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arXiv:1802.02633 · Journal of High Energy Physics

Operator growth in the SYK model

Daniel A. Roberts, Douglas Stanford, Alexandre Streicher

Published Jun 1, 2018• 241 citations
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Abstract

A bstract We discuss the probability distribution for the “size” of a time-evolving operator in the SYK model. Scrambling is related to the fact that as time passes, the distribution shifts towards larger operators. Initially, the rate is exponential and determined by the infinite-temperature chaos exponent. We evaluate the size distribution numerically for N = 30, and show how to compute it in the large- N theory using the dressed fermion propagator. We then evaluate the distribution explicitly at leading nontrivial order in the large- q expansion.

DOI
10.1007/jhep06(2018)122

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A bstract We discuss the probability distribution for the “size” of a time-evolving operator in the SYK model. Scrambling is related to the fact that as time passes, the distribution shifts towards larger operators. Initially, the rate is exponential and determined by the infinite-temperature chaos exponent. We evaluate the size distribution numerically for N = 30, and show how to compute it in the large- N theory using the dressed fermion propagator. We then evaluate the distribution explicitly at leading nontrivial order in the large- q expansion.
A bstract Under the Heisenberg evolution in chaotic quantum systems, initially simple operators evolve into complicated ones and ultimately cover the whole operator space. We study the growth of the operator “size” in this process, which is related to the out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC). We derive the full time evolution of the size distribution in large N quantum mechanics of Majorana fermions. As examples, we apply the formalism to the Brownian SYK model (infinite temperature) and the large q SYK model (finite temperature).
A bstract In many-body chaotic systems, the size of an operator generically grows in Heisenberg evolution, which can be measured by certain out-of-time-ordered four-point functions. However, these only provide a coarse probe of the full underlying operator growth structure. In this article we develop a methodology to derive the full growth structure of fermionic systems, that also naturally introduces the effect of finite temperature. We then apply our methodology to the SYK model, which features all-to-all q -body interactions. We derive the full operator growth structure in the large q limit at all temperatures. We see that its temperature dependence has a remarkably simple form consistent with the slowing down of scrambling as temperature is decreased. Furthermore, our finite-temperature scrambling results can be modeled by a modified epidemic model, where the thermal state serves as a vaccinated population, thereby slowing the overall rate of infection.
We investigate operator growth in a Brownian spin Sachdev--Ye--Kitaev (SYK) model with random all-to-all interactions, focusing on the full operator-size distribution. For Hamiltonians containing interactions of order two up to LLL, we derive a closed master equation for the Pauli-string expansion coefficients and recast their dynamics into a generating-function formulation suitable for the large-NNN limit. This approach allows us to diagonalize the leading-order evolution operator explicitly and obtain exact solutions for arbitrary initial operator distributions, including the effects of decoherence. Going beyond leading order, we develop a systematic 1/N1/N1/N expansion that captures higher-order corrections to the operator-size dynamics and the late-time behavior. Our results demonstrate that higher-order effects play a crucial role in operator scrambling and that the full operator-size distribution provides a more refined probe of quantum chaos in Brownian and open quantum systems.
A bstract We investigate the growth of operator size in the Lindbladian Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model with q -body interaction terms and linear jump terms at finite dissipation strength. We compute the operator size as well as its distribution numerically at finite q and analytically at large q . With dissipative (productive) jump terms, the size converges to a value smaller (larger) than half the number of Majorana fermions. At weak dissipation, the evolution of operator size displays a quadratic-exponential-plateau behavior. The plateau value is determined by the ratios between the coupling of the interaction and the linear jump term in the large q limit. The operator size distribution remains localized in the finite size region even at late times, contrasting with the unitary case. Moreover, we also derived the time-independent orthogonal basis for operator expansion which exhibits the operator size concentration at finite dissipation. Finally, we observe that the uncertainty relation for operator size growth is saturated at large q , leading to classical dynamics of the operator size growth with dissipation.
A bstract Considering the large q expansion of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model in the two-stage limit, we compute the Lanczos coefficients, Krylov complexity, and the higher Krylov cumulants in subleading order, along with the t/q effects. The Krylov complexity naturally describes the “size” of the distribution while the higher cumulants encode richer information. We further consider the double-scaled limit of SYK q at infinite temperature, where q ~ N \sqrt{N} N​ N . In such a limit, we find that the scrambling time shrinks to zero, and the Lanczos coefficients diverge. The growth of Krylov complexity appears to be “hyperfast”, which is previously conjectured to be associated with scrambling in de Sitter space.
Abstract The concepts of operator size and computational complexity play important roles in the study of quantum chaos and holographic duality because they help characterize the structure of time-evolving Heisenberg operators. It is particularly important to understand how these microscopically defined measures of complexity are related to notions of complexity defined in terms of a dual holographic geometry, such as complexity-volume (CV) duality. Here we study partially entangled thermal states in the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model and their dual description in terms of operators inserted in the interior of a black hole in Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity. We compare a microscopic definition of complexity in the SYK model known as K-complexity to calculations using CV duality in JT gravity and find that both quantities show an exponential-to-linear growth behavior. We also calculate the growth of operator size under time evolution and find connections between size and complexity. While the notion of operator size saturates at the scrambling time, our study suggests that complexity, which is well defined in both quantum systems and gravity theories, can serve as a useful measure of operator evolution at both early and late times.