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arXiv:1906.09228 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Classical glasses, black holes, and strange quantum liquids

Davide Facoetti, Giulio Biroli, Jorge Kurchan B, David R. Reichman

Published Nov 7, 2019• 28 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

From the dynamics of a broad class of classical mean-field glass models, one may obtain a quantum model with finite zero-temperature entropy, a quantum transition at zero temperature, and a time-reparametrization (quasi)invariance in the dynamical equations for correlations. The low-eigenvalue spectrum of the resulting quantum model is directly related to the structure and exploration of metastable states in the landscape of the original classical glass model. This mapping reveals deep connections between classical glasses and the properties of SYK-like models.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.100.205108

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From the dynamics of a broad class of classical mean-field glass models, one may obtain a quantum model with finite zero-temperature entropy, a quantum transition at zero temperature, and a time-reparametrization (quasi)invariance in the dynamical equations for correlations. The low-eigenvalue spectrum of the resulting quantum model is directly related to the structure and exploration of metastable states in the landscape of the original classical glass model. This mapping reveals deep connections between classical glasses and the properties of SYK-like models.
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Glassy dynamics have time-reparametrization `softness': glasses fluctuate, and respond to external perturbations, primarily by changing the pace of their evolution. Remarkably, the same situation also appears in toy models of quantum field theory such as the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model, where the excitations associated to reparametrizations play the role of an emerging `gravity'. I describe here how these two seemingly unrelated systems share common features, arising from a technically very similar origin. This connection is particularly close between glassy dynamics and supersymmetric variants of the SYK model, which I discuss in some detail. Apart from the curiosity that this correspondence naturally arouses, there is also the hope that developments in each field may be useful for the other.
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A generalization of the usual spherical model of spin-glasses is introduced, and its static and dynamic behavior is fully studied. The generalized model is given the name quantum spherical model to contrast it with the usual model which we call the classical spherical model. The results of the quantum model reduce to those of the classical model in appropriate limits. However, the quantum model shows some new and interesting features. The equilibrium entropy of spin-glasses which is negative at sufficiently low temperatures in the classical model is found positive in the quantum version, and it vanishes at zero temperature. The dynamic properties of quantum and classical spherical models are similar except in the infinite time limit when different equilibrium behavior is obtained as expected. The magnetization, order-parameter, and on-site correlations are found to decay exponentially above the transition temperature, and algebraically at and below it in the long-time limit. A closed-form expression for the dynamic susceptibility valid at all temperatures is also obtained. The algebraic decay predicted by our model may serve as a model form of behavior in the interpretation of experimental relaxation data on spin-glasses.
We present the mean field solution of the quantum and classical Heisenberg spin glasses, using the combination of a high precision numerical solution of the Parisi full replica symmetry breaking equations and a continuous time quantum Monte Carlo algorithm. We characterize the spin glass order and its low-energy excitations down to zero temperature. The Heisenberg spin glass has a rougher energy landscape than its Ising analog, and exhibits a very slow temperature evolution of its dynamical properties. We extend our analysis to the doped, metallic Heisenberg spin glass, which displays unexpectedly slow spin dynamics, reflecting the proximity to the melting quantum critical point and its associated Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Planckian dynamics.
We study the long time dynamics of quantum spin glasses of rotors using the nonequilibrium Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. These models are known to have a quantum phase transition from a paramagnetic to a spin-glass phase, which we approach by looking at the divergence of the spin-relaxation rate at the transition point. In the aging regime, we determine the dynamical equations governing the time evolution of the spin response and correlation functions, and show that all terms in the equations that arise solely from quantum effects are irrelevant at long times under time reparametrization group (RPG) transformations. At long times, quantum effects enter only through the renormalization of the parameters in the dynamical equations for the classical counterpart of the rotor model. Consequently, quantum effects only modify the out-of-equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relation (OEFDR), i.e. the ratio X between the temperature and the effective temperature, but not the form of the classical OEFDR.