Negative differential conductivity in Heisenberg XXZ chain far from equilibrium

Negative differential conductivity is reported for the far from equilibrium quantum spin transport in the insulating regime (J_x < J_z) of finite Heisenberg XXZ spin 1/2 chains. The phenomenon is reproduced analytically for small chains of N=4 spins and further analyzed numerically, for up to N=16, using an efficient pure-state simulation with stochastic spin baths.