Out-of-time-ordered correlators in many-body localized systems

Abstract

In many-body localized systems, propagation of information forms a light cone that grows logarithmically with time. However, local changes in energy or other conserved quantities typically spread only within a finite distance. Is it possible to detect the logarithmic light cone generated by a local perturbation from the response of a local operator at a later time? We numerically calculate various correlators in the random-field Heisenberg chain. While the equilibrium retarded correlator $A(t=0)B(t>0)$ is not sensitive to the unbounded information propagation, the out-of-time-ordered correlator $A(t=0)B(t>0)A(t=0)B(t>0)$ can detect the logarithmic light cone. We relate out-of-time-ordered correlators to the Lieb-Robinson bound in many-body localized systems, and show how to detect the logarithmic light cone with retarded correlators in specially designed states. Furthermore, we study the temperature dependence of the logarithmic light cone using out-of-time-ordered correlators.