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arXiv:2506.04520 · Journal of High Energy Physics

Free probability approach to spectral and operator statistics in Rosenzweig-Porter random matrix ensembles

Viktor Jahnke, Pratik Nandy, Kuntal Pal, Hugo A. Camargo, Keun-young Kim A

Published Dec 1, 2025• 7 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A bstract Utilizing the framework of free probability, we analyze the spectral and operator statistics of the Rosenzweig-Porter random matrix ensembles, which exhibit a rich phase structure encompassing ergodic, fractal, and localized regimes. Leveraging subordination formulae, we develop a perturbative scheme that yields semi-analytic expressions for the density of states up to second order in system size, in good agreement with numerical results. We compute higher-point correlation functions in the ergodic regime using both numerical and suitable analytic approximations. Our analysis of operator statistics for various spin operators across these regimes reveals close agreement with free probability predictions in the ergodic phase, in contrast to persistent deviations observed in the fractal and localized phases, even at late times. Notably, the fractal phase exhibits partial freeness while retaining memory of the initial spectrum, highlighting the importance of non-localized eigenstates and associated with the late-time dynamics of cumulative out-of-time-ordered-correlators (OTOCs). Employing distance measures and statistical tools such as the χ 2 statistic, Kullback-Leibler divergence, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov hypothesis testing, we define a characteristic time scale — the free time — that marks the onset of the validity of free probability predictions for operator spectral statistics in the ergodic phase. Remarkably, our findings demonstrate consistency across these different approaches.

DOI
10.1007/jhep12(2025)002

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A bstract Utilizing the framework of free probability, we analyze the spectral and operator statistics of the Rosenzweig-Porter random matrix ensembles, which exhibit a rich phase structure encompassing ergodic, fractal, and localized regimes. Leveraging subordination formulae, we develop a perturbative scheme that yields semi-analytic expressions for the density of states up to second order in system size, in good agreement with numerical results. We compute higher-point correlation functions in the ergodic regime using both numerical and suitable analytic approximations. Our analysis of operator statistics for various spin operators across these regimes reveals close agreement with free probability predictions in the ergodic phase, in contrast to persistent deviations observed in the fractal and localized phases, even at late times. Notably, the fractal phase exhibits partial freeness while retaining memory of the initial spectrum, highlighting the importance of non-localized eigenstates and associated with the late-time dynamics of cumulative out-of-time-ordered-correlators (OTOCs). Employing distance measures and statistical tools such as the χ 2 statistic, Kullback-Leibler divergence, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov hypothesis testing, we define a characteristic time scale — the free time — that marks the onset of the validity of free probability predictions for operator spectral statistics in the ergodic phase. Remarkably, our findings demonstrate consistency across these different approaches.
The Rosenzweig--Porter (RP) random matrix ensemble has emerged as a minimal model for the integrability-to-chaos crossover in quantum many-body systems. Its phase diagram features a region with fractal eigenstates, exhibiting intermediate spectral and localization properties between the fully localized and fully delocalized regimes. In this work, we explore several generalizations of the RP model and determine their level statistics at the scale of the Thouless energy ETE_TET​, which characterizes the crossover. Using tools from free probability theory and the replica method, we compute the full counting statistics in the limit of large system size, and show that it takes a simple, universal scaling form around ETE_TET​, shared across all variations of the model. We validate our analytical predictions using exact numerical diagonalization of large samples, and large-deviation algorithms that resolve the full counting statistics down to probabilities as low as 10−4010^{-40}10−40. We also contrast our predictions with measurements on the quantum random energy model, which is the simplest model displaying many-body localization.
Recent work has proposed fading ergodicity as a mechanism for many-body ergodicity breaking. Here, we show that two paradigmatic random matrix ensembles -- the Rosenzweig-Porter model and the ultrametric model -- fall within the same universality class of ergodicity breaking when embedded in a many-body Hilbert space of spins-1/2. By calibrating the parameters of both models via their Thouless times, we demonstrate that the matrix elements of local observables display similar statistical properties, allowing us to identify the fractal phase of the Rosenzweig-Porter model with the fading-ergodicity regime. This correspondence is further supported through the analyses of quantum-quench dynamics of local observables, their temporal fluctuations and power spectra, and survival probabilities. Our findings reveal that local observables thermalize within the fading-ergodicity regime on timescales shorter than the Heisenberg time, thus providing a unified framework for understanding ergodicity breaking across these distinct models.
The Rosenzweig-Porter model is a single-parameter random matrix ensemble that supports an ergodic, fractal, and localized phase. The names of these phases refer to the properties of the (midspectrum) eigenstates. This work focuses on the long-range spectral statistics of the recently introduced unitary equivalent of this model. By numerically studying the Thouless time obtained from the spectral form factor, it is argued that long-range spectral statistics can be used to probe the transition between the ergodic and the fractal phases. The scaling of the Thouless time as a function of the model parameters is found to be similar to the scaling of the spreading width of the eigenstates. Provided that the transition between the fractal and the localized phases can be probed through short-range level statistics, such as the average ratio of consecutive level spacings, this work establishes that spectral statistics are sufficient to probe both transitions present in the phase diagram. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
We provide a brief overview of approaches for calculating the density of states of quantum systems and random matrix Hamiltonians using the tools of free probability theory. For a given Hamiltonian of a quantum system or a generic random matrix Hamiltonian, which can be written as a sum of two non-commutating operators, one can obtain an expression for the density of states of the Hamiltonian from the known density of states of the two component operators by assuming that these operators are mutually free and by using the free additive convolution. In many examples of interacting quantum systems and random matrix models, this procedure is known to provide a reasonably accurate approximation to the exact numerical density of states. We review some of the examples that are known in the literature where this procedure works very well, and also discuss some of the limitations of this method in situations where the free probability approximation fails to provide a sufficiently accurate description of the exact density of states. Subsequently, we describe a perturbation scheme that can be developed from the subordination formulas for the Cauchy transform of the density of states and use it to obtain approximate analytical expressions for the density of states in various models, such as the Rosenzweig-Porter random matrix ensemble and the Anderson model with on-site disorder.
Abstract In recent years, the Rosenzweig–Porter (RP) ensemble, obtained by adding a diagonal matrix with independent and identically distributed elements to a Gaussian random matrix, has been widely used as a minimal model for the emergence of fractal eigenstates in complex many-body systems. A key open question concerns the robustness of its phase diagram when the assumption of independent and uncorrelated entries is relaxed—an assumption that simplifies its analysis but is generally violated in realistic quantum systems. In this work, we take a first step in this direction by considering a deformed Wishart (rather than Gaussian) random matrix, which we dub the ‘Wishart–RP’ ensemble. Using perturbation theory, as well as the cavity and replica methods and the Dyson Brownian motion approach, we characterize its phase diagram and localization properties. Remarkably, we show that the level compressibility, which quantifies spectral correlations in the fractal phase, coincides with that of the Gaussian RP model, thereby extending the universality conjectured in Venturelli et al (2023 SciPost Phys. 14 110) beyond the fully uncorrelated setting. We confirm our results with numerical tests.
We study analytically and numerically the dynamics of the generalized Rosenzweig-Porter model, which is known to possess three distinct phases: ergodic, multifractal and localized phases. Our focus is on the survival probability \bm{R(t)} 𝐑 ( 𝐭 ) , the probability of finding the initial state after time \bm{t} 𝐭 . In particular, if the system is initially prepared in a highly-excited non-stationary state (wave packet) confined in space and containing a fixed fraction of all eigenstates, we show that \bm{R(t)} 𝐑 ( 𝐭 ) can be used as a dynamical indicator to distinguish these three phases. Three main aspects are identified in different phases. The ergodic phase is characterized by the standard power-law decay of \bm{R(t)} 𝐑 ( 𝐭 ) with periodic oscillations in time, surviving in the thermodynamic limit, with frequency equals to the energy bandwidth of the wave packet. In multifractal extended phase the survival probability shows an exponential decay but the decay rate vanishes in the thermodynamic limit in a non-trivial manner determined by the fractal dimension of wave functions. Localized phase is characterized by the saturation value of \bm{R(t\to\infty)=k} 𝐑 ( 𝐭 → ∞ ) = 𝐤 , finite in the thermodynamic limit \bm{N\rightarrow\infty} 𝐍 → ∞ , which approaches \bm{k=R(t\to 0)} 𝐤 = 𝐑 ( 𝐭 → 0 ) in this limit.