---
_id: '296'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: The thermodynamic description of many-particle systems rests on the assumption
of ergodicity, the ability of a system to explore all allowed configurations in
the phase space. Recent studies on many-body localization have revealed the existence
of systems that strongly violate ergodicity in the presence of quenched disorder.
Here, we demonstrate that ergodicity can be weakly broken by a different mechanism,
arising from the presence of special eigenstates in the many-body spectrum that
are reminiscent of quantum scars in chaotic non-interacting systems. In the single-particle
case, quantum scars correspond to wavefunctions that concentrate in the vicinity
of unstable periodic classical trajectories. We show that many-body scars appear
in the Fibonacci chain, a model with a constrained local Hilbert space that has
recently been experimentally realized in a Rydberg-atom quantum simulator. The
quantum scarred eigenstates are embedded throughout the otherwise thermalizing
many-body spectrum but lead to direct experimental signatures, as we show for
periodic recurrences that reproduce those observed in the experiment. Our results
suggest that scarred many-body bands give rise to a new universality class of
quantum dynamics, opening up opportunities for the creation of novel states with
long-lived coherence in systems that are now experimentally realizable.
acknowledgement: C.J.T., A.M. and Z.P. acknowledge support from EPSRC grants EP/P009409/1
and EP/M50807X/1, and Royal Society Research Grant RG160635. D.A. acknowledges support
from the Swiss National Science Foundation.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Christopher
full_name: Turner, Christopher
last_name: Turner
- first_name: Alexios
full_name: Michailidis, Alexios
id: 36EBAD38-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Michailidis
orcid: 0000-0002-8443-1064
- first_name: Dmitry
full_name: Abanin, Dmitry
last_name: Abanin
- first_name: Maksym
full_name: Serbyn, Maksym
id: 47809E7E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Serbyn
orcid: 0000-0002-2399-5827
- first_name: Zlatko
full_name: Papić, Zlatko
last_name: Papić
citation:
ama: Turner C, Michailidis A, Abanin D, Serbyn M, Papić Z. Weak ergodicity breaking
from quantum many-body scars. Nature Physics. 2018;14:745-749. doi:10.1038/s41567-018-0137-5
apa: Turner, C., Michailidis, A., Abanin, D., Serbyn, M., & Papić, Z. (2018).
Weak ergodicity breaking from quantum many-body scars. Nature Physics.
Nature Publishing Group. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0137-5
chicago: Turner, Christopher, Alexios Michailidis, Dmitry Abanin, Maksym Serbyn,
and Zlatko Papić. “Weak Ergodicity Breaking from Quantum Many-Body Scars.” Nature
Physics. Nature Publishing Group, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0137-5.
ieee: C. Turner, A. Michailidis, D. Abanin, M. Serbyn, and Z. Papić, “Weak ergodicity
breaking from quantum many-body scars,” Nature Physics, vol. 14. Nature
Publishing Group, pp. 745–749, 2018.
ista: Turner C, Michailidis A, Abanin D, Serbyn M, Papić Z. 2018. Weak ergodicity
breaking from quantum many-body scars. Nature Physics. 14, 745–749.
mla: Turner, Christopher, et al. “Weak Ergodicity Breaking from Quantum Many-Body
Scars.” Nature Physics, vol. 14, Nature Publishing Group, 2018, pp. 745–49,
doi:10.1038/s41567-018-0137-5.
short: C. Turner, A. Michailidis, D. Abanin, M. Serbyn, Z. Papić, Nature Physics
14 (2018) 745–749.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:45:40Z
date_published: 2018-05-14T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-19T10:37:55Z
day: '14'
department:
- _id: MaSe
doi: 10.1038/s41567-018-0137-5
external_id:
isi:
- '000438253600028'
intvolume: ' 14'
isi: 1
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/130860/
month: '05'
oa: 1
oa_version: Submitted Version
page: 745 - 749
publication: Nature Physics
publication_status: published
publisher: Nature Publishing Group
publist_id: '7585'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Weak ergodicity breaking from quantum many-body scars
type: journal_article
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
volume: 14
year: '2018'
...