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arXiv:1906.06341 · Physical Review Letters

Periodically Driven Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Models

Clemens Kuhlenkamp, Michael Knap

Published Mar 12, 2020• 46 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Periodically driven quantum matter can realize exotic dynamical phases. In order to understand how ubiquitous and robust these phases are, it is pertinent to investigate the heating dynamics of generic interacting quantum systems. Here we study the thermalization in a periodically driven generalized Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model, which realizes a crossover from a heavy Fermi liquid (FL) to a non-Fermi liquid (NFL) at a tunable energy scale. Developing an exact field theoretic approach, we determine two distinct regimes in the heating dynamics. While the NFL heats exponentially and thermalizes rapidly, we report that the presence of quasiparticles in the heavy FL obstructs heating and thermalization over comparatively long timescales. Prethermal high-frequency dynamics and possible experimental realizations of nonequilibrium SYK physics are discussed as well.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.124.106401

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Periodically driven quantum matter can realize exotic dynamical phases. In order to understand how ubiquitous and robust these phases are, it is pertinent to investigate the heating dynamics of generic interacting quantum systems. Here we study the thermalization in a periodically driven generalized Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model, which realizes a crossover from a heavy Fermi liquid (FL) to a non-Fermi liquid (NFL) at a tunable energy scale. Developing an exact field theoretic approach, we determine two distinct regimes in the heating dynamics. While the NFL heats exponentially and thermalizes rapidly, we report that the presence of quasiparticles in the heavy FL obstructs heating and thermalization over comparatively long timescales. Prethermal high-frequency dynamics and possible experimental realizations of nonequilibrium SYK physics are discussed as well.
We study the thermalization, after sudden and slow quenches, in an interacting model having a quantum phase transition from a Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) non-Fermi liquid (NFL) to a Fermi liquid (FL). The model has SYK fermions coupled to noninteracting lead fermions and can be realized in a graphene flake connected to external leads. A sudden quench to the NFL leads to rapid thermalization via collapse-revival oscillations of the quasiparticle residue of the lead fermions. In contrast, the quench to the FL shows multiple prethermal regimes and much slower thermalization. In the slow quench performed over a time τ, we find that the excitation energy generated has a remarkable intermediate-τ nonanalytic power-law dependence, τ−η with η<1, which seemingly masks the dynamical manifestation of the initial residual entropy of the SYK fermions. Our study gives an explicit demonstration of the intriguing contrasts between the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of a NFL and a FL in terms of their thermalization and approach to adiabaticity.
While bound states are typically treated as long-lived quasiparticles with slow momentum and current relaxation in a Fermi liquid (FL) phase, this paper investigates their properties within a non-Fermi liquid (NFL) phase exhibiting Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev (SYK)-like ensemble behavior. We establish a fundamental relation between the UV cutoff of the relative scattering momentum, [Formula: see text], and the emergence of this SYK-like physics, a connection which has not been previously explored. We find that [Formula: see text] directly controls the statistical properties of the coupling term. In the limit [Formula: see text], the large number of momentum steps causes the coupling to behave as a Gaussian or Chi-square random variable, fulfilling the conditions for SYK-like chaos. This reveals [Formula: see text] as a tuning parameter for a phase transition: the [Formula: see text] limit corresponds to the NFL phase with ill-defined bound states, while a finite [Formula: see text] corresponds to a (disordered) FL phase with well-defined bound state quasiparticles. Furthermore, we show that pair condensation, which emerges at a critical temperature, competes with and suppresses the NFL phase. Finally, we note that in the case of large-range condensation, a homogeneous character emerges and thermalization is observed, where high-energy eigenstates show low overlap with low-entanglement states.
We study the nonequilibrium quench dynamics of a mixed Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model, with competing two-body random interactions leading to maximally chaotic non-Fermi liquid dynamics and a single body term which dominates at low temperatures and leads to Fermi liquid behavior. For different quench protocols, including sudden switching of two-body interaction and double quench protocols, we solve the large NNN real-time Dyson equation on the Keldysh contour and compute the dynamics of Green's functions from which we obtain effective temperature and relaxation rates. We show that the model thermalizes to a finite temperature equilibrium and that depending on the value of the quench parameters, the effective temperature can be below or above the Fermi-liquid to non-Fermi liquid crossover scale, which can then be accessed through the nonequilibrium dynamics. We identify quench protocols for which the heating dynamics slow down significantly---an effect that we interpret as a signature of prethermalization.
Prominent systems like the high-T_{c} cuprates and heavy fermions display intriguing features going beyond the quasiparticle description. The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model describes a (0+1)D quantum cluster with random all-to-all four-fermion interactions among N fermion modes which becomes exactly solvable as N→∞, exhibiting a zero-dimensional non-Fermi-liquid with emergent conformal symmetry and complete absence of quasiparticles. Here we study a lattice of complex-fermion SYK dots with random intersite quadratic hopping. Combining the imaginary time path integral with real time path integral formulation, we obtain a heavy Fermi liquid to incoherent metal crossover in full detail, including thermodynamics, low temperature Landau quasiparticle interactions, and both electrical and thermal conductivity at all scales. We find linear in temperature resistivity in the incoherent regime, and a Lorentz ratio L≡(κρ/T) varies between two universal values as a function of temperature. Our work exemplifies an analytically controlled study of a strongly correlated metal.
The periodic Anderson model is a classic theoretical model for understanding novel physics in heavy fermion systems. Here, we modify it with the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev interaction, (random all-to-all interaction) thus the resultant model admits an exact solution at large- N (e.g. spin flavor) limit. By analytical field theory arguments and numerical calculations, we establish that the system supports a low-temperature (heavy) Fermi liquid and more interestingly a non-Fermi liquid solution at elevated temperature/energy. For physical observable, the latter one contributes a sharp peak at Fermi energy for spectral function, a non-Fermi liquid-like resistivity and shows a robust Fano lineshape in tunneling spectrum. This system may be simulated by ultracold atom gases and can serve as a good playground for studying ubiquitous symmetry-breaking instabilities like unconventional superconductivity or topological orders in generic heavy fermion systems.
This thesis is devoted to the study of Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) models, which describe matter without quasiparticles. The SYK model is an exactly solvable model that is hoped to bring insights into the understanding of strongly correlated materials.\nThe main part discusses different aspects of SYK models. Chapter 2 presents numerical studies of the SYK models, shows its non-Fermi liquid nature and verifies the analytical predictions on two-point function and thermal entropies. Chapter 3 considers the thermodynamic and transport properties of the complex SYK models in higher dimensional generalizations, we show some universal relations obtained from SYK models which are consistent with holographic theories. Chapter 4 discusses a supersymmetric generalization of the SYK model. We show a different a scaling from the normal SYK model both analytically and numerically. We also discuss a different origin of the extensive zero temperature entropy in mathcalN=2\\mathcal{N}=2mathcalN=2 theory. Chapter 5 considers a continuous set of boson-fermion SYK models with a tunable low-energy scaling dimension. From the explicit computation of out of time ordered correlators, we find the theory is less chaotic in the free fermion limit. Chapter 6 describes the phases of a solvable ttt-JJJ model of electrons with an SYK-like form. We find a mathbbZ2\\mathbb{Z}_2mathbbZ2​ fractionalization picture where the deconfined phase is similar to the pseudo gap regime of underdoped cuprates, while the `quasi-Higgs' phase is similar to the metallic phase of overdoped cuprates.