Signatures of bath-induced quantum avalanches in a many-body--localized system

Abstract

Strongly correlated systems can exhibit surprising phenomena when brought in a state far from equilibrium. A spectacular example are quantum avalanches, that have been predicted to run through a many-body--localized system and delocalize it. Quantum avalanches occur when the system is locally coupled to a small thermal inclusion that acts as a bath. Here we realize an interface between a many-body--localized system and a thermal inclusion of variable size, and study its dynamics. We find evidence for accelerated transport into the localized region, signature of a quantum avalanche. By measuring the site-resolved entropy we monitor how the avalanche travels through the localized system and thermalizes it site by site. Furthermore, we isolate the bath-induced dynamics by evaluating multipoint correlations between the bath and the system. Our results have fundamental implications on the robustness of many-body--localized systems and their critical behavior.