. This can be attributed to be arising due to relaxation of (rare) configurational Griffiths-type regions. Further, by studying the relaxation dynamics of a far-from-equilibrium state, we find evidence for MBL in quasi-periodic potentials in both one and two dimensions. If time permits, I would also talk about a periodically driven *Floquet MBL phase*, demonstrating how MBL can even exist without (at least some) conventional conservation laws. Our results demonstrate how controlled quantum simulators can explore fundamental questions about quantum statistical mechanics in genuinely novel regimes, quite often not accessible to traditional numerical simulations.

Last modified: Mar 9, 2017, 9:01:33 AM