Magnetic domains stabilized by symmetry-protected zero modes

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Kos, Pavel, Wild, Dominik S., Nielsen, Kristian Knakkergaard
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Kos, Pavel
Wild, Dominik S.
Nielsen, Kristian Knakkergaard
author_facet Kos, Pavel
Wild, Dominik S.
Nielsen, Kristian Knakkergaard
contents Understanding mechanisms for the breakdown of thermalization in closed quantum systems is a central problem in quantum many-body physics. We demonstrate strong non-ergodic behavior in the XX model on coupled chains, where domain-wall initial states retain an inhomogeneous magnetization profile for arbitrarily long times. We find that this effect arises due to exponentially many zero modes protected by chiral symmetry. Using an analysis based on the Lanczos algorithm, we identify a localization transition in the thermodynamic limit at a critical coupling between the chains. We further show that antiferromagnetic defects in the initial state and symmetry-breaking perturbations restore slow thermalization, whereas it remains robust for symmetry-conserving perturbations. These results establish that degenerate, symmetry-protected subspaces can give rise to thermodynamically stable non-ergodic dynamics in experimentally accessible quantum systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_15510
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Magnetic domains stabilized by symmetry-protected zero modes
Kos, Pavel
Wild, Dominik S.
Nielsen, Kristian Knakkergaard
Quantum Physics
Quantum Gases
Statistical Mechanics
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Understanding mechanisms for the breakdown of thermalization in closed quantum systems is a central problem in quantum many-body physics. We demonstrate strong non-ergodic behavior in the XX model on coupled chains, where domain-wall initial states retain an inhomogeneous magnetization profile for arbitrarily long times. We find that this effect arises due to exponentially many zero modes protected by chiral symmetry. Using an analysis based on the Lanczos algorithm, we identify a localization transition in the thermodynamic limit at a critical coupling between the chains. We further show that antiferromagnetic defects in the initial state and symmetry-breaking perturbations restore slow thermalization, whereas it remains robust for symmetry-conserving perturbations. These results establish that degenerate, symmetry-protected subspaces can give rise to thermodynamically stable non-ergodic dynamics in experimentally accessible quantum systems.
title Magnetic domains stabilized by symmetry-protected zero modes
topic Quantum Physics
Quantum Gases
Statistical Mechanics
Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.15510