Impact of dephasing probes on incommensurate lattices

Abstract

Abstract We investigate open quantum dynamics for a one-dimensional incommensurate Aubry–André–Harper lattice chain, a part of which is initially filled with electrons and is further connected to dephasing probes at the filled lattice sites. This setup is akin to a step-initial configuration where the non-zero part of the step is subjected to dephasing. We investigate the quantum dynamics of local electron density, the scaling of the density front as a function of time both inside and outside of the initial step, and the growth of the total number of electrons outside the step. We analyze these quantities in all three regimes, namely, the de-localized, critical, and localized phases of the underlying lattice. Outside the initial step, we observe that the density front spreads according to the underlying nature of single-particle states of the lattice, for both the de-localized and critical phases. For the localized phase, the spread of the density front hints at a logarithmic behavior in time that has no parallel in the isolated case (i.e. in the absence of probes). Inside the initial step, due to the presence of the probes, the density front spreads in a diffusive manner for all the phases. This combination of rich and different dynamical behavior, outside and inside the initial step, results in the emergence of mixed dynamical phases. While the total occupation of electrons remains conserved, the value outside or inside the initial step turns out to have a rich dynamical behavior. Our work is widely adaptable and has interesting consequences when disordered/quasi-disordered systems are subjected to a thermodynamically large number of probes.