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arXiv:2206.07670

Energy Transport between Strange Quantum Baths

Ancel Larzul, Marco Schirò

Published Jun 15, 2022• 0 citations
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Abstract

Energy transport in quantum many-body systems with well defined quasiparticles has recently attracted interest across different fields, including out of equilibrium conformal field theories, one dimensional quantum lattice models and holographic matter. Here we study energy transport between \emph{strange quantum baths} without quasiparticles, made by two Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) models at temperatures $T_L\neq T_R$ and connected by a Fermi-Liquid system. We obtain an exact expression for the nonequilibrium energy current, valid in the limit of large bath and system size and for any system-bath coupling $V$. We show that the peculiar criticality of the SYK baths has direct consequences on the thermal conductance, which above a temperature $T^*(V)\sim V^4$ is parametrically enhanced with respect to the linear-$T$ behavior expected in systems with quasiparticles. Interestingly, below $T^*(V)$ the linear thermal conductance behavior is restored, yet transport is not due to quasiparticles. Rather the system gets strongly renormalized by the strange bath and becomes Non-Fermi-Liquid and maximally chaotic. Finally, we discuss the full nonequilibrium energy current and show that its form is compatible with the structure $\mathcal{J}=Φ(T_L)-Φ(T_R)$, with $Φ(T)\sim T^γ$ and power law crossing over from $γ=3/2$ to $γ=2$ below $T^*$.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2206.07670

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Energy transport in quantum many-body systems with well defined quasiparticles has recently attracted interest across different fields, including out of equilibrium conformal field theories, one dimensional quantum lattice models and holographic matter. Here we study energy transport between \emph{strange quantum baths} without quasiparticles, made by two Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) models at temperatures TL≠TRT_L\neq T_RTL​=TR​ and connected by a Fermi-Liquid system. We obtain an exact expression for the nonequilibrium energy current, valid in the limit of large bath and system size and for any system-bath coupling VVV. We show that the peculiar criticality of the SYK baths has direct consequences on the thermal conductance, which above a temperature T∗(V)∼V4T^*(V)\sim V^4T∗(V)∼V4 is parametrically enhanced with respect to the linear-TTT behavior expected in systems with quasiparticles. Interestingly, below T∗(V)T^*(V)T∗(V) the linear thermal conductance behavior is restored, yet transport is not due to quasiparticles. Rather the system gets strongly renormalized by the strange bath and becomes Non-Fermi-Liquid and maximally chaotic. Finally, we discuss the full nonequilibrium energy current and show that its form is compatible with the structure J=Φ(TL)−Φ(TR)\mathcal{J}=Φ(T_L)-Φ(T_R)J=Φ(TL​)−Φ(TR​), with Φ(T)∼TγΦ(T)\sim T^γΦ(T)∼Tγ and power law crossing over from γ=3/2γ=3/2γ=3/2 to γ=2γ=2γ=2 below T∗T^*T∗.
Energy transport in quantum many-body systems with well defined quasiparticles has recently attracted interest across different fields, including out of equilibrium conformal field theories, one-dimensional quantum lattice models, and holographic matter. Here we study energy transport between two interacting quantum baths without quasiparticles made by two Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) models at temperatures ${T}_{L}\ensuremath{\ne}{T}_{R}$ and connected by a Fermi-liquid system. We obtain an exact expression for the nonequilibrium energy current, valid in the limit of large bath and system size and for any system-bath coupling VVV. We show that the peculiar criticality of the SYK baths has direct consequences on the thermal conductance, which above a temperature ${T}^{*}(V)\ensuremath{\sim}{V}^{4}$ is parametrically enhanced with respect to the linear-TTT behavior expected in systems with quasiparticles. Interestingly, below T∗(V){T}^{*}(V)T∗(V) the linear thermal conductance behavior is restored, yet transport is not due to quasiparticles. Rather the system gets strongly renormalized by the bath and becomes non-Fermi liquid and maximally chaotic. Finally, we discuss the full nonequilibrium energy current and show that its form is compatible with the structure $\mathcal{J}=\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}({T}_{L})\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}({T}_{R})$, with $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}(T)\ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{\ensuremath{\gamma}}$ and power law crossing over from $\ensuremath{\gamma}=3/2$ to $\ensuremath{\gamma}=2$ below T∗{T}^{*}T∗.
We develop a general framework for studying the equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties of arbitrary networks of Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev clusters coupled to thermal baths. We proceed to apply this technique to the problem of energy transport, which is known to be diffusive due to the strange metal behavior of these models. We use the external baths to impose a temperature gradient in the system and study the emerging non-equilibrium steady state using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. We consider two different configurations for the baths, implementing either a boundary or bulk driving, and show that the latter leads to a significantly faster convergence to the steady state. This setup allows us to compute both the temperature and frequency dependence of the diffusion constant. At low temperatures, our results agree perfectly with the previously known values for diffusivity in the conformal limit. We also establish a relationship between energy transport and quantum chaos by showing that the diffusion constant is upper bounded by the chaos propagation rate at all temperatures. Moreover, we find a simple analytical form for the non-equilibrium Green's functions in the linear response regime and use it to derive exact closed-form expressions for the diffusion constant in various limits. We mostly focus on uniform one-dimensional chains, but we also discuss higher-dimensional generalizations.
Essentially all high temperature superconductors display a ``strange metal'' regime above their critical temperatures, where electrical and thermal transport cannot be explained within the traditional Fermi liquid paradigm of quasiparticle excitations. This paper focuses on the first, and newly discovered, solvable theory of a disordered metal without quasiparticle excitations, obtained by extending the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) models to finite spatial dimensions. The complete thermoelectric conductivity matrix is computed, and a surprising exact relation is found between the Seebeck coefficient and the derivative of the thermodynamic entropy with respect to the density. These computations are then compared with holographic theories which map strange metals onto black holes in theories of quantum gravity with one extra spatial dimension.
The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model describes Majorana fermions with random interaction, which displays many interesting properties such as non-Fermi liquid behavior, quantum chaos, emergent conformal symmetry and holographic duality. Here we consider a SYK model or a chain of SYK models with N Majorana fermion modes coupled to another SYK model with N 2 Majorana fermion modes, in which the latter has many more degrees of freedom and plays the role as a thermal bath. For a single SYK model coupled to the thermal bath, we show that although the Lyapunov exponent is still proportional to temperature, it monotonically decreases from 2π/β (β = 1/(k B T), T is temperature) to zero as the coupling strength to the thermal bath increases. For a chain of SYK models, when they are uniformly coupled to the thermal bath, we show that the butterfly velocity displays a crossover from a T \sqrt{T} T​ -dependence at relatively high temperature to a linear T-dependence at low temperature, with the crossover temperature also controlled by the coupling strength to the thermal bath. If only the end of the SYK chain is coupled to the thermal bath, the model can introduce a spatial dependence of both the Lyapunov exponent and the butterfly velocity. Our models provide canonical examples for the study of thermalization within chaotic models.
Models for strongly interacting fermions in disordered clusters forming an array, with electron hopping between sites, reproduce the linear dependence on temperature of the resistivity, typical of the strange metal phase of high temperature superconducting materials [extended Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) models]. We identify the low energy collective excitations as neutral energy excitations, diffusing in the lattice of the thermalized non-Fermi liquid phase. However, the diffusion is heavily hindered by coupling to the pseudo-Goldstone modes of the conformal broken symmetry SYK phase, which are local in space. The imaginary time evolution of the extended model in the strong interaction and 1/N1/N1/N expansion limit is presented in the incoherent nonchaotic regime. On the other hand, a Fermi electronic liquid at low energy becomes marginal when perturbed by the SYK dots. A critical temperature for superconductivity is derived, which is not BCS-like, in case the collective excitations are assumed to mediate an attractive Cooper pairing.
This dissertation presents a comprehensive investigation of fermionic quantum matter into the intricate relationship between quantum chaos, thermalization, and their connection to gravitational duals, with particular emphasis on the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model and its extensions. Through an integrated approach combining analytical solutions in the large-N limit with advanced numerical techniques, we explore fundamental questions in quantum many-body physics, including the interplay of chaos and ergodicity, universal transport in non-Fermi liquids, and the role of gravitational analogs in strongly correlated systems. We first demonstrate that coupled SYK lattices evade instantaneous thermalization despite weak charge fluctuations, governed by a discrete wave equation dependent solely on hopping strength, independent of on-site interactions. Thermodynamically, coupled SYK models exhibit critical exponents universal to van der Waals fluids and AdS black holes, yet diverge from the Hawking-Page transition at ultralow temperatures, revealing a continuum of first-order phase transitions. They simultaneously retain the quantum chaotic properties of both a single-dot SYK model and black holes. In extended SYK chains, we identify a universal DC conductivity bound across interaction regimes, identifying crossovers between insulating, Fermi liquid, strange metal, and bad metal phases with signatures of holographic insulator behavior. Quench dynamics in mixed SYK systems reveal rapid thermalization without prethermal plateaus, enabling direct observation of thermalization in closed quantum systems in the thermodynamic limit. To diagnose ergodicity-breaking, we introduce the Krylov variance, a probe of operator localization in Krylov space, validated through mass-deformed SYK and quantum East models. Finally, we uncover Page curve entanglement dynamics and temporal quantum phase transitions in entanglement Hamiltonians of interacting fermionic chains, where symmetry-sector crossings highlight limitations of perturbative calculations performed around initial times, such as in Hawking’s analysis of black hole evaporation. We provide a condensed matter analog of the holographic “island formula” — a mechanism invoking quantum extremal surfaces to resolve the black hole information paradox. Methodologically, this work integrates large-N-type expansions, Keldysh contour techniques, and numerical methods to bridge condensed matter physics, quantum information, and gravitational duality. The results establish SYK-type systems as a universal framework for studying non-Fermi liquids, quantum criticality, and black hole analogs, while paving the way for exploring bosonic extensions and generalizations to open quantum systems.