Dissipation-Enhanced Localization in a Disorder-Free Z2 Lattice Gauge System
Abstract
The Z2 lattice gauge model, as the simplest realization of a lattice gauge theory, exhibits rich and unconventional physics. One of its most remarkable features is disorder-free localization, where localization emerges not from explicit quenched disorder but from static background Z2 gauge charges, leading to persistent memory of the initial state. In this work, we investigate the dissipative dynamics of the Z2 lattice gauge model by coupling it to a Markovian environment. We find that quantum dissipation can enhance localization: memory of the initial state is retained more robustly under dissipative evolution than under unitary dynamics. This dissipation-induced enhancement of localization persists across a variety of initial states, indicating that the effect is not limited to fine-tuned configurations. Our results demonstrate that dissipation, often associated with decoherence and thermalization, can in fact serve as a powerful tool for stabilizing non-ergodic behavior in gauge-constrained quantum systems.
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