Observation of Slow Dynamics near the Many-Body Localization Transition in One-Dimensional Quasiperiodic Systems

TL;DR

This study investigates slow dynamics near the many-body localization transition in one-dimensional quasiperiodic systems, revealing behavior similar to random disorder systems and providing insights into the transition point and microscopic origins.

Contribution

It presents the first combined experimental and numerical analysis of slow dynamics near the MBL transition in quasiperiodic systems, extending understanding beyond true-random disorder cases.

Findings

Slow relaxation of density imbalance near the transition

Dynamics continuously slow down approaching the transition

Estimate of the transition point based on dynamics

Abstract

In the presence of sufficiently strong disorder or quasiperiodic fields, an interacting many-body system can fail to thermalize and become many-body localized. The associated transition is of particular interest, since it occurs not only in the ground state but over an extended range of energy densities. So far, theoretical studies of the transition have focused mainly on the case of true-random disorder. In this work, we experimentally and numerically investigate the regime close to the many-body localization transition in quasiperiodic systems. We find slow relaxation of the density imbalance close to the transition, strikingly similar to the behavior near the transition in true-random systems. This dynamics is found to continuously slow down upon approaching the transition and allows for an estimate of the transition point. We discuss possible microscopic origins of these slow dynamics.