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arXiv:2102.06651

Coupled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev models without Schwartzian dominance

Alexey Milekhin

Published Feb 12, 2021• 7 citations
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Abstract

We argue that in certain class of coupled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev(SYK) models the low energy physics at large N is governed by a non-local action rather than the Schwartzian action. We present a partial analytic and extensive numerical evidence for this. We find that these models are maximally chaotic and have the same residual entropy as Majorana SYK. However, thermodynamic quantities, such as heat capacity and diffusion constant are different.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2102.06651

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We argue that in certain class of coupled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev(SYK) models the low energy physics at large N is governed by a non-local action rather than the Schwartzian action. We present a partial analytic and extensive numerical evidence for this. We find that these models are maximally chaotic and have the same residual entropy as Majorana SYK. However, thermodynamic quantities, such as heat capacity and diffusion constant are different.
Abstract We continue the investigation of coupled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) models without Schwarzian action dominance. Like the original SYK, at large N and low energies these models have an approximate reparametrization symmetry. However, the dominant action for reparametrizations is non-local due to the presence of irrelevant local operator with small conformal dimension. We semi-analytically study different thermodynamic properties and the 4-point function and demonstrate that they significantly differ from the Schwarzian prediction. However, the residual entropy and maximal chaos exponent are the same as in Majorana SYK. We also discuss chain models and finite N corrections.
We present an exact solution in the large-NNN limit of the Lévy Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (LSYK) model introduced in Ref. [1], wherein the couplings are drawn from a Lévy Stable distribution parameterized by a tail exponent μ∈[0,2]μ\in [0, 2]μ∈[0,2]. Starting from the Hamiltonian and its associated partition function, we highlight the key differences from the standard Gaussian SYK model and derive the large-NNN Schwinger-Dyson equations via a bosonic oscillator representation of the action. These equations are solved both numerically and analytically in the large-qqq and infrared limits. We subsequently analyze the chaotic properties of the model by computing the Krylov exponent from the large-qqq Green's function and extracting the Lyapunov exponent from the 444-point function. The parameter μμμ continuously interpolates between a free theory at μ=0μ= 0μ=0 and the conventional, maximally chaotic Gaussian SYK model at μ=2μ= 2μ=2, with non-maximal chaos persisting throughout the intermediate regime 0<μ<20 < μ< 20<μ<2. Thermodynamic quantities, including the entropy, free energy, average energy, and specific heat capacity, are computed and compared with their Gaussian SYK counterparts. The interpretations of the thermodynamics are discussed with respect to the holographic dual and non-Fermi liquid theory. Finally, we discuss an alternative representation of the LSYK model based on a distinct decomposition of the Lévy Stable distribution, which establishes a non-trivial connection to Gaussian SYK, and provide supporting analytical and numerical results in the appendices.
We discuss a supersymmetric generalization of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model. These are quantum mechanical models involving NNN Majorana fermions. The supercharge is given by a polynomial expression in terms of the Majorana fermions with random coefficients. The Hamiltonian is the square of the supercharge. The N=1\mathcal{N}=1N=1 model with a single supercharge has unbroken supersymmetry at large NNN, but nonperturbatively spontaneously broken supersymmetry in the exact theory. We analyze the model by looking at the large NNN equation, and also by performing numerical computations for small values of NNN. We also compute the large NNN spectrum of ``singlet'' operators, where we find a structure qualitatively similar to the ordinary SYK model. We also discuss an N=2\mathcal{N}=2N=2 version. In this case, the model preserves supersymmetry in the exact theory and we can compute a suitably weighted Witten index to count the number of ground states, which agrees with the large NNN computation of the entropy. In both cases, we discuss the supersymmetric generalizations of the Schwarzian action which give the dominant effects at low energies.
We study a class of Sachdev, Ye, and Kitaev (SYK) models with N = 2 supersymmetry, described by N fermions in chiral Fermi multiplets, as well as α N first-order bosons in chiral multiplets. The interactions are characterized by two integers ( p , q ) . We focus on the large N and low energy limit of these models. Despite the presence of dynamical bosons, we find conformal behavior akin to the standard SYK model. We use I -extremization of a Witten index to study the supersymmetric solutions. In particular, we find an exact expression for the entropy, which matches the numerical solutions to the Schwinger-Dyson equations. We further solve the model both in the large p and large p , q limits. Numerically, we verify our analytical results and obtain estimates for the Schwarzian coupling in the near zero-temperature limit. We also study the low-lying spectrum of operators to determine the parameter ranges where the Schwarzian mode dominates the IR dynamics. Lastly, we study out-of-time-ordered correlators to show that the model is maximally chaotic.
The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis is a compelling conjecture which strives to explain the apparent thermal behavior of generic observables in closed quantum systems. Although we are far from a complete analytic understanding, quantum chaos is often seen as a strong indication that the ansatz holds true. In this paper, we address the thermalization of energy eigenstates in the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model, a maximally chaotic model of strongly-interacting Majorana fermions. We numerically investigate eigenstate thermalization for specific few-body operators in the original SYK model as well as its N \mathcal{N} N = 1 supersymmetric extension and find evidence that these models satisfy ETH. We discuss the implications of ETH for a gravitational dual and the quantum information-theoretic properties of SYK it suggests.
The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) is a conjecture on the nature of isolated quantum systems that guarantees the thermal behavior of subsystems when it is satisfied. ETH has been tested in various forms on a number of local many-body interacting systems. Here we examine the validity of ETH in a class of nonlocal disordered many-body interacting systems --- the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Majorana (SYK) models --- that may be tuned from chaotic behavior to integrability. Our analysis shows that SYK4_44​ (with quartic couplings) which is maximally chaotic in the large system size limit satisfies the standard ETH scaling while SYK2_22​ (with quadratic couplings), which is integrable, does not. We show that the low-energy and high-energy properties are affected drastically differently when the two Hamiltonians are mixed.