A bstract We investigate solvable models of heat transport between a pair of quantum mechanical systems initialized at two different temperatures. At time t = 0, a weak interaction is switched on between the systems, and we study the resulting energy transport. Focusing on the heat current as the primary observable, we analyze both the transient dynamics and the long-time behavior of the system. We demonstrate that simple toy models — including Random Matrix Theory like models ( RMT models ) and Schwarzian like models ( conformal models ) — can capture many generic features of heat transport, such as transient current peaks and the emergence of non-equilibrium steady state (NESS). For these models, we derive a variety of exact results characterizing the short time transients, long time approach to NESS and thermal conductivity. Finally, we show how these features appear in a more realistic solvable model, the Double-Scaled SYK (DSSYK) model. We demonstrate that the DSSYK model interpolates between the seemingly distinct toy models discussed earlier, with the toy models in turn providing a useful lens through which to understand the rich features of DSSYK.
A bstract We investigate solvable models of heat transport between a pair of quantum mechanical systems initialized at two different temperatures. At time t = 0, a weak interaction is switched on between the systems, and we study the resulting energy transport. Focusing on the heat current as the primary observable, we analyze both the transient dynamics and the long-time behavior of the system. We demonstrate that simple toy models — including Random Matrix Theory like models ( RMT models ) and Schwarzian like models ( conformal models ) — can capture many generic features of heat transport, such as transient current peaks and the emergence of non-equilibrium steady state (NESS). For these models, we derive a variety of exact results characterizing the short time transients, long time approach to NESS and thermal conductivity. Finally, we show how these features appear in a more realistic solvable model, the Double-Scaled SYK (DSSYK) model. We demonstrate that the DSSYK model interpolates between the seemingly distinct toy models discussed earlier, with the toy models in turn providing a useful lens through which to understand the rich features of DSSYK.
Recent experimental advances on ultracold atomic gases and trapped ions have made it possible to simulate exactly solvable quantum systems of interacting particles. In particular, the feasibility of making rapid changes, so-called quantum quenches, to such set-ups has allowed experimentalists to probe non-equilibrium phenomena in closed interacting quantum systems. This, in turn, has spurred a considerable theoretical interest in quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium. In this thesis, we study non-equilibrium properties of quantum many-body systems in the framework of exactly solvable quantum field theory in one spatial dimension. Specific systems include interacting fermions described by the Luttinger model and effective descriptions of spin chains using conformal field theory (CFT). Special emphasis is placed on heat and charge transport, studied from the point of view of quench dynamics, and, in particular, the effects of breaking conformal symmetries on transport properties. Examples include the Luttinger model with non-local interactions, breaking Lorentz and scale invariance, and inhomogeneous CFT, which generalizes standard CFT in that the usual propagation velocity v is replaced by a function v(x) that depends smoothly on the position x, breaking translation invariance. The quench dynamics studied here is for quantum quenches between, in general, different smooth inhomogeneous systems. An example of this is the so-called smooth-profile protocol, in which the initial state is defined by, e.g., smooth inhomogeneous profiles of inverse temperature and chemical potential, and the time evolution is governed by a homogeneous Hamiltonian. Using this protocol, we compute exact analytical results for the full time evolution of the systems mentioned above. In particular, we derive finite-time results that are universal in the sense that the same relations between the non-equilibrium dynamics and the initial profiles hold for any unitary CFT. These results also make clear that heat and charge transport in standard CFT are purely ballistic. Finally, we propose and study an inhomogeneous CFT model with v(x) given by a random function. We argue that this model naturally emerges as an effective description of one-dimensional quantum many-body systems with certain static random impurities. Using tools from wave propagation in random media, we show that such impurities lead to normal and anomalous diffusive contributions to heat transport on top of the ballistic one known from standard CFT.
In this thesis we develop a systematic formalism that allows the calculation of transport properties for small quantum systems coupled to multiple baths with different temperatures and/or chemical potentials. Our approach is based on a generalization of the projector operator technique, previously used to study the evolution towards equilibrium of systems weakly coupled to a single bath. Applying this technique to a system weakly coupled to multiple baths, we find a dynamical equation for the reduced density matrix of the system (the reduced density matrix is obtained by tracing out from the total density matrix the baths’ degrees of freedom). Integration of this dynamical equation gives the time evolution of the biased system. After a time interval long enough compared to the characteristic time-scales of the problem, the system arrives to a non-equilibrium steady-state. The density matrix in this non-equilibrium steady state can also be calculated directly, avoiding the time-integration of the dynamical equation. In the second part of the thesis we study non-equilibrium steady states and heat transport through short spin chains coupled to two thermal baths with different temperature. Two new definitions for the local temperature in nonequilibrium are proposed, based on local spin and energy at different sites. The definition based on the local energy seems to be more reliable. We find that for small biases, the heat and spin currents increase proportionally to the bias, however non-linear behavior is observed for large biases. The temperature profile of the chain depends strongly on the parameters of the system.
We consider heat transfer in one-dimensional systems with long-range interactions. It is known that typical short-range interacting systems shows anomalous behavior in heat transport when total momentum is conserved, whereas momentum-nonconserving systems do not exhibit anomaly. In this study, we focus on the effect of long-range interaction. We propose an exactly solvable model that reduces to the so-called momentum-exchange model in the short-range interaction limit. We exactly calculate the asymptotic time decay in the energy current correlation function, which is related to the thermal conductivity via the Green-Kubo formula. From the time decay of the current correlation, we show three qualitatively crucial results. First, the anomalous exponent in the time-decay continuously changes as a function of the index of the long-range interaction. Second, there is a regime where the current correlation diverges with increasing the system size with fixed time, and hence, the exponent of the time decay cannot be defined. Third, even momentum-nonconserving systems can show the anomalous exponent indicating anomalous heat transport. Higher dimensions are also considered, and we found that long-range interaction can induce the anomalous exponent even in three-dimensional systems.
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 V. 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-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 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∗.
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=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 V. We show that the peculiar criticality of the SYK baths has direct consequences on the thermal conductance, which above a temperature T∗(V)∼V4 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 J=Φ(TL)−Φ(TR), with Φ(T)∼Tγ and power law crossing over from γ=3/2 to γ=2 below T∗.
A bstract We study the dynamics of chaos across the phase transition in a 2-coupled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model, with a focus on the unstable “hot wormhole” phase. Using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, we employ two non-equilibrium protocols that allow access to this phase, which is inaccessible through equilibrium simulations: one involves cooling the system via a coupling to a thermal bath, while in the other we periodically drive the coupling parameter between the two sides. We numerically compute the Lyapunov exponents of the hot wormhole for the two cases. Our results uncover a rich structure within this phase, including both thermal and non-thermal solutions. These behaviors are analyzed in detail, with partial insights provided by the Schwarzian approximation, which captures certain but not all aspects of the observed dynamics.