Quantum Hilbert Space Fragmentation and Entangled Frozen States

Abstract

We find that rank deficiency of the local Hamiltonian in a classically fragmented model is the key mechanism leading to quantum Hilbert space fragmentation. The rank deficiency produces local null directions that can generate entangled frozen states (EFS): entangled states embedded in mobile classical Krylov sectors that do not evolve under Hamiltonian dynamics. When the entangled frozen subspace is non-empty, the mobile classical sector splits into an mobile quantum Krylov subspace and an entangled frozen subspace, and the model exhibits quantum fragmentation. We establish this mechanism in four models of increasing symmetry structure: an asymmetric qubit projector with no symmetry, the $\mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetric GHZ projector, a $\mathbb{Z}_3$-symmetric cyclic qutrit projector, and the Temperley-Lieb model. For the asymmetric and GHZ projector models, we obtain closed-form expressions for irreducible Krylov dimensions, degeneracies, and sector multiplicities. Further, we introduce the notion of weak and strong quantum fragmentation, the quantum counterpart of the weak-strong distinction in classical fragmentation. After removing the EFS, the mobile quantum Krylov subspace decomposes into irreducible blocks. In the weak case, the number of irreducible blocks remains $\mathcal{O}(1)$, each is individually ergodic with Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE) level statistics, and the unresolved spectrum follows an $m$GOE distribution. In the strong case, the number of irreducible blocks grows with system size, and the gap-ratio distribution approaches Poisson as $L\to\infty$.