Measurement-induced phase transition in a disordered XX spin chain: A real-space renormalization group study
Abstract
Spin chains with quenched disorder exhibit rich critical behavior, often captured by real-space renormalization group (RSRG) techniques. However, the physics of such systems in the presence of random measurements (i.e., non-Hermitian dephasing) remains largely unexplored. The interplay between measurements and unitary dynamics gives rise to novel phases and phase transitions in monitored quantum systems. In this work, we investigate the disordered XX spin chain subject to stochastic local measurements in the $X$ and $Y$ bases. By mapping the monitored chain to a non-Hermitian spin ladder with complex couplings, we propose an RSRG-for-excited-states (RSRG-X) approach for this open-system setting. Our analysis reveals a new class of strongly disordered fixed points that emerge due to non-unitarity, broadening the landscape of critical phenomena accessible via RSRG.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Theoretical and Computational Physics
Quantum many-body systems
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical review. B./Physical review. B
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 10
- Publication date
- 26 February 2026
- Language
- EN