Towards a Refinement of Krylov Complexity: Scrambling, Classical Operator Growth and Replicas

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Main Authors: Camargo, Hugo A., Fu, Yichao, Kim, Keun-Young, Park, Yeong Han
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Camargo, Hugo A.
Fu, Yichao
Kim, Keun-Young
Park, Yeong Han
author_facet Camargo, Hugo A.
Fu, Yichao
Kim, Keun-Young
Park, Yeong Han
contents We propose and test logarithmic Krylov (logK) complexity, an operator growth measure akin to Krylov complexity defined through a replica approach, as a viable probe of early-time operator scrambling without false positives. In finite-dimensional quantum systems, such as the Lipkin--Meshkov--Glick (LMG) model and the mixed-field Ising model at the chaotic point, we provide numerical evidence that logK-complexity discriminates between genuine and saddle-dominated scrambling at early times, correctly avoiding the exponential contribution coming from the unstable saddle in the former case, and closely tracking the conventional Krylov complexity in the latter. In integrable quantum systems admitting infinite-dimensional Krylov subspaces, such as the SYK$_{2}$ model and the quantum inverted harmonic oscillator, we show that by modifying the Krylov spreading operator, obtained through generalizing the analytic continuation procedure in the replica trick, the logK complexity can be refined to capture the integrable properties of the theories. We supplement these analyses by extending the Krylov formalism in classical dynamical systems and defining classical versions of these operator growth measures, showing that the false positives arising from unstable saddles in classical phase space are non-existent.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_19359
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Towards a Refinement of Krylov Complexity: Scrambling, Classical Operator Growth and Replicas
Camargo, Hugo A.
Fu, Yichao
Kim, Keun-Young
Park, Yeong Han
High Energy Physics - Theory
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
We propose and test logarithmic Krylov (logK) complexity, an operator growth measure akin to Krylov complexity defined through a replica approach, as a viable probe of early-time operator scrambling without false positives. In finite-dimensional quantum systems, such as the Lipkin--Meshkov--Glick (LMG) model and the mixed-field Ising model at the chaotic point, we provide numerical evidence that logK-complexity discriminates between genuine and saddle-dominated scrambling at early times, correctly avoiding the exponential contribution coming from the unstable saddle in the former case, and closely tracking the conventional Krylov complexity in the latter. In integrable quantum systems admitting infinite-dimensional Krylov subspaces, such as the SYK$_{2}$ model and the quantum inverted harmonic oscillator, we show that by modifying the Krylov spreading operator, obtained through generalizing the analytic continuation procedure in the replica trick, the logK complexity can be refined to capture the integrable properties of the theories. We supplement these analyses by extending the Krylov formalism in classical dynamical systems and defining classical versions of these operator growth measures, showing that the false positives arising from unstable saddles in classical phase space are non-existent.
title Towards a Refinement of Krylov Complexity: Scrambling, Classical Operator Growth and Replicas
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.19359