Disorder-Free Localization in $2+1$D Lattice Gauge Theories with Dynamical Matter

Understand

Disorder-free localization (DFL) has been established as a mechanism of strong ergodicity breaking in $1+1$D lattice gauge theories (LGTs) with dynamical matter for quenches starting in homogeneous initial states that span an extensive number of gauge superselection sectors.

• Nevertheless, the fate of DFL in $2+1$D in the presence of dynamical matter has hitherto remained an open question of great interest in light of the instability of quenched-disorder many-body localization in higher spatial dimensions.
• Using infinite matrix product state calculations, we show that DFL survives in $2+1$D LGTs, albeit it is generally less pronounced than in $1+1$D, and highly depends on the matter configuration of the initial state.
• Through suitable matter configurations, we are able to relate and compare the $1+1$D and $2+1$D cases, showing that the main ingredient for the strength of DFL in our setup is the \textit{propagation directionality} of matter.