Numerical evidence for many-body localization in two and three dimensions

Abstract

Disorder and interactions can lead to the breakdown of statistical mechanics in certain quantum systems, a phenomenon known as many-body localization (MBL). Much of the phenomenology of MBL emerges from the existence of $\ell$-bits, a set of conserved quantities that are quasilocal and binary (i.e., possess only $\pm 1$ eigenvalues). While MBL and $\ell$-bits are known to exist in one-dimensional systems, their existence in dimensions greater than one is a key open question. To tackle this question, we develop an algorithm that can find approximate binary $\ell$-bits in arbitrary dimensions by adaptively generating a basis of operators in which to represent the $\ell$-bit. We use the algorithm to study four models: the one-, two-, and three-dimensional disordered Heisenberg models and the two-dimensional disordered hard-core Bose-Hubbard model. For all four of the models studied, our algorithm finds high-quality $\ell$-bits at large disorder strength and rapid qualitative changes in the distributions of $\ell$-bits in particular ranges of disorder strengths, suggesting the existence of MBL transitions. These transitions in the one-dimensional Heisenberg model and two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model coincide well with past estimates of the critical disorder strengths in these models which further validates the evidence of MBL phenomenology in the other two and three-dimensional models we examine. In addition to finding MBL behavior in higher dimensions, our algorithm can be used to probe MBL in various geometries and dimensionality.