eprintid: 10065981
rev_number: 18
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/06/59/81
datestamp: 2019-01-17 12:51:33
lastmod: 2021-10-07 21:51:32
status_changed: 2019-01-17 12:51:33
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Lan, Z
creators_name: Van Horssen, M
creators_name: Powell, S
creators_name: Garrahan, JP
title: Quantum Slow Relaxation and Metastability due to Dynamical Constraints
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B04
divisions: C05
divisions: F46
note: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
abstract: One of the general mechanisms that give rise to the slow cooperative relaxation characteristic of classical glasses is the presence of kinetic constraints in the dynamics. Here we show that dynamical constraints can similarly lead to slow thermalization and metastability in translationally invariant quantum many-body systems. We illustrate this general idea by considering two simple models: (i) a one-dimensional quantum analogue to classical constrained lattice gases where excitation hopping is constrained by the state of neighboring sites, mimicking excluded-volume interactions of dense fluids; and (ii) fully packed quantum dimers on the square lattice. Both models have a Rokhsar-Kivelson (RK) point at which kinetic and potential energy constants are equal. To one side of the RK point, where kinetic energy dominates, thermalization is fast. To the other, where potential energy dominates, thermalization is slow, memory of initial conditions persists for long times, and separation of timescales leads to pronounced metastability before eventual thermalization. Furthermore, in analogy with what occurs in the relaxation of classical glasses, the slow-thermalization regime displays dynamical heterogeneity as manifested by spatially segregated growth of entanglement.
date: 2018-07-27
date_type: published
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.040603
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
article_type_text: Journal Article
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1620057
doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.040603
lyricists_name: Lan, Zhihao
lyricists_id: ZLANX62
actors_name: Flynn, Bernadette
actors_id: BFFLY94
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Physical Review Letters
volume: 121
number: 4
article_number: 040603
issn: 1079-7114
citation:        Lan, Z;    Van Horssen, M;    Powell, S;    Garrahan, JP;      (2018)    Quantum Slow Relaxation and Metastability due to Dynamical Constraints.                   Physical Review Letters , 121  (4)    , Article 040603.  10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.040603 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.040603>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10065981/1/PhysRevLett.121.040603.pdf