Information propagation through quantum chains with fluctuating disorder

We investigate the propagation of information through one-dimensional nearest-neighbor interacting quantum spin chains in the presence of external fields which fluctuate independently on each site. We study two fundamentally different models: (i) a model with general nearest-neighbor interactions in a field which fluctuates in both strength and direction and (ii) the XX chain placed in a fluctuating field aligned in the z direction. In both cases we find that information propagation is suppressed in a way which is quite different from the suppression observed when the XX model is placed in a statically disordered field. ©2009 The American Physical Society