Correlated nonequilibrium steady states without energy flux

Abstract

Floquet engineering of closed quantum systems can lead to the formation of long-lived prethermal states that, in general, eventually thermalize to infinite temperature. Coupling these driven systems to dissipative baths can stabilize such states, establishing a true nonequilibrium steady state. We demonstrate that in a certain strongly interacting lattice model coupled to a bath and driven by an electric field, such steady states can have the remarkable property that the cycle-averaged rate of energy transfer between the lattice and the baths vanishes. Despite this, we show that these states retain a clear nonequilibrium nature.