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Many-body Localization
Many-body localization (MBL) is a dynamical phenomenon occurring in isolated many-body quantum systems. It is characterized by the system failing to thermalization, reach thermal equilibrium, and retaining a memory of its initial condition in local observables for infinite times. Thermalization and localization Textbook Quantum statistical mechanics, quantum statistical mechanics assumes that systems go to thermal equilibrium (thermalization). The process of thermalization erases local memory of the initial conditions. In textbooks, thermalization is ensured by coupling the system to an external environment or "reservoir," with which the system can exchange energy. What happens if the system is isolated from the environment, and evolves according to its own Schrödinger equation? Does the system still thermalize? Quantum mechanical time evolution is unitary and formally preserves all information about the initial condition in the quantum state at all times. However, a quant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Many-body
The many-body problem is a general name for a vast category of physical problems pertaining to the properties of microscopic systems made of many interacting particles. ''Microscopic'' here implies that quantum mechanics has to be used to provide an accurate description of the system. ''Many'' can be anywhere from three to infinity (in the case of a practically infinite, Homogeneity (physics), homogeneous or periodic system, such as a crystal), although three- and four-body systems can be treated by specific means (respectively the Faddeev equations, Faddeev and Faddeev–Yakubovsky equations) and are thus sometimes separately classified as few-body systems. In general terms, while the underlying physical laws that govern the motion of each individual particle may (or may not) be simple, the study of the collection of particles can be extremely complex. In such a quantum system, the repeated interactions between particles create quantum correlations, or entanglement. As a consequ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Localization-protected Quantum Order
Many-body localization (MBL) is a dynamical phenomenon which leads to the breakdown of equilibrium statistical mechanics in isolated many-body systems. Such systems never reach local thermal equilibrium, and retain local memory of their initial conditions for infinite times. One can still define a notion of phase structure in these out-of-equilibrium systems. Strikingly, MBL can even enable new kinds of exotic orders that are disallowed in thermal equilibrium – a phenomenon that goes by the name of localization-protected quantum order (LPQO) or eigenstate order Background The study of phases of matter and the transitions between them has been a central enterprise in physics for well over a century. One of the earliest paradigms for elucidating phase structure, associated most with Landau, classifies phases according to the spontaneous breaking of global symmetries present in a physical system. More recently, we have also made great strides in understanding topological phases of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time Crystal
In condensed matter physics, a time crystal is a quantum system of particles whose lowest-energy state is one in which the particles are in repetitive motion. The system cannot lose energy to the environment and come to rest because it is already in its quantum ground state. Because of this, the motion of the particles does not really represent kinetic energy like other motion; it has "motion without energy". Time crystals were first proposed theoretically by Frank Wilczek in 2012 as a time-based analogue to common crystals – whereas the atoms in crystals are arranged periodically in space, the atoms in a time crystal are arranged periodically in both space and time. Several different groups have demonstrated matter with stable periodic evolution in systems that are periodically driven. In terms of practical use, time crystals may one day be used as quantum computer memory. The existence of crystals in nature is a manifestation of spontaneous symmetry breaking, which occur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermalization
In physics, thermalisation is the process of physical bodies reaching thermal equilibrium through mutual interaction. In general the natural tendency of a system is towards a state of equipartition of energy and uniform temperature that maximizes the system's entropy. Thermalisation, thermal equilibrium, and temperature are therefore important fundamental concepts within statistical physics, statistical mechanics, and thermodynamics; all of which are a basis for many other specific fields of scientific understanding and engineering application. Examples of thermalisation include: * the achievement of equilibrium in a plasma. * the process undergone by high-energy neutrons as they lose energy by collision with a moderator. The hypothesis, foundational to most introductory textbooks treating quantum statistical mechanics, assumes that systems go to thermal equilibrium (thermalisation). The process of thermalisation erases local memory of the initial conditions. The eigenstate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Scar
Quantum scarring refers to a phenomenon where the eigenstates of a classically chaotic quantum system have enhanced probability density around the paths of unstable classical periodic orbits. The instability of the periodic orbit is a decisive point that differentiates quantum scars from the more trivial observation that the probability density is enhanced in the neighborhood of stable periodic orbits. The latter can be understood as a purely classical phenomenon, a manifestation of the Bohr correspondence principle, whereas in the former, quantum interference is essential. As such, scarring is both a visual example of quantum-classical correspondence, and simultaneously an example of a (local) quantum suppression of chaos. A classically chaotic system is also ergodic, and therefore (almost) all of its trajectories eventually explore evenly the entire accessible phase space. Thus, it would be natural to expect that the eigenstates of the quantum counterpart would fill the quantum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trapped Ion
An ion trap is a combination of electric and/or magnetic fields used to capture charged particles — known as ions — often in a system isolated from an external environment. Atomic and molecular ion traps have a number of applications in physics and chemistry such as precision mass spectrometry, improved atomic frequency standards, and quantum computing. In comparison to neutral atom traps, ion traps have deeper trapping potentials (up to several electronvolts) that do not depend on the internal electronic structure of a trapped ion. This makes ion traps more suitable for the study of light interactions with single atomic systems. The two most popular types of ion traps are the Penning trap, which forms a potential via a combination of static electric and magnetic fields, and the Paul trap which forms a potential via a combination of static and oscillating electric fields. Penning traps can be used for precise magnetic measurements in spectroscopy. Studies of quantum state man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ultracold Atom
Ultracold atoms are atoms that are maintained at temperatures close to 0 kelvin (absolute zero), typically below several tens of microkelvin (µK). At these temperatures the atom's quantum-mechanical properties become important. To reach such low temperatures, a combination of several techniques typically has to be used. First, atoms are usually trapped and pre-cooled via laser cooling in a magneto-optical trap. To reach the lowest possible temperature, further cooling is performed using evaporative cooling in a magnetic or optical trap. Several Nobel prizes in physics are related to the development of the techniques to manipulate quantum properties of individual atoms (e.g. 1995-1997, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2017). Experiments with ultracold atoms study a variety of phenomena, including quantum phase transitions, Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC), bosonic superfluidity, quantum magnetism, many-body spin dynamics, Efimov states, Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) superfluidity and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time Crystal
In condensed matter physics, a time crystal is a quantum system of particles whose lowest-energy state is one in which the particles are in repetitive motion. The system cannot lose energy to the environment and come to rest because it is already in its quantum ground state. Because of this, the motion of the particles does not really represent kinetic energy like other motion; it has "motion without energy". Time crystals were first proposed theoretically by Frank Wilczek in 2012 as a time-based analogue to common crystals – whereas the atoms in crystals are arranged periodically in space, the atoms in a time crystal are arranged periodically in both space and time. Several different groups have demonstrated matter with stable periodic evolution in systems that are periodically driven. In terms of practical use, time crystals may one day be used as quantum computer memory. The existence of crystals in nature is a manifestation of spontaneous symmetry breaking, which occur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zero-dimensional System
In mathematics, a zero-dimensional topological space (or nildimensional space) is a topological space that has dimension zero with respect to one of several inequivalent notions of assigning a dimension to a given topological space. A graphical illustration of a nildimensional space is a point. Definition Specifically: * A topological space is zero-dimensional with respect to the Lebesgue covering dimension if every open cover of the space has a refinement which is a cover by disjoint open sets. * A topological space is zero-dimensional with respect to the finite-to-finite covering dimension if every finite open cover of the space has a refinement that is a finite open cover such that any point in the space is contained in exactly one open set of this refinement. * A topological space is zero-dimensional with respect to the small inductive dimension if it has a base consisting of clopen sets. The three notions above agree for separable, metrisable spaces. Properties of spaces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermalization
In physics, thermalisation is the process of physical bodies reaching thermal equilibrium through mutual interaction. In general the natural tendency of a system is towards a state of equipartition of energy and uniform temperature that maximizes the system's entropy. Thermalisation, thermal equilibrium, and temperature are therefore important fundamental concepts within statistical physics, statistical mechanics, and thermodynamics; all of which are a basis for many other specific fields of scientific understanding and engineering application. Examples of thermalisation include: * the achievement of equilibrium in a plasma. * the process undergone by high-energy neutrons as they lose energy by collision with a moderator. The hypothesis, foundational to most introductory textbooks treating quantum statistical mechanics, assumes that systems go to thermal equilibrium (thermalisation). The process of thermalisation erases local memory of the initial conditions. The eigenstate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perturbation Theory
In mathematics and applied mathematics, perturbation theory comprises methods for finding an approximate solution to a problem, by starting from the exact solution of a related, simpler problem. A critical feature of the technique is a middle step that breaks the problem into "solvable" and "perturbative" parts. In perturbation theory, the solution is expressed as a power series in a small parameter The first term is the known solution to the solvable problem. Successive terms in the series at higher powers of \varepsilon usually become smaller. An approximate 'perturbation solution' is obtained by truncating the series, usually by keeping only the first two terms, the solution to the known problem and the 'first order' perturbation correction. Perturbation theory is used in a wide range of fields, and reaches its most sophisticated and advanced forms in quantum field theory. Perturbation theory (quantum mechanics) describes the use of this method in quantum mechanics. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anderson Localization
In condensed matter physics, Anderson localization (also known as strong localization) is the absence of diffusion of waves in a ''disordered'' medium. This phenomenon is named after the American physicist P. W. Anderson, who was the first to suggest that electron localization is possible in a lattice potential, provided that the degree of randomness (disorder) in the lattice is sufficiently large, as can be realized for example in a semiconductor with impurities or defects. Anderson localization is a general wave phenomenon that applies to the transport of electromagnetic waves, acoustic waves, quantum waves, spin waves, etc. This phenomenon is to be distinguished from weak localization, which is the precursor effect of Anderson localization (see below), and from Mott localization, named after Sir Nevill Mott, where the transition from metallic to insulating behaviour is ''not'' due to disorder, but to a strong mutual Coulomb repulsion of electrons. Introduction In the or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
