Finite size matrix elements and thermal correlators in integrable quantum field theories

Gesualdo Delfino A, Giuliano Niccoli

Hendrickje Nadeau

Balázs Pozsgay

In this thesis we investigate finite size effects in 1+1 dimensional integrable QFT. In particular we consider matrix elements of local operators (finite volume form factors) and vacuum expectation values and correlation functions at finite temperature. In the first part of the thesis we give a complete description of the finite volume form factors in terms of the infinite volume form factors (solutions of the bootstrap program) and the S-matrix of the theory. The calculations are correct to all orders in the inverse of the volume, only exponentially decaying (residual) finite size effects are neglected. We also consider matrix elements with disconnected pieces and determine the general rule for evaluating such contributions in a finite volume. The analytic results are tested against numerical data obtained by the truncated conformal space approach in the Lee-Yang model and the Ising model in a magnetic field. In a separate section we also evaluate the leading exponential correction (the $μ$-term) associated to multi-particle energies and matrix elements. In the second part of the thesis we show that finite volume factors can be used to derive a systematic low-temperature expansion for correlation functions at finite temperature. In the case of vacuum expectation values the series is worked out up to the third non-trivial order and a complete agreement with the LeClair-Mussardo formula is observed. A preliminary treatment of the two-point function is also given by considering the first nontrivial contributions.

Hector J. de Vega

Fabian H. L. Eßler, Albertus J. J. M. de Klerk

We study the statistics of matrix elements of local operators in the basis of energy eigenstates in a paradigmatic, integrable, many-particle quantum theory, the Lieb-Liniger model of bosons with repulsive delta-function interactions. Using methods of quantum integrability, we determine the scaling of matrix elements with system size. As a consequence of the extensive number of conservation laws, the structure of matrix elements is fundamentally different from, and much more intricate than, the predictions of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis for generic models. We uncover an interesting connection between this structure for local operators in interacting integrable models and the one for local operators that are not local with respect to the elementary excitations in free theories. We find that typical off-diagonal matrix elements ⟨ μ | O | λ ⟩ in the same macrostate scale as exp ( − c O L ln ( L ) − L M μ , λ O ) , where the probability distribution function for M μ , λ O is well described by Fréchet distributions and c O depends only on macrostate information. In contrast, typical off-diagonal matrix elements between two different macrostates scale as exp ( − d O L 2 ) , where d O depends only on macrostate information. Diagonal matrix elements depend only on macrostate information up to finite-size corrections. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Robin Steinigeweg, J. Herbrych, Peter Prelovšek

The thermalization phenomenon and many-body quantum statistical properties are studied on the example of several observables in isolated spin-chain systems, both integrable and generic nonintegrable. While diagonal matrix elements for nonintegrable models comply with the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, the integrable systems show evident deviations and similarity to properties of noninteracting many-fermion models. The finite-size scaling reveals that the crossover between the two regimes is given by a scale closely related to the scattering length. Low-frequency off-diagonal matrix elements related to dc transport quantities also follow in a generic system a behavior analogous to the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, however, unrelated to one of the diagonal matrix elements.