Exact Large-Scale Fluctuations of the Phase Field in the Sine-Gordon Model.

We present the first exact theory and analytical formulas for the large-scale phase fluctuations in the sine-Gordon model, valid in all regimes of the field theory, for arbitrary temperatures and interaction strengths. Our result is based on the ballistic fluctuation theory combined with generalized hydrodynamics, and can be seen as an exact "dressing" of the phenomenological soliton-gas picture first introduced by Sachdev and Young [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2220 (1997)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.78.2220], to the modes of generalized hydrodynamics. The resulting physics of phase fluctuations in the sine-Gordon model is qualitatively different, as the stable quasiparticles of integrability give coherent ballistic propagation instead of diffusive spreading. We provide extensive numerical checks of our analytical predictions within the classical regime of the field theory by using Monte Carlo methods. We discuss how our results are of ready applicability to experiments on tunnel-coupled quasicondensates.

Prethermalization in one-dimensional quantum many-body systems with confinement.

Unconventional nonequilibrium phases with restricted correlation spreading and slow entanglement growth have been proposed to emerge in systems with confined excitations, calling their thermalization dynamics into question. Here, we show that in confined systems the thermalization dynamics after a quantum quench instead exhibits multiple stages with well separated time scales. As an example, we consider the confined Ising spin chain, in which domain walls in the ordered phase form bound states reminiscent of mesons. The system first relaxes towards a prethermal state, described by a Gibbs ensemble with conserved meson number. The prethermal state arises from rare events in which mesons are created in close vicinity, leading to an avalanche of scattering events. Only at much later times a true thermal equilibrium is achieved in which the meson number conservation is violated by a mechanism akin to the Schwinger effect. The discussed prethermalization dynamics is directly relevant to generic one-dimensional, many-body systems with confined excitations.

Fragmentation and Emergent Integrable Transport in the Weakly Tilted Ising Chain.

We investigate emergent quantum dynamics of the tilted Ising chain in the regime of a weak transverse field. Within the leading order perturbation theory, the Hilbert space is fragmented into exponentially many decoupled sectors. We find that the sector made of isolated magnons is integrable with dynamics being governed by a constrained version of the XXZ spin Hamiltonian. As a consequence, when initiated in this sector, the Ising chain exhibits ballistic transport on unexpectedly long timescales. We quantitatively describe its rich phenomenology employing exact integrable techniques such as generalized hydrodynamics. Finally, we initiate studies of integrability-breaking magnon clusters whose leading-order transport is activated by scattering with surrounding isolated magnons.

Thermalization of a Trapped One-Dimensional Bose Gas via Diffusion.

For a decade the fate of a one-dimensional gas of interacting bosons in an external trapping potential remained mysterious. We here show that whenever the underlying integrability of the gas is broken by the presence of the external potential, the inevitable diffusive rearrangements between the quasiparticles, quantified by the diffusion constants of the gas, eventually lead the system to thermalize at late times. We show that the full thermalizing dynamics can be described by the generalized hydrodynamics with diffusion and force terms, and we compare these predictions to numerical simulations. Finally, we provide an explanation for the slow thermalization rates observed in numerical and experimental settings: the hydrodynamics of integrable models is characterized by a continuity of modes, which can have arbitrarily small diffusion coefficients. As a consequence, the approach to thermalization can display prethermal plateau and relaxation dynamics with long polynomial finite-time corrections.

Generalized Hydrodynamics with Space-Time Inhomogeneous Interactions.

We provide a new hydrodynamic framework to describe out-of-equilibrium integrable systems with space-time inhomogeneous interactions. Our result builds up on the recently introduced generalized hydrodynamics (GHD). The method allows us to analytically describe the dynamics during generic space-time-dependent smooth modulations of the interactions. As a proof of concept, we study experimentally motivated interaction quenches in the trapped interacting Bose gas, which cannot be treated with current analytical or numerical methods. We also benchmark our results in the XXZ spin chain and in the classical sinh-Gordon model.

Integrability-Protected Adiabatic Reversibility in Quantum Spin Chains.

We consider the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of the Heisenberg anisotropic quantum spin-1/2 chain threaded by a time-dependent magnetic flux. In the spirit of the recently developed generalized hydrodynamics (GHD), we exploit the integrability of the model for any flux values to derive an exact description of the dynamics in the limit of slowly varying flux: the state of the system is described at any time by a time-dependent generalized Gibbs ensemble. Two dynamical regimes emerge according to the value of the anisotropy Δ. For |Δ|>1, reversibility is preserved: the initial state is always recovered whenever the flux is brought back to zero. On the contrary, for |Δ|<1, instabilities of quasiparticles produce irreversible dynamics as confirmed by the dramatic growth of entanglement entropy. In this regime, the standard GHD description becomes incomplete and we complement it via a maximum entropy production principle. We test our predictions against numerical simulations finding excellent agreement.

Exact Local Correlations and Full Counting Statistics for Arbitrary States of the One-Dimensional Interacting Bose Gas.

We derive exact analytic expressions for the n-body local correlations in the one-dimensional Bose gas with contact repulsive interactions (Lieb-Liniger model) in the thermodynamic limit. Our results are valid for arbitrary states of the model, including ground and thermal states, stationary states after a quantum quench, and nonequilibrium steady states arising in transport settings. Calculations for these states are explicitly presented and physical consequences are critically discussed. We also show that the n-body local correlations are directly related to the full counting statistics for the particle-number fluctuations in a short interval, for which we provide an explicit analytic result.

Nonequilibrium Steady State Generated by a Moving Defect: The Supersonic Threshold.

We consider the dynamics of a system of free fermions on a 1D lattice in the presence of a defect moving at constant velocity. The defect has the form of a localized time-dependent variation of the chemical potential and induces at long times a nonequilibrium steady state (NESS), which spreads around the defect. We present a general formulation that allows recasting the time-dependent protocol in a scattering problem on a static potential. We obtain a complete characterization of the NESS. In particular, we show a strong dependence on the defect velocity and the existence of a sharp threshold when such velocity exceeds the speed of sound. Beyond this value, the NESS is not produced and, remarkably, the defect travels without significantly perturbing the system. We present an exact solution for a δ-like defect traveling with an arbitrary velocity and we develop a semiclassical approximation that provides accurate results for smooth defects.