Quantum wake dynamics in Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation and theoretical description of a long-lived, oscillating magnetic state, termed 'quantum wake', emerging from local quenches in Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains, revealing new local quantum effects.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of a 'quantum wake' in antiferromagnetic chains, combining experimental neutron scattering with integrability methods to explore local quantum dynamics.

Findings

Observation of a long-lived, quasiperiodic oscillating magnetic state.

Identification of the 'quantum wake' as a local, coherent quantum phenomenon.

Comparison of the quantum wake to Floquet states and nonlinear Luttinger liquids.

Abstract

Traditional spectroscopy, by its very nature, characterizes properties of physical systems in the momentum and frequency domains. The most interesting and potentially practically useful quantum many-body effects however emerge from the deep composition of local, short-time correlations. Here, using inelastic neutron scattering and methods of integrability, we experimentally observe and theoretically describe a local, coherent, long-lived, quasiperiodically oscillating magnetic state emerging out of the distillation of propagating excitations following a local quantum quench in a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain. This "quantum wake" displays similarities to Floquet states, discrete time crystals and nonlinear Luttinger liquids.