Dynamics of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain initialized in a domain-wall state

Abstract

We study the dynamics of an isotropic spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain starting in a domain-wall initial condition, where the spins are initially up on the left half-line and down on the right half-line. We focus on the long-time behavior of the magnetization profile. We perform extensive time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group simulations (up to t=350) and find that the data are compatible with a diffusive behavior. Subleading corrections decay slowly blurring the emergence of the diffusive behavior. We also compare our results with two alternative scenarios: superdiffusive behavior and enhanced diffusion with a logarithmic correction. We finally discuss the evolution of the entanglement entropy.