Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2407.09396 · Reports on Progress in Physics

A cordial introduction to double scaled SYK

Micha Berkooz A, Ohad Mamroud

Published Jan 10, 2025• 30 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract We review recent progress regarding the double scaled Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev model and other p -local quantum mechanical random Hamiltonians. These models exhibit an expansion using chord diagrams, which can be solved by combinatorial methods. We describe exact results in these models, including their spectrum, correlation functions, and Lyapunov exponent. In a certain limit, these techniques manifest the relation to the Schwarzian quantum mechanics, a theory of quantum gravity in AdS 2 . More generally, the theory is controlled by a rigid algebraic structure of a quantum group, suggesting a theory of quantum gravity on non-commutative q -deformed AdS 2 . We conclude with discussion of related universality classes, and survey some of the current research directions.

DOI
10.1088/1361-6633/ada889

Related papers

Towards a full solution of the large N double-scaled SYK model

Micha Berkooz A, Mikhail Isachenkov, Vladimir Narovlansky +1 more

Abstract We compute the exact, all energy scale, 4-point function of the large N doublescaled SYK model, by using only combinatorial tools and relating the correlation functions to sums over chord diagrams. We apply the result to obtain corrections to the maximal Lyapunov exponent at low temperatures. We present the rules for the non-perturbative diagrammatic description of correlation functions of the entire model. The latter indicate that the model can be solved by a reduction of a quantum deformation of SL(2), that generalizes the Schwarzian to the complete range of energies.

arXiv:1811.02584•Journal of High Energy Physics•Mar 1, 2019•188 citations

Hamiltonian deformations in quantum mechanics, TT¯ , and the SYK model

David J. Gross, Jorrit Kruthoff, Andrew Rolph +1 more

Motivated by $T\overline{T}$, we introduce and study a wide class of solvable deformations of quantum-mechanical theories. These deformations map the Hamiltonian to a function of itself. We solve these theories by computing all finite-temperature correlation functions of the deformed theory in terms of the correlators of the undeformed theory. Applications to $\mathrm{AdS}/\mathrm{CFT}$, Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev, and the Schwarzian theory are considered. We write down the deformed Schwarzian action for an arbitrary Hamiltonian deformation and find that the maximal Lyapunov exponent is unchanged.

arXiv:1912.06132•Physical review. D/Physical review. D.•Aug 31, 2020•92 citations

Complex Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model in the double scaling limit

Micha Berkooz A, Vladimir Narovlansky, Himanshu Raj

Abstract We solve for the exact energy spectrum, 2-point and 4-point functions of the complex SYK model, in the double scaling limit at all energy scales. This model has a U(1) global symmetry. The analysis shows how to incorporate a chemical potential in the chord diagram picture, and we present results for the various observables also at a given fixed charge sector. In addition to matching to the spectral asymmetry, we consider an analogous asymmetry measure of the 2-point function obeying a non-trivial dependence on the operator’s dimension. We also provide the chord diagram structure for an SYK-like model that has a U(M) global symmetry at any disorder realization. We then show how to exactly compute the effect of inserting very heavy operators, with formally infinite conformal dimension. The latter separate the gravitational spacetime into several parts connected by an interface, whose properties are exactly computable at all scales. In particular, light enough states can still go between the spaces. This behavior has a simple description in the chord diagram picture.

arXiv:2006.13983•Journal of High Energy Physics•Feb 1, 2021•31 citations

q-Askey Deformations of Double-Scaled SYK

Sergio E. Aguilar-Gutierrez, Trivko Kukolj, Josef Seitz

We construct families of deformations of the double-scaled SYK (DSSYK) model and investigate their bulk interpretation. We introduce microscopic deformations of the SYK model which, after ensemble averaging and in the double-scaling limit, are described by a transfer matrix encoding the recurrence relations of basic orthogonal polynomials in the q-Askey scheme. For certain families of deformations in the semiclassical limit at finite temperature, the chord number (encoding Krylov complexity) corresponds to the length of an Einstein-Rosen bridge connecting an End-Of-The-World brane to an anti-de Sitter asymptotic boundary. By increasing one of the deformation parameters, the models eventually exhibit discrete energy levels, signaling a new geometric transition in sine dilaton gravity. Via the SYK-Schur duality, Krylov complexity also admits a representation-theoretic interpretation as the spread of the SU(2) spin in the index of an $\mathcal{N}=2$ SU(2) gauge theory. We study the operator algebras of the deformed theories. The algebras can be type II$_1$ or type I$_\infty$ factors, depending on the operators that are included. The entanglement entropy between the type II$_1$ algebras for a pure state manifests as an extremal surface through the Ryu-Takayanagi formula. We discuss connections between our results and the emergence of baby universes in the bulk.

hep-thCross-listedarXiv:2605.13956•May 15, 2026

Path integral for chord diagrams and chaotic-integrable transitions in double scaled SYK

Micha Berkooz A, Nadav Brukner, Yiyang Jia +1 more

We study transitions from chaotic to integrable Hamiltonians in the double scaled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) and p -spin systems. The dynamics of our models is described by chord diagrams with two species. We begin by developing a path integral formalism of coarse graining chord diagrams with a single species of chords, which has the same equations of motion as the bilocal ( G Σ ) Liouville action, yet appears otherwise to be different and in particular well defined. We then develop a similar formalism for two types of chords, allowing us to study different types of deformations of double scaled SYK and in particular a deformation by an integrable Hamiltonian. The system has two distinct thermodynamic phases: one is continuously connected to the chaotic SYK Hamiltonian, the other is continuously connected to the integrable Hamiltonian, separated at low temperature by a first order phase transition. We also analyze the phase diagram for generic deformations, which in some cases includes a zero-temperature phase transition. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

arXiv:2403.05980•Physical review. D/Physical review. D.•Nov 26, 2024•14 citations

Combinatorial aspects of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model

Matteo Laudonio, Romain Pascalie, Adrian Tanasă

The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model is a model of $q$ interacting fermions whose large N limit is dominated by melonic graphs. In this review we first present a diagrammatic proof of that result by direct, combinatorial analysis of its Feynman graphs. Gross and Rosenhaus have then proposed a generalization of the SYK model which involves fermions with different flavors. In terms of Feynman graphs, these flavors can be seen as reminiscent of the colors used in random tensor theory. Applying modern tools from random tensors to such a colored SYK model, all leading and next-to-leading orders diagrams of the 2-point and 4-point functions in the large $N$ expansion can be identified. We then study the effect of non-Gaussian average over the random couplings in a complex, colored version of the SYK model. Using a Polchinski-like equation and random tensor Gaussian universality, we show that the effect of this non-Gaussian averaging leads to a modification of the variance of the Gaussian distribution of couplings at leading order in $N$. We then derive the form of the effective action to all orders.

arXiv:2001.11849•Jan 31, 2020•28 citations
Abstract We review recent progress regarding the double scaled Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev model and other p -local quantum mechanical random Hamiltonians. These models exhibit an expansion using chord diagrams, which can be solved by combinatorial methods. We describe exact results in these models, including their spectrum, correlation functions, and Lyapunov exponent. In a certain limit, these techniques manifest the relation to the Schwarzian quantum mechanics, a theory of quantum gravity in AdS 2 . More generally, the theory is controlled by a rigid algebraic structure of a quantum group, suggesting a theory of quantum gravity on non-commutative q -deformed AdS 2 . We conclude with discussion of related universality classes, and survey some of the current research directions.
Abstract We compute the exact, all energy scale, 4-point function of the large N doublescaled SYK model, by using only combinatorial tools and relating the correlation functions to sums over chord diagrams. We apply the result to obtain corrections to the maximal Lyapunov exponent at low temperatures. We present the rules for the non-perturbative diagrammatic description of correlation functions of the entire model. The latter indicate that the model can be solved by a reduction of a quantum deformation of SL(2), that generalizes the Schwarzian to the complete range of energies.
Motivated by TT‾T\overline{T}TT, we introduce and study a wide class of solvable deformations of quantum-mechanical theories. These deformations map the Hamiltonian to a function of itself. We solve these theories by computing all finite-temperature correlation functions of the deformed theory in terms of the correlators of the undeformed theory. Applications to AdS/CFT\mathrm{AdS}/\mathrm{CFT}AdS/CFT, Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev, and the Schwarzian theory are considered. We write down the deformed Schwarzian action for an arbitrary Hamiltonian deformation and find that the maximal Lyapunov exponent is unchanged.
Abstract We solve for the exact energy spectrum, 2-point and 4-point functions of the complex SYK model, in the double scaling limit at all energy scales. This model has a U(1) global symmetry. The analysis shows how to incorporate a chemical potential in the chord diagram picture, and we present results for the various observables also at a given fixed charge sector. In addition to matching to the spectral asymmetry, we consider an analogous asymmetry measure of the 2-point function obeying a non-trivial dependence on the operator’s dimension. We also provide the chord diagram structure for an SYK-like model that has a U(M) global symmetry at any disorder realization. We then show how to exactly compute the effect of inserting very heavy operators, with formally infinite conformal dimension. The latter separate the gravitational spacetime into several parts connected by an interface, whose properties are exactly computable at all scales. In particular, light enough states can still go between the spaces. This behavior has a simple description in the chord diagram picture.
We construct families of deformations of the double-scaled SYK (DSSYK) model and investigate their bulk interpretation. We introduce microscopic deformations of the SYK model which, after ensemble averaging and in the double-scaling limit, are described by a transfer matrix encoding the recurrence relations of basic orthogonal polynomials in the q-Askey scheme. For certain families of deformations in the semiclassical limit at finite temperature, the chord number (encoding Krylov complexity) corresponds to the length of an Einstein-Rosen bridge connecting an End-Of-The-World brane to an anti-de Sitter asymptotic boundary. By increasing one of the deformation parameters, the models eventually exhibit discrete energy levels, signaling a new geometric transition in sine dilaton gravity. Via the SYK-Schur duality, Krylov complexity also admits a representation-theoretic interpretation as the spread of the SU(2) spin in the index of an N=2\mathcal{N}=2N=2 SU(2) gauge theory. We study the operator algebras of the deformed theories. The algebras can be type II1_11​ or type I∞_\infty∞​ factors, depending on the operators that are included. The entanglement entropy between the type II1_11​ algebras for a pure state manifests as an extremal surface through the Ryu-Takayanagi formula. We discuss connections between our results and the emergence of baby universes in the bulk.
We study transitions from chaotic to integrable Hamiltonians in the double scaled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) and p -spin systems. The dynamics of our models is described by chord diagrams with two species. We begin by developing a path integral formalism of coarse graining chord diagrams with a single species of chords, which has the same equations of motion as the bilocal ( G Σ ) Liouville action, yet appears otherwise to be different and in particular well defined. We then develop a similar formalism for two types of chords, allowing us to study different types of deformations of double scaled SYK and in particular a deformation by an integrable Hamiltonian. The system has two distinct thermodynamic phases: one is continuously connected to the chaotic SYK Hamiltonian, the other is continuously connected to the integrable Hamiltonian, separated at low temperature by a first order phase transition. We also analyze the phase diagram for generic deformations, which in some cases includes a zero-temperature phase transition. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model is a model of qqq interacting fermions whose large N limit is dominated by melonic graphs. In this review we first present a diagrammatic proof of that result by direct, combinatorial analysis of its Feynman graphs. Gross and Rosenhaus have then proposed a generalization of the SYK model which involves fermions with different flavors. In terms of Feynman graphs, these flavors can be seen as reminiscent of the colors used in random tensor theory. Applying modern tools from random tensors to such a colored SYK model, all leading and next-to-leading orders diagrams of the 2-point and 4-point functions in the large NNN expansion can be identified. We then study the effect of non-Gaussian average over the random couplings in a complex, colored version of the SYK model. Using a Polchinski-like equation and random tensor Gaussian universality, we show that the effect of this non-Gaussian averaging leads to a modification of the variance of the Gaussian distribution of couplings at leading order in NNN. We then derive the form of the effective action to all orders.