Charles Stahl, University of Colorado, Boulder

Robust Ergodicity Breaking in Quantum Loop Models

I will present a quantum loop model which provably exhibits topologically stable ergodicity breaking. The results follow from a one-form symmetry, which can be exact or emergent. In the latter case, the ergodicity breaking becomes an exponentially long-lived prethermal phenomenon. The model has nonlocal conserved quantities that correspond to a pattern of system-spanning domain walls, and which are robust to the addition of arbitrary k-local perturbations.