Generalized Spin Helix States as Quantum Many-Body Scars in Partially Integrable Models

Abstract

Quantum many-body scars are highly excited eigenstates of non-integrable Hamiltonians which violate the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and are embedded in a sea of thermal eigenstates. We provide a general mechanism to construct partially integrable models with arbitrarily large local Hilbert space dimensions, which host exact many-body scars. We introduce designed integrability-breaking terms to several exactly solvable spin chains, whose integrable Hamiltonians are composed of the generators of the Temperley-Lieb algebra. In the non-integrable subspace of these models, we identify a special kind of product states -- the generalized spin helix states as exact quantum many-body scars, which lie in the common null space of the non-Hermitian generators of the Temperley-Lieb algebra and are annihilated by the integrability-breaking terms. Our constructions establish an intriguing connection between integrability and quantum many-body scars, meanwhile provide a systematic understanding of scarred Hamiltonians from the perspective of non-Hermitian projectors.