Many-body localization of quantized plasmonic excitations in disordered 1-D atomic chains

Short one-dimensional atom chains half-filled with Coulombically interacting electrons support quantized plasmonic excitations as their low energy excited states. Excitations can be launched by coupling the chain to quantum emitters. Our simulations with extended-range Hubbard models reveal how excitations can be transferred between emitters at opposite ends of the chain via the plasmonic excitations on the chain and how this depends on the range of the electron-electron interaction on the chain. Positional disorder in the chain provides an ideal testbed for studying the onset of many-body localization (MBL) and how MBL affects information transfer across the chain. We show how the MBL develops with disorder and how it influences the time evolution of plasmonic excitations launched on disordered chains. Plasmons can also be used to induce entanglement between excitations on the quantum emitters. We show how the entanglement generation is related to the MBL as excitations are launched across the chain.