Disordered systems exhibiting many-body localization have unique thermal properties that could be utilized in a quantum engine

In disordered systems of interacting quantum particles, interference effects can restrict how far the particles move. This localized “freezing”—known as many-body localization (MBL)—prevents the system from reaching thermal equilibrium. Having observed MBL in recent cold-atom experiments, researchers are looking for ways to use it in applications. Now, Nicole Yunger Halpern from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, and her colleagues show theoretically that MBL thermodynamics could help drive a quantum engine.