The most general and versatile defining feature of quantum chaotic systems is that they possess an energy spectrum with correlations universally described by random matrix theory (RMT). This feature can be exhibited by systems with a well-defined classical limit as well as by systems with no classical correspondence, such as locally interacting spins or fermions. Despite great phenomenological success, a general mechanism explaining the emergence of RMT without reference to semiclassical concepts is still missing. Here we provide the example of a quantum many-body system with no semiclassical limit (no large parameter) where the emergence of RMT spectral correlations is proven exactly. Specifically, we consider a periodically driven Ising model and write the Fourier transform of spectral density's two-point function, the spectral form factor, in terms of a partition function of a two-dimensional classical Ising model featuring a space-time duality. We show that the self-dual cases provide a minimal model of many-body quantum chaos, where the spectral form factor is demonstrated to match RMT for all values of the integer time variable t in the thermodynamic limit. In particular, we rigorously prove RMT form factor for an odd t, while we formulate a precise conjecture for an even t. The results imply ergodicity for any finite amount of disorder in the longitudinal field, rigorously excluding the possibility of many-body localization. Our method provides a novel route for obtaining exact nonperturbative results in nonintegrable systems.
The most general and versatile defining feature of quantum chaotic systems is that they possess an energy spectrum with correlations universally described by random matrix theory (RMT). This feature can be exhibited by systems with a well-defined classical limit as well as by systems with no classical correspondence, such as locally interacting spins or fermions. Despite great phenomenological success, a general mechanism explaining the emergence of RMT without reference to semiclassical concepts is still missing. Here we provide the example of a quantum many-body system with no semiclassical limit (no large parameter) where the emergence of RMT spectral correlations is proven exactly. Specifically, we consider a periodically driven Ising model and write the Fourier transform of spectral density's two-point function, the spectral form factor, in terms of a partition function of a two-dimensional classical Ising model featuring a space-time duality. We show that the self-dual cases provide a minimal model of many-body quantum chaos, where the spectral form factor is demonstrated to match RMT for all values of the integer time variable t in the thermodynamic limit. In particular, we rigorously prove RMT form factor for an odd t, while we formulate a precise conjecture for an even t. The results imply ergodicity for any finite amount of disorder in the longitudinal field, rigorously excluding the possibility of many-body localization. Our method provides a novel route for obtaining exact nonperturbative results in nonintegrable systems.
A key goal of quantum chaos is to establish a relationship between widely observed universal spectral fluctuations of clean quantum systems and random matrix theory (RMT).Most prominent features of such RMT behavior with respect to a random spectrum, both encompassed in spectral pair correlation function, are statistical suppression of small level spacings (correlation hole) and enhanced stiffness of the spectrum at large spectral ranges.For single particle systems with fully chaotic classical counterparts, the problem has been partly solved by Berry [Proc.R. Soc.London, A400, 229 (1985)] within the so-called diagonal approximation of semiclassical periodic-orbit sums, while the derivation of the full RMT spectral form factor K(t) (Fourier transform of spectral pair correlation function), from semiclassics has been completed by Müller et al. [Phys.Rev. Lett.93, 014103 (2004)].In recent years, the questions of long-time dynamics at high energies, for which the full many-body energy spectrum becomes relevant, are coming at the forefront even for simple many-body quantum systems, such as locally interacting spin chains.Such systems display two universal types of behaviour which are termed as the 'many-body localized phase' and 'ergodic phase'.In the ergodic phase, the spectral fluctuations are excellently described by RMT, even for very simple interactions and in the absence of any external source of disorder.Here we provide a clear theoretical explanation for these observations.We compute K(t) in the leading two orders in t and show its agreement with RMT for non-integrable, time-reversal invariant many-body systems without classical counterparts, a generic example of which are Ising spin 1/2 models in a periodically kicking transverse field.In particular, we relate K(t) to partition functions of a class of twisted classical Ising models on a ring of size t, hence the leading order RMT behavior K(t)2t is a consequence of translation and reflection symmetry of the Ising partition function.
Random matrix spectral correlations is a defining feature of quantum chaos. Here, we study such correlations in a minimal model of chaotic many-body quantum dynamics where interactions are confined to the system’s boundary, dubbed , in terms of the spectral form factor and its fluctuations. We exactly calculate the latter in the limit of large local Hilbert space dimension q q for different classes of random boundary interactions and find it to coincide with random matrix theory, possibly after a non-zero Thouless time. The latter effect is due to a drastic enhancement of the spectral form factor, when integer time and system size fulfill a resonance condition. We compare our semiclassical (large q q ) results with numerics at small local Hilbert space dimension ( q=2,3 q = 2 , 3 ) and observe qualitatively similar features as in the semiclassical regime.
A key goal of quantum chaos is to establish a relationship between widely observed universal spectral fluctuations of clean quantum systems and random matrix theory (RMT). Most prominent features of such RMT behavior with respect to a random spectrum, both encompassed in the spectral pair correlation function, are statistical suppression of small level spacings (correlation hole) and enhanced stiffness of the spectrum at large spectral ranges. For single-particle systems with fully chaotic classical counterparts, the problem has been partly solved by Berry [Proc. R. Soc. A 400, 229 (1985)] within the so-called diagonal approximation of semiclassical periodic-orbit sums, while the derivation of the full RMT spectral form factor K(t) (Fourier transform of the spectral pair correlation function) from semiclassics has been completed by Müller et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 014103 (2004)]. In recent years, the questions of long-time dynamics at high energies, for which the full many-body energy spectrum becomes relevant, are coming to the forefront even for simple many-body quantum systems, such as locally interacting spin chains. Such systems display two universal types of behaviour which are termed the "many-body localized phase" and "ergodic phase." In the ergodic phase, the spectral fluctuations are excellently described by RMT, even for very simple interactions and in the absence of any external source of disorder. Here we provide a clear theoretical explanation for these observations. We compute K(t) in the leading two orders in t and show its agreement with RMT for nonintegrable, time-reversal invariant many-body systems without classical counterparts, a generic example of which are Ising spin-1/2 models in a periodically kicking transverse field. In particular, we relate K(t) to partition functions of a class of twisted classical Ising models on a ring of size t; hence, the leading-order RMT behavior K(t)≃2t is a consequence of translation and reflection symmetry of the Ising partition function.Received 5 February 2018Revised 12 April 2018DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.8.021062Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasQuantum chaosQuantum statistical mechanicsStatistical PhysicsNonlinear DynamicsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics
Many-body quantum chaos at ℏ∼1: Analytic connection to random matrix theory
A key goal of quantum chaos is to establish a relationship between widely observed universal spectral fluctuations of clean quantum systems and random matrix theory (RMT). For single particle systems with fully chaotic classical counterparts, the problem has been partly solved by Berry (1985) within the so-called diagonal approximation of semiclassical periodic-orbit sums. Derivation of the full RMT spectral form factor K(t) from semiclassics has been completed only much later in a tour de force by Mueller et al (2004). In recent years, the questions of long-time dynamics at high energies, for which the full many-body energy spectrum becomes relevant, are coming at the forefront even for simple many-body quantum systems, such as locally interacting spin chains. Such systems display two universal types of behaviour which are termed as `many-body localized phase' and `ergodic phase'. In the ergodic phase, the spectral fluctuations are excellently described by RMT, even for very simple interactions and in the absence of any external source of disorder. Here we provide the first theoretical explanation for these observations. We compute K(t) explicitly in the leading two orders in t and show its agreement with RMT for non-integrable, time-reversal invariant many-body systems without classical counterparts, a generic example of which are Ising spin 1/2 models in a periodically kicking transverse field.
The emergence of random matrix spectral correlations in interacting quantum systems is a defining feature of quantum chaos. We study such correlations in terms of the spectral form factor and its moments in interacting chaotic few- and many-body systems, modeled by suitable random-matrix ensembles. We obtain the spectral form factor exactly for large Hilbert space dimension. Extrapolating those results to finite Hilbert space dimension we find a universal transition from the noninteracting to the strongly interacting case, which can be described as a simple combination of these two limits. This transition is governed by a single scaling parameter. In the bipartite case we derive similar results also for all moments of the spectral form factor. We confirm our results by extensive numerical studies and demonstrate that they apply to more realistic systems given by a pair of quantized kicked rotors as well. Ultimately we complement our analysis by a perturbative approach covering the small-coupling regime.
The emergence of random matrix spectral correlations in interacting quantum systems is a defining feature of quantum chaos. We study such correlations in terms of the spectral form factor in interacting chaotic few- and many-body systems, modeled by suitable random-matrix ensembles, and obtain exact results for large Hilbert space dimensions. The transition of the spectral form factor from the non-interacting to the strongly interacting case can be described as a simple combination of these two limiting cases, which we confirm by extensive numerical studies in few-body systems. This transition is universally governed by a single scaling parameter. Moreover, our approach accurately captures spectral correlations in actual physical system, which we demonstrate for coupled kicked rotors.