Quenches in a quasi-disordered integrable lattice system: Dynamics and statistical description of observables after relaxation

Abstract: We study the dynamics and the resulting state after relaxation in a quasi-disordered integrable lattice system after a sudden quench. Specifically, we consider hard-core bosons in an isolated one-dimensional geometry in the presence of a quasi-periodic potential whose strength is abruptly changed to take the system out of equilibrium. In the delocalized regime, we find that the relaxation dynamics of one-body observables, such as the density, the momentum distribution function, and the occupation of the natural orbitals, follow, to a good approximation, power laws. In that regime, we also show that the observables after relaxation can be described by the generalized Gibbs ensemble, while such a description fails for the momentum distribution and the natural orbital occupations in the presence of localization. At the critical point, the relaxation dynamics is found to be slower than in the delocalized phase.