We consider the many-body spectra of interacting bosonic quantum fields on a lattice in the semiclassical limit of large particle number N. We show that the many-body density of states can be expressed as a coherent sum over oscillating long-wavelength contributions given by periodic, nonperturbative solutions of the, typically nonlinear, wave equation of the classical (mean-field) limit. To this end, we construct the semiclassical approximation for both the smooth and oscillatory parts of the many-body density of states in terms of a trace formula starting from the exact path integral form of the propagator between many-body quadrature states. We therefore avoid the use of a complexified classical limit characteristic of the coherent state representation. While quantum effects such as vacuum fluctuations and gauge invariance are exactly accounted for, our semiclassical approach captures quantum interference and therefore is valid well beyond the Ehrenfest time where naive quantum-classical correspondence breaks down. Remarkably, due to a special feature of harmonic systems with incommensurable frequencies, our formulas are generically valid also in the free-field case of noninteracting bosons.
We consider the many-body spectra of interacting bosonic quantum fields on a lattice in the semiclassical limit of large particle number N. We show that the many-body density of states can be expressed as a coherent sum over oscillating long-wavelength contributions given by periodic, nonperturbative solutions of the, typically nonlinear, wave equation of the classical (mean-field) limit. To this end, we construct the semiclassical approximation for both the smooth and oscillatory parts of the many-body density of states in terms of a trace formula starting from the exact path integral form of the propagator between many-body quadrature states. We therefore avoid the use of a complexified classical limit characteristic of the coherent state representation. While quantum effects such as vacuum fluctuations and gauge invariance are exactly accounted for, our semiclassical approach captures quantum interference and therefore is valid well beyond the Ehrenfest time where naive quantum-classical correspondence breaks down. Remarkably, due to a special feature of harmonic systems with incommensurable frequencies, our formulas are generically valid also in the free-field case of noninteracting bosons.
Abstract One of the fundamental results of semiclassical theory is the existence of trace formulae showing how spectra of quantum mechanical systems emerge from massive interference among amplitudes related with time-periodic structures of the corresponding classical limit. If it displays the properties of Hamiltonian integrability, this connection is given by the celebrated Berry–Tabor trace formula, and the periodic structures it is built on are tori supporting closed trajectories in phase space. Here we show how to extend this connection into the domain of quantum many-body systems displaying integrability in the sense of the Bethe ansatz, where a classical limit cannot be rigorously defined due to the presence of singular potentials. Formally following the original derivation of Berry and Tabor (1976 Proc. R. Soc. A 349 101), but applied to the Bethe equations without underlying classical structure, we obtain a many-particle trace formula for the density of states of N interacting bosons on a ring, the Lieb–Liniger model. Our semiclassical expressions are in excellent agreement with quantum mechanical results for <?CDATA N=2,3?> N = 2 , 3 and 4 particles. For N = 2 we relate our results to the quantization of billiards with mixed boundary conditions. Our work paves the way towards the treatment of the important class of integrable many-body systems by means of semiclassical trace formulae pioneered by Michael Berry in the single-particle context.
A major goal of the semiclassical theory is to understand and treat a quantum system in the regime of large quantum numbers using information from its classical limit. In this framework, quantum phenomena are addressed through a path integral perspective, i.e. the weighted interference of phases accumulated along classical trajectories. While this formalism has been successful in explaining interference phenomena, for instance, in mesoscopic single-particle quantum systems, the recent extension of the semiclassical theory allows now also the treatment of interacting quantum many-body systems. This thesis aims to contribute to these ongoing efforts to apply semiclassical techniques to quantum many-body systems. It is focused on bosonic quantum many-body systems, where the thermodynamic limit of a large number of particles represents an alternative version of a semiclassical limit. Within the derivation of the corresponding semiclassical theory, mean-field equations, i.e. effective nonlinear wave equations describing the matter wave, re-emerge as Hamilton's equations of motion of an abstract Hamilton function, defining the above thermodynamic limit as the classical limit. Within this thesis, two different topics are studied. The first one deals with the so-called “Out-of-Time-Order Correlator” (OTOC), the expectation value of the squared commutator of two local operators at different times. The OTOC provides a direct probe for the presence of chaos in the classical limit (if any) of a quantum many-body system. This is based on that for short times the OTOC directly relates to the stability of classical solutions upon changes in their initial conditions. One of the defining properties of chaos is that this stability displays an exponential growth, with the rate called the classical Lyapunov exponent. Immediately, this implies an exponential growth of the OTOC for short times, from which the Lyapunov exponent can be extracted. For later times, one observes a saturation of the OTOC as a consequence of unitary quantum time evolution. The Ehrenfest time, the time scale which marks the onset of quantum interference, separates these different dynamical behaviors. In this thesis a thorough understanding of the concept of chaos in the classical limit of quantum many-body systems is provided, and with that the underlying interference mechanisms involved in the early exponential growth and the later saturation of OTOCs are identified. It is found that the pre-Ehrenfest time exponential growth is given through the interference of multiple contributions, all of them essentially following only a single solution of mean-field equations. Conversely the post-Ehrenfest time behavior stems from the contributions of fundamentally different mean-field solutions, which display correlated dynamics only for a limited amount of time, of the order of Ehrenfest time. The second topic covered in this thesis deals with the coherent transport of cold bosonic atoms through an Aharonov-Bohm ring structure. This setup consists of two semi-infinite wave guides attached on the opposite sides of a wave guide ring which is pierced by a synthetic gauge field. Within the ring, the atoms are further subject to both a weak disorder potential and particle-particle interaction. In the non-interacting case, the disorder-averaged transmission probability as a function of the encircled flux displays the well-known Al'tshuler-Aronov-Spivak (AAS) oscillations, i.e. oscillations with a frequency twice as large as Aharonov-Bohm oscillations. This thesis provides further insight into the influence of a weak particle-particle interaction on AAS oscillations, for which numerical results predict an interaction-based inversion of peaks. Here, using semiclassical techniques to solve the corresponding mean-field problem, this inversion is successfully reproduced, and a first indicator of the relevant mechanism leading to the inversion is found through contributions of self-averaging scattering path constellations.
We present a semiclassical approach to many-body quantum propagation in terms of coherent sums over quantum amplitudes associated with the solutions of corresponding classical nonlinear wave equations. This approach adequately describes interference effects in the many-body space of interacting bosonic systems. The main quantity of interest, the transition amplitude between Fock states when the dynamics is driven by both single-particle contributions and many-body interactions of similar magnitude, is non-perturbatively constructed in the spirit of Gutzwiller's derivation of the van Vleck propagator from the path integral representation of the time evolution operator, but lifted to the space of symmetrized many-body states. Effects beyond mean-field, here representing the classical limit of the theory, are semiclassically described by means of interfering amplitudes where the action and stability of the classical solutions enter. In this way, a genuinely many-body echo phenomenon, coherent backscattering in Fock space, is presented arising due to coherent quantum interference between classical solutions related by time reversal.
We present a semiclassical approach to many-body quantum propagation in terms of coherent sums over quantum amplitudes associated with the solutions of corresponding classical nonlinear wave equations. This approach adequately describes interference effects in the many-body space of interacting bosonic systems. The main quantity of interest, the transition amplitude between Fock states when the dynamics is driven by both single-particle contributions and many-body interactions of similar magnitude, is non-perturbatively constructed in the spirit of Gutzwiller's derivation of the van Vleck propagator from the path integral representation of the time evolution operator, but lifted to the space of symmetrized many-body states. Effects beyond mean-field, here representing the classical limit of the theory, are semiclassically described by means of interfering amplitudes where the action and stability of the classical solutions enter. In this way, a genuinely many-body echo phenomenon, coherent backscattering in Fock space, is presented arising due to coherent quantum interference between classical solutions related by time reversal.
Abstract Quantum chaos of many-body (MB) systems has been swiftly developing into a vibrant research area at the interface between various disciplines, ranging from statistical physics to condensed matter to quantum information and to cosmology. In quantum systems with a classical limit, advanced semiclassical methods provide the crucial link between classically chaotic dynamics and corresponding universal features at the quantum level. Recently, single-particle (SP) techniques dealing with ergodic wave interference in the usual semiclassical limit ℏ → 0 have begun to be transformed into the field theoretical domain of N -particle systems in the analogous semiclassical limit ℏ e f f = 1 / N → 0 , thereby accounting for genuine MB quantum interference. This semiclassical MB theory provides a unified framework for understanding random-matrix correlations of both SP and MB quantum chaotic systems. Certain braided bundles of classical orbits, and of mean field modes, govern interference, respectively, and provide the key to the foundation of universality. Case studies presented include an MB version of Gutzwiller’s trace formula for the spectral density and out-of-time-order correlators along with brief remarks on where further progress may be forthcoming.
We present a semiclassical study of the spectrum of a few-body system consisting of two short-range interacting bosonic particles in one dimension, a particular case of a general class of integrable many-body systems where the energy spectrum is given by the solution of algebraic transcendental equations. By an exact mapping between δ-potentials and boundary conditions on the few-body wave functions, we are able to extend previous semiclassical results for single-particle systems with mixed boundary conditions to the two-body problem. The semiclassical approach allows us to derive explicit analytical results for the smooth part of the two-body density of states that are in excellent agreement with numerical calculations. It further enables us to include the effect of bound states in the attractive case. Remarkably, for the particular case of two particles in one dimension, the discrete energy levels obtained through a requantization condition of the smooth density of states are essentially in perfect agreement with the exact ones.