  We show how lattice gauge theories can display many-body localization
dynamics in the absence of disorder. Our starting point is the observation
that, for some generic translationally invariant states, Gauss law effectively
induces a dynamics which can be described as a disorder average over gauge
super-selection sectors. We carry out extensive exact simulations on the
real-time dynamics of a lattice Schwinger model, describing the coupling
between U(1) gauge fields and staggered fermions. Our results show how memory
effects and slow entanglement growth are present in a broad regime of
parameters - in particular, for sufficiently large interactions. These findings
are immediately relevant to cold atoms and trapped ions experiments realizing
dynamical gauge fields, and suggest a new and universal link between
confinement and entanglement dynamics in the many-body localized phase of
lattice models.
