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:2408.06307 · Physical review. E

Momentum-dependent quantum Ruelle-Pollicott resonances in translationally invariant many-body systems

Marko Žnidarič

Published Nov 4, 2024• 20 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study Ruelle-Pollicott resonances in translationally invariant quantum many-body lattice systems via spectra of a momentum-resolved operator propagator on infinite systems. Momentum dependence gives insight into the decay of correlation functions, showing that, depending on their symmetries, different correlation functions in general decay with different rates. Focusing on the kicked Ising model, the spectrum seems to be typically composed of an annular random matrix-like ring whose size we theoretically predict, and few isolated resonances. We identify several interesting regimes, including a mixing regime with a power-law decay of correlation functions. In that regime, we also observe a huge difference in timescales of different correlation functions due to an almost conserved operator. An exact expression for the singular values of the operator propagator is conjectured, showing that it becomes singular at a special point.

DOI
10.1103/physreve.110.054204

Related papers

Ruelle-Pollicott resonances of diffusive U(1)-invariant qubit circuits

Urban Duh, Marko Žnidarič

We study Ruelle-Pollicott resonances of translationally invariant magnetization-conserving qubit circuits via the spectrum of the quasi-momentum-resolved truncated propagator of extensive observables. Diffusive transport of the conserved magnetization is reflected in the Gaussian quasi-momentum k k dependence of the leading eigenvalue (Ruelle-Pollicott resonance) of the truncated propagator for small k k . This, in particular, allows us to extract the diffusion constant. For large k k , the leading Ruelle-Pollicott resonance is not related to transport and governs the exponential decay of correlation functions. Additionally, we conjecture the existence of a continuum of eigenvalues below the leading diffusive resonance, which governs non-exponential decay, for instance, power-law hydrodynamic tails. We expect our conclusions to hold for generic systems with exactly one U(1) conserved quantity.

arXiv:2506.24097•SciPost Physics•Feb 26, 2026•6 citations

Thermalization rates and quantum Ruelle-Pollicott resonances: Insights from operator hydrodynamics

Carolyn Zhang, Laimei Nie, Curt W. von Keyserlingk

In thermalizing many-body quantum systems without conservation laws, such as ergodic Floquet and random unitary circuits, local expectation values are predicted to decay to their equilibrium values exponentially quickly. In this work, we derive a relationship between said exponential decay rate g ¯ and the operator spreading properties of a local unitary evolution. A hydrodynamical picture for operator spreading allows us to argue that, for random unitary circuits, g ¯ is encoded by the leading eigenvalue of a dynamical map obtained by enriching unitary dynamics with dissipation, in the limit of weak dissipation. We argue that the size of the eigenvalue does not depend on the details of this weak dissipation (given mild assumptions on properties of the ergodic dynamics), so long as it only suppresses large operators significantly. Our calculations are based on analytical results for random unitary circuits, but we argue that similar results hold for ergodic Floquet systems. These conjectures are in accordance with existing results that numerically obtain quantum many-body analogs of classical Ruelle-Pollicott resonances [Prosen, ; Mori, ] by studying unitary evolutions subject to weak dissipation.

arXiv:2409.17251•Physical Review Research•Jun 10, 2026•4 citations

Ruelle resonances in quantum many-body dynamics

Tomaž Prosen

We define a quantum Perron–Frobenius master operator over a suitable normed space of translationally invariant states adjoint to the quasi-local C * algebra of quantum lattice gasses (e.g. spin chains), whose spectrum determines the exponents of decay of time correlation functions. The theoretical ideas are applied to a generic example of kicked Ising spin 1/2 chains. We show that the 'chaotic eigenmodes' corresponding to leading eigenvalue resonances have fractal structure in the basis of local operators.

Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General•Nov 19, 2002•40 citations

Ruelle-Pollicott decay of out-of-time-order correlators in many-body systems

Jerónimo Duarte, Ignacio García-Mata, Diego A. Wisniacki

The out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC) quantifies information scrambling in quantum systems and serves as a key diagnostic of quantum chaos. In one-body systems with a classical counterpart, the relaxation of the OTOC is governed by Ruelle-Pollicott resonances. For many-body systems lacking a semiclassical limit, recent studies have identified an analogous role played by the Liouvillian spectrum of weakly open extensions of the dynamics, where the slowest decay rate-the Liouvillian gap-encodes relaxation. Here we study the kicked Ising spin chain and show that the long-time exponential decay of the OTOC in the isolated system occurs at a rate equal to twice this intrinsic gap. This correspondence is demonstrated across parameter regions exhibiting distinct level spacing statistics, indicating that the Liouvillian spectrum provides a robust framework for characterizing relaxation and irreversibility in closed many-body quantum systems.

arXiv:2510.14886•Physical review. E•Jan 29, 2026•2 citations

Prethermalization, Shadowing Breakdown, and the Absence of Trotterization Transition in Quantum Circuits

Marko Žnidarič

One of the premier utilities of present-day noisy quantum computers is simulation of many-body quantum systems. We study how long in time is such a discrete-time simulation representative of a continuous time Hamiltonian evolution; namely, a finite time step introduces so-called Trotterization errors. We demonstrate that the truncated operator propagator (Ruelle-Pollicott resonances) is a powerful tool to that end, as well as to study prethermalization and discrete-time crystals, including finding those phenomena at large gate duration. We show that the effective energy is more stable than suggested by Trotter errors—a manifestation of prethermalization—while all other observables are not. Even the most stable observable though deteriorates in the thermodynamic limit. Different than in classical systems with the strongest chaos, where the faithfulness time (the shadowing time) can be infinite, in quantum many-body chaotic systems it is finite. A corollary of our results is also that, opposite of previous claims, there is no Trotterization transition in nonintegrable many-body quantum systems. We demonstrate our results on a one-dimensional (1D) kicked Ising model, as well as on a 1D kicked XX model and a 2D kicked Ising model. The truncated propagator is also used to calculate the energy diffusion constant in the tilted-field Ising model with high accuracy.

arXiv:2505.15521•Physical Review X•Mar 17, 2026•1 citation

Solvable relaxation in discrete unitary systems: Ruelle-Pollicott resonances and CMV matrices

Urban Duh, Friedrich Hübner, Marko Žnidarič

Leading eigenvalues of the truncated propagator, known as Ruelle-Pollicott (RP) resonances, are an elegant way of addressing the dynamics of unitary many-body systems. We study unitary propagators in their canonical form, known in the mathematical literature as the CMV matrices, and obtain a number of exact results for RP resonances and the associated norm-diverging eigenvectors. For the simplest CMV class describing a unilateral shift with an impurity, motivated by operator dynamics in dual-unitary circuits, we obtain closed-form results and in particular show that the three independent ways of obtaining RP resonances -- the truncated propagator, analytic continuation of the resolvent, and the rigged Hilbert space approach -- all give the same results. In more realistic CMV matrices, in which shift-like operator dynamics characteristic of chaotic systems is only asymptotic, we rely on the rich theory of orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle and identify two phases. In the first phase, relaxation occurs due to local operators effectively evolving into increasingly nonlocal ones with negligible backflow. Especially interesting is the second phase, which, surprisingly, exhibits faster relaxation because of contributions from the backflow of large operators. Additionally, in the second phase, RP resonances are not equal to the eigenvalues of the truncated propagator, instead, they are ``hidden'' within a ring of ill-conditioned eigenvalues.

cond-mat.stat-mechCross-listedarXiv:2608.28575•Aug 31, 2026•0 citations
We study Ruelle-Pollicott resonances in translationally invariant quantum many-body lattice systems via spectra of a momentum-resolved operator propagator on infinite systems. Momentum dependence gives insight into the decay of correlation functions, showing that, depending on their symmetries, different correlation functions in general decay with different rates. Focusing on the kicked Ising model, the spectrum seems to be typically composed of an annular random matrix-like ring whose size we theoretically predict, and few isolated resonances. We identify several interesting regimes, including a mixing regime with a power-law decay of correlation functions. In that regime, we also observe a huge difference in timescales of different correlation functions due to an almost conserved operator. An exact expression for the singular values of the operator propagator is conjectured, showing that it becomes singular at a special point.
We study Ruelle-Pollicott resonances of translationally invariant magnetization-conserving qubit circuits via the spectrum of the quasi-momentum-resolved truncated propagator of extensive observables. Diffusive transport of the conserved magnetization is reflected in the Gaussian quasi-momentum k k dependence of the leading eigenvalue (Ruelle-Pollicott resonance) of the truncated propagator for small k k . This, in particular, allows us to extract the diffusion constant. For large k k , the leading Ruelle-Pollicott resonance is not related to transport and governs the exponential decay of correlation functions. Additionally, we conjecture the existence of a continuum of eigenvalues below the leading diffusive resonance, which governs non-exponential decay, for instance, power-law hydrodynamic tails. We expect our conclusions to hold for generic systems with exactly one U(1) conserved quantity.
In thermalizing many-body quantum systems without conservation laws, such as ergodic Floquet and random unitary circuits, local expectation values are predicted to decay to their equilibrium values exponentially quickly. In this work, we derive a relationship between said exponential decay rate g ¯ and the operator spreading properties of a local unitary evolution. A hydrodynamical picture for operator spreading allows us to argue that, for random unitary circuits, g ¯ is encoded by the leading eigenvalue of a dynamical map obtained by enriching unitary dynamics with dissipation, in the limit of weak dissipation. We argue that the size of the eigenvalue does not depend on the details of this weak dissipation (given mild assumptions on properties of the ergodic dynamics), so long as it only suppresses large operators significantly. Our calculations are based on analytical results for random unitary circuits, but we argue that similar results hold for ergodic Floquet systems. These conjectures are in accordance with existing results that numerically obtain quantum many-body analogs of classical Ruelle-Pollicott resonances [Prosen, ; Mori, ] by studying unitary evolutions subject to weak dissipation.
We define a quantum Perron–Frobenius master operator over a suitable normed space of translationally invariant states adjoint to the quasi-local C * algebra of quantum lattice gasses (e.g. spin chains), whose spectrum determines the exponents of decay of time correlation functions. The theoretical ideas are applied to a generic example of kicked Ising spin 1/2 chains. We show that the 'chaotic eigenmodes' corresponding to leading eigenvalue resonances have fractal structure in the basis of local operators.
The out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC) quantifies information scrambling in quantum systems and serves as a key diagnostic of quantum chaos. In one-body systems with a classical counterpart, the relaxation of the OTOC is governed by Ruelle-Pollicott resonances. For many-body systems lacking a semiclassical limit, recent studies have identified an analogous role played by the Liouvillian spectrum of weakly open extensions of the dynamics, where the slowest decay rate-the Liouvillian gap-encodes relaxation. Here we study the kicked Ising spin chain and show that the long-time exponential decay of the OTOC in the isolated system occurs at a rate equal to twice this intrinsic gap. This correspondence is demonstrated across parameter regions exhibiting distinct level spacing statistics, indicating that the Liouvillian spectrum provides a robust framework for characterizing relaxation and irreversibility in closed many-body quantum systems.
One of the premier utilities of present-day noisy quantum computers is simulation of many-body quantum systems. We study how long in time is such a discrete-time simulation representative of a continuous time Hamiltonian evolution; namely, a finite time step introduces so-called Trotterization errors. We demonstrate that the truncated operator propagator (Ruelle-Pollicott resonances) is a powerful tool to that end, as well as to study prethermalization and discrete-time crystals, including finding those phenomena at large gate duration. We show that the effective energy is more stable than suggested by Trotter errors—a manifestation of prethermalization—while all other observables are not. Even the most stable observable though deteriorates in the thermodynamic limit. Different than in classical systems with the strongest chaos, where the faithfulness time (the shadowing time) can be infinite, in quantum many-body chaotic systems it is finite. A corollary of our results is also that, opposite of previous claims, there is no Trotterization transition in nonintegrable many-body quantum systems. We demonstrate our results on a one-dimensional (1D) kicked Ising model, as well as on a 1D kicked XX model and a 2D kicked Ising model. The truncated propagator is also used to calculate the energy diffusion constant in the tilted-field Ising model with high accuracy.
Leading eigenvalues of the truncated propagator, known as Ruelle-Pollicott (RP) resonances, are an elegant way of addressing the dynamics of unitary many-body systems. We study unitary propagators in their canonical form, known in the mathematical literature as the CMV matrices, and obtain a number of exact results for RP resonances and the associated norm-diverging eigenvectors. For the simplest CMV class describing a unilateral shift with an impurity, motivated by operator dynamics in dual-unitary circuits, we obtain closed-form results and in particular show that the three independent ways of obtaining RP resonances -- the truncated propagator, analytic continuation of the resolvent, and the rigged Hilbert space approach -- all give the same results. In more realistic CMV matrices, in which shift-like operator dynamics characteristic of chaotic systems is only asymptotic, we rely on the rich theory of orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle and identify two phases. In the first phase, relaxation occurs due to local operators effectively evolving into increasingly nonlocal ones with negligible backflow. Especially interesting is the second phase, which, surprisingly, exhibits faster relaxation because of contributions from the backflow of large operators. Additionally, in the second phase, RP resonances are not equal to the eigenvalues of the truncated propagator, instead, they are ``hidden'' within a ring of ill-conditioned eigenvalues.