Nonthermal Dynamics and Scar-Like Spectral Structures in a High-Spin Fermi Gas

TL;DR

This study explores the nonthermal, oscillatory dynamics of a high-spin Fermi gas, revealing a quasi-regular spectral structure that causes long-lived coherent oscillations without typical thermalization.

Contribution

It uncovers a novel spectral mechanism behind persistent oscillations in a high-spin Fermi gas, distinct from traditional scar states or eigenstate dominance.

Findings

Bounded, oscillatory Shannon entropy indicating restricted Hilbert space exploration

Nearly periodic fidelity revivals insensitive to particle number and interaction strength

Identification of a sparse, stable spectral manifold forming a quasi-regular energy ladder

Abstract

We investigate nonequilibrium dynamics and weak ergodicity breaking in a harmonically trapped spin-$3/2$ Fermi gas by using the time-dependent Hartree-Fock equation. The Shannon entropy remains bounded and oscillatory throughout the evolution, indicating restricted and nonuniform exploration of Hilbert space rather than immediate thermalization. The fidelity exhibits pronounced, nearly periodic revivals whose period is largely insensitive to particle number and interaction strength, while the revival amplitude gradually decreases with increasing system size and interaction strength. The Fourier spectrum of the fidelity reveals a set of sharp and approximately equally spaced peaks. By projecting the time-evolved state onto the instantaneous eigenbasis of the self-consistent mean-field Hamiltonian, we identify a sparse and spectrally stable manifold that forms a quasi-regular energy ladder, with spacing comparable to the dominant quasienergy interval extracted from the fidelity spectrum. These results indicate that the long-lived coherent oscillations originate from collective phase interference associated with a quasi-regular spectral structure embedded in the many-body continuum, rather than from a conventional eigenstate-dominated scar mechanism.