Anomalous energy correlations and spectral form factor in the nonergodic phase of the $\beta$-ensemble

Abstract

The $\beta$-ensemble is a prototypical model of a single particle system on a one-dimensional disordered lattice with inhomogeneous nearest neighbor hopping. Corresponding nonergodic phase has an anomalous critical energy scale, $E_c$: correlations are present above and absent below $E_c$ as reflected in the number variance. We study the dynamical properties of the $\beta$-ensemble where the critical energy controls the characteristic timescales. In particular, the spectral form factor equilibrates at a relaxation time, $t_\mathrm{R} \equiv E_c^{-1}$, which is parametrically smaller than the Heisenberg time, $t_\mathrm{H}$, given by the inverse of the mean level spacing. Incidentally, the dimensionless relaxation time, $\tau_\mathrm{R} \equiv t_\mathrm{R}/t_\mathrm{H} \ll 1$ is equal to the Dyson index, $\beta$. We show that the energy correlations are absent within a temporal window $t_\mathrm{R} < t < t_\mathrm{H}$, which we term as the correlation void. This is in contrast to the mechanism of equilibration in a typical many-body system. We analytically explain the qualitative behavior of the number variance and the spectral form factor of the $\beta$-ensemble by a spatially local mapping to the Anderson model.