SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · 2607.21708

Thermal avalanches in a quasiperiodic XXZ model

Abstract

We study bath-induced thermalization in the many-body localized XXZ spin chain subjected to a quasiperiodic magnetic field. We engineer a thermal inclusion by setting the field strength in one part of the chain below the localization threshold and analyze thermalization via the avalanche mechanism. To study the nature of such avalanches, we use two complementary observables, namely the two-point connected correlation function and the particle-number entropy. Surprisingly, the correlations alone show no signatures of avalanches. Instead, they display a logarithmic growth of the correlation length throughout the dynamics and predict localization lengths of the local integrals of motion that remain well below the avalanche threshold. In contrast, the particle number entropy shows clear signatures of the thermal avalanche, with the avalanche front progressively propagating deeper into the localized subsystem for sufficiently large baths. The discrepancy between the two observables shows that two-point correlations are unreliable in identifying thermal avalanches in quasiperiodic systems, as opposed to the random case. On one hand, qualitative results are consistent with the analytical predictions of the standard avalanche theory. On the other hand, significant quantitative deviations persist, which could be due to short-range resonances generated by the quasiperiodic potential. Our results suggest that the standard avalanche framework requires revision to account for the short-range correlations of quasiperiodic potentials.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Paolo Molignini, Antonio Štrkalj. 2026-07-23. Thermal avalanches in a quasiperiodic XXZ model. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.21708

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Irrationality Measure Controls Long-Wavelength Charge Fluctuations in Quasiperiodic Systems

Quasiperiodic order is characterized by irrational frequencies whose rational approximability known as irrationality measure defines distinct arithmetic classes. We establish that this arithmetic classification has direct physical consequences for long-wavelength charge fluctuations. In translation-covariant quasiperiodic systems, the infrared scaling of charge fluctuation is governed by the interplay between the irrationality exponent of irrational frequency and the large-harmonic decay of the hull charge profile: the latter determines the available charge weight, while the former controls how efficiently that weight is transferred to the infrared. Consequently, all algebraic irrational frequencies share the same arithmetic scaling, whereas exceptionally well-approximable transcendental frequencies can exhibit strongly enhanced infrared fluctuation scaling. We further prove that occupied states separated from the Fermi level by a gap stable throughout the hull contribute only an analytic infrared background, leaving the nontrivial scaling to near-Fermi states. Our results extend to general translation-covariant multi-frequency quasiperiodic systems.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Curvature-Induced Geometric Universality in Non-Hermitian Anderson Transitions

In Euclidean space, universality classes of Anderson transitions are primarily determined by symmetry and spatial dimensionality. Here, we present evidence for a geometry-controlled universality class of non-Hermitian Anderson transitions on hyperbolic-like lattices. In this setting, critical behavior is influenced by the large-scale hyperbolic geometry, characterized by negative curvature, exponential volume growth, and a non-Euclidean notion of spatial scaling. Finite-size scaling of participation ratios across several distinct \( \{p,q\} \) tilings reveals one-parameter scaling collapses with a common critical exponent \( \nu\simeq1 \) within numerical accuracy. A complementary phenomenological coarse-grained Landau-Ginzburg analysis shows how exponential correlation-volume growth suppresses critical fluctuations, offering a rationale for the observed mean-field-like scaling. Our results suggest that spatial curvature can act as an additional organizing principle for Anderson-transition universality beyond the conventional dimensionality- and symmetry-based classification.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Finite-rank multiplicative perturbations of rotationally invariant non-Hermitian random matrices

We study finite-rank multiplicative deformations of rotationally invariant non-Hermitian random matrices. More precisely, we consider models of the form $\mathbf{A}(\mathbf{I}+\mathbf{T})$, where $\mathbf{A}$ is a large rotationally invariant non-Hermitian random matrix, $\mathbf{T}$ is a finite-rank normal perturbation, and $\mathbf{I}$ denotes the identity matrix. We characterize the emergence of outlier eigenvalues, their fluctuations, and the associated eigenvector overlaps. Our results provide a multiplicative non-Hermitian counterpart to the classical Baik--Ben Arous--P\'ech\'e framework.

cond-mat.dis-nn