Quantum interference and disorder-free localized quantum dynamics in an interacting two-dimensional lattice gauge theory

1. Localization and nonergodic behavior in disordered two-dimensional (2D) interacting quantum matter has been argued to be unstable. However, disorder-free 2D interacting lattice gauge theories (LGTs) have recently been shown to display nonergodic behavior protected by local constraints imposed by gauge invariance. We study the localization properties and quantum dynamics of the 2D U(1) quantum link model, building on previous work which mapped the quantum problem to a classical percolation problem [1], the percolation threshold of which provided a bound for the quantum ergodicity transition. We find evidence that this classical bound in certain regimes of the quantum problem becomes tight implying that the classical percolation threshold is identical to the quantum ergodicity transition point. Further, we identify a significant influence of quantum interference effects in the orthogonal parameter regimes, which might stabilize nonergodic behavior even close to the classical percolation transition. In this talk I will further present results for the quantum dynamics in these interacting 2D LGTs.
   
   
   
   1. Karpov et al.: Disorder-free localization in an interacting 2d lattice gauge theory, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 130401 (2021)