Stable infinite-temperature eigenstates in SU(2)-symmetric nonintegrable models

TL;DR

This paper uncovers a class of nonintegrable quantum models with many zero-energy eigenstates that are stable and analytically describable, shedding light on nonthermal states in non-Abelian chaotic systems.

Contribution

It introduces a family of nonintegrable models with exponentially growing zero-energy degeneracy and provides an analytical basis for certain zero-energy states, advancing understanding of nonthermal states.

Findings

Zero-energy eigenstates grow exponentially with system size.

Few-magnon zero-energy states have exact analytical descriptions.

Stable low-entangled states persist under typical experimental perturbations.

Abstract

Nonintegrable many-body quantum systems typically thermalize at long times through the mechanism of quantum chaos. However, some exceptional systems, such as those harboring quantum scars, break thermalization, serving as testbeds for foundational problems of quantum statistical physics. Here, we investigate a class of nonintegrable bond-staggered models that is endowed with a large number of zero-energy eigenstates and possesses a non-Abelian internal symmetry. We use character theory to give a lower bound on the zero-energy degeneracy, which matches exact diagonalization results, and is found to grow exponentially with the system size. We also show that few-magnon zero-energy states have an exact analytical description, allowing us to build a basis of low-entangled fixed-separation states, which is stable to most perturbations found in experiments. This remarkable dynamical stability of special states elucidates our understanding of nonequilibrium processes in non-Abelian chaotic quantum models.