Special states in spin chains

• Grant number: 24/20955-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Eric de Castro e Andrade
• Grantee: Pedro Loureiro Barboza
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física (IF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06629-4 - Electronic correlations in quantum materials: inhomogeneities and frustration, AP.JP2

Abstract

Understanding and controlling non-equilibrium many-body quantum systems is a topic of interest in modern physics, primarily motivated by the advent of quantum simulators, for example, based on Rydberg atoms. These systems allow us to study fundamental concepts such as quantum ergodicity, which explains how the unitary evolution of an isolated system can lead to an equilibrium state described by statistical mechanics. Finding situations that violate this ergodicity hypothesis has become of great interest to advance our understanding of how a generic isolated system can avoid equilibrium for long times. One example that has gained prominence is that of quantum scars, which are special states that periodically return to their initial conditions if prepared in these states or close to them. Different quantum spin chains have such special states in their spectrum, and our goal in this project is to study their connection with unstable classical periodic orbits equivalent to the paradigmatic Ising chain in a transverse field.