--- _id: '9224' abstract: - lang: eng text: We re-examine attempts to study the many-body localization transition using measures that are physically natural on the ergodic/quantum chaotic regime of the phase diagram. Using simple scaling arguments and an analysis of various models for which rigorous results are available, we find that these measures can be particularly adversely affected by the strong finite-size effects observed in nearly all numerical studies of many-body localization. This severely impacts their utility in probing the transition and the localized phase. In light of this analysis, we discuss a recent study (Šuntajs et al., 2020) of the behaviour of the Thouless energy and level repulsion in disordered spin chains, and its implications for the question of whether MBL is a true phase of matter. article_number: '168415' article_processing_charge: No article_type: original author: - first_name: D. A. full_name: Abanin, D. A. last_name: Abanin - first_name: J. H. full_name: Bardarson, J. H. last_name: Bardarson - first_name: G. full_name: De Tomasi, G. last_name: De Tomasi - first_name: S. full_name: Gopalakrishnan, S. last_name: Gopalakrishnan - first_name: V. full_name: Khemani, V. last_name: Khemani - first_name: S. A. full_name: Parameswaran, S. A. last_name: Parameswaran - first_name: F. full_name: Pollmann, F. last_name: Pollmann - first_name: A. C. full_name: Potter, A. C. last_name: Potter - first_name: Maksym full_name: Serbyn, Maksym id: 47809E7E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Serbyn orcid: 0000-0002-2399-5827 - first_name: R. full_name: Vasseur, R. last_name: Vasseur citation: ama: 'Abanin DA, Bardarson JH, De Tomasi G, et al. Distinguishing localization from chaos: Challenges in finite-size systems. Annals of Physics. 2021;427(4). doi:10.1016/j.aop.2021.168415' apa: 'Abanin, D. A., Bardarson, J. H., De Tomasi, G., Gopalakrishnan, S., Khemani, V., Parameswaran, S. A., … Vasseur, R. (2021). Distinguishing localization from chaos: Challenges in finite-size systems. Annals of Physics. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2021.168415' chicago: 'Abanin, D. A., J. H. Bardarson, G. De Tomasi, S. Gopalakrishnan, V. Khemani, S. A. Parameswaran, F. Pollmann, A. C. Potter, Maksym Serbyn, and R. Vasseur. “Distinguishing Localization from Chaos: Challenges in Finite-Size Systems.” Annals of Physics. Elsevier, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2021.168415.' ieee: 'D. A. Abanin et al., “Distinguishing localization from chaos: Challenges in finite-size systems,” Annals of Physics, vol. 427, no. 4. Elsevier, 2021.' ista: 'Abanin DA, Bardarson JH, De Tomasi G, Gopalakrishnan S, Khemani V, Parameswaran SA, Pollmann F, Potter AC, Serbyn M, Vasseur R. 2021. Distinguishing localization from chaos: Challenges in finite-size systems. Annals of Physics. 427(4), 168415.' mla: 'Abanin, D. A., et al. “Distinguishing Localization from Chaos: Challenges in Finite-Size Systems.” Annals of Physics, vol. 427, no. 4, 168415, Elsevier, 2021, doi:10.1016/j.aop.2021.168415.' short: D.A. Abanin, J.H. Bardarson, G. De Tomasi, S. Gopalakrishnan, V. Khemani, S.A. Parameswaran, F. Pollmann, A.C. Potter, M. Serbyn, R. Vasseur, Annals of Physics 427 (2021). date_created: 2021-03-07T23:01:25Z date_published: 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-08-07T13:58:30Z day: '01' department: - _id: MaSe doi: 10.1016/j.aop.2021.168415 external_id: arxiv: - '1911.04501' isi: - '000634879800007' intvolume: ' 427' isi: 1 issue: '4' language: - iso: eng main_file_link: - open_access: '1' url: https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.04501 month: '04' oa: 1 oa_version: Preprint publication: Annals of Physics publication_identifier: eissn: - 1096035X issn: - '00034916' publication_status: published publisher: Elsevier quality_controlled: '1' scopus_import: '1' status: public title: 'Distinguishing localization from chaos: Challenges in finite-size systems' type: journal_article user_id: 4359f0d1-fa6c-11eb-b949-802e58b17ae8 volume: 427 year: '2021' ...