A graph-theoretic approach to chaos and complexity in quantum systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: West, Maxwell, Dowling, Neil, Southwell, Angus, Sevior, Martin, Usman, Muhammad, Modi, Kavan, Quella, Thomas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author West, Maxwell
Dowling, Neil
Southwell, Angus
Sevior, Martin
Usman, Muhammad
Modi, Kavan
Quella, Thomas
author_facet West, Maxwell
Dowling, Neil
Southwell, Angus
Sevior, Martin
Usman, Muhammad
Modi, Kavan
Quella, Thomas
contents There has recently been considerable interest in studying quantum systems via dynamical Lie algebras (DLAs) -- Lie algebras generated by the terms which appear in the Hamiltonian of the system. However, there are some important properties that are revealed only at a finer level of granularity than the DLA. In this work we explore, via the commutator graph, average notions of scrambling, chaos and complexity over ensembles of systems with DLAs that possess a basis consisting of Pauli strings. Unlike DLAs, commutator graphs are sensitive to short-time dynamics, and therefore constitute a finer probe to various characteristics of the corresponding ensemble. We link graph-theoretic properties of the commutator graph to the out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC), the frame potential, the frustration graph of the Hamiltonian of the system, and the Krylov complexity of operators evolving under the dynamics. For example, we reduce the calculation of average OTOCs to a counting problem on the graph; separately, we connect the Krylov complexity of an operator to the module structure of the adjoint action of the DLA on the space of operators in which it resides, and prove that its average over the ensemble is lower bounded by the average shortest path length between the initial operator and the other operators in the commutator graph.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_16404
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A graph-theoretic approach to chaos and complexity in quantum systems
West, Maxwell
Dowling, Neil
Southwell, Angus
Sevior, Martin
Usman, Muhammad
Modi, Kavan
Quella, Thomas
Quantum Physics
There has recently been considerable interest in studying quantum systems via dynamical Lie algebras (DLAs) -- Lie algebras generated by the terms which appear in the Hamiltonian of the system. However, there are some important properties that are revealed only at a finer level of granularity than the DLA. In this work we explore, via the commutator graph, average notions of scrambling, chaos and complexity over ensembles of systems with DLAs that possess a basis consisting of Pauli strings. Unlike DLAs, commutator graphs are sensitive to short-time dynamics, and therefore constitute a finer probe to various characteristics of the corresponding ensemble. We link graph-theoretic properties of the commutator graph to the out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC), the frame potential, the frustration graph of the Hamiltonian of the system, and the Krylov complexity of operators evolving under the dynamics. For example, we reduce the calculation of average OTOCs to a counting problem on the graph; separately, we connect the Krylov complexity of an operator to the module structure of the adjoint action of the DLA on the space of operators in which it resides, and prove that its average over the ensemble is lower bounded by the average shortest path length between the initial operator and the other operators in the commutator graph.
title A graph-theoretic approach to chaos and complexity in quantum systems
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.16404