Floquet Engineering Topological Many-Body Localized Systems

authored by
K. S.C. Decker, C. Karrasch, J. Eisert, D. M. Kennes
Abstract

We show how second-order Floquet engineering can be employed to realize systems in which many-body localization coexists with topological properties in a driven system. This allows one to implement and dynamically control a symmetry protected topologically ordered qubit even at high energies, overcoming the roadblock that the respective states cannot be prepared as ground states of nearest-neighbor Hamiltonians. Floquet engineering-the idea that a periodically driven nonequilibrium system can effectively emulate the physics of a different Hamiltonian-is exploited to approximate an effective three-body interaction among spins in one dimension, using time-dependent two-body interactions only. In the effective system, emulated topology and disorder coexist, which provides an intriguing insight into the interplay of many-body localization that defies our standard understanding of thermodynamics and into the topological phases of matter, which are of fundamental and technological importance. We demonstrate explicitly how combining Floquet engineering, topology, and many-body localization allows one to harvest the advantages (time-dependent control, topological protection, and reduction of heating, respectively) of each of these subfields while protecting them from their disadvantages (heating, static control parameters, and strong disorder).

External Organisation(s)
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin)
RWTH Aachen University
Administrative Headquarters of the Max Planck Society
Type
Article
Journal
Physical review letters
Volume
124
ISSN
0031-9007
Publication date
15.05.2020
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Physics and Astronomy(all)
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.190601 (Access: Unknown)