Eigenstate correlations, the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, and quantum information dynamics in chaotic many-body quantum systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Hahn, Dominik, Luitz, David J., Chalker, J. T.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Hahn, Dominik
Luitz, David J.
Chalker, J. T.
author_facet Hahn, Dominik
Luitz, David J.
Chalker, J. T.
contents We consider the statistical properties of eigenstates of the time-evolution operator in chaotic many-body quantum systems. Our focus is on correlations between eigenstates that are specific to spatially extended systems and that characterise entanglement dynamics and operator spreading. In order to isolate these aspects of dynamics from those arising as a result of local conservation laws, we consider Floquet systems in which there are no conserved densities. The correlations associated with scrambling of quantum information lie outside the standard framework established by the eigenstate thermalisation hypothesis (ETH). In particular, ETH provides a statistical description of matrix elements of local operators between pairs of eigenstates, whereas the aspects of dynamics we are concerned with arise from correlations amongst sets of four or more eigenstates. We establish the simplest correlation function that captures these correlations and discuss features of its behaviour that are expected to be universal at long distances and low energies. We also propose a maximum-entropy Ansatz for the joint distribution of a small number $n$ of eigenstates. In the case $n = 2$ this Ansatz reproduces ETH. For $n = 4$ it captures both the growth with time of entanglement between subsystems, as characterised by the purity of the time-evolution operator, and also operator spreading, as characterised by the behaviour of the out-of-time-order correlator. We test these ideas by comparing results from Monte Carlo sampling of our Ansatz with exact diagonalisation studies of Floquet quantum circuits.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_12982
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Eigenstate correlations, the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, and quantum information dynamics in chaotic many-body quantum systems
Hahn, Dominik
Luitz, David J.
Chalker, J. T.
Quantum Physics
Statistical Mechanics
We consider the statistical properties of eigenstates of the time-evolution operator in chaotic many-body quantum systems. Our focus is on correlations between eigenstates that are specific to spatially extended systems and that characterise entanglement dynamics and operator spreading. In order to isolate these aspects of dynamics from those arising as a result of local conservation laws, we consider Floquet systems in which there are no conserved densities. The correlations associated with scrambling of quantum information lie outside the standard framework established by the eigenstate thermalisation hypothesis (ETH). In particular, ETH provides a statistical description of matrix elements of local operators between pairs of eigenstates, whereas the aspects of dynamics we are concerned with arise from correlations amongst sets of four or more eigenstates. We establish the simplest correlation function that captures these correlations and discuss features of its behaviour that are expected to be universal at long distances and low energies. We also propose a maximum-entropy Ansatz for the joint distribution of a small number $n$ of eigenstates. In the case $n = 2$ this Ansatz reproduces ETH. For $n = 4$ it captures both the growth with time of entanglement between subsystems, as characterised by the purity of the time-evolution operator, and also operator spreading, as characterised by the behaviour of the out-of-time-order correlator. We test these ideas by comparing results from Monte Carlo sampling of our Ansatz with exact diagonalisation studies of Floquet quantum circuits.
title Eigenstate correlations, the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, and quantum information dynamics in chaotic many-body quantum systems
topic Quantum Physics
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.12982