The SYK model involves N Majorana fermions in 1+0 dimensions with quenched Gaussian dis- order and proves to be exactly solvable in the large N limit at strong coupling. It has been initially proposed by Sachdev and Ye as a model of condensed matter and later gained some interest as a toy model of AdS/CFT correspondence, thanks to the work of Kitaev. On the other side, random tensors are generalisations of random matrices to objets that carry more than two indices. It turns out that the SYK model and random tensors involve a special class of Feynman graphs known as "melons". We will briefly review both constructions. Then, we will show how non Gaussian disorder can be reduced to a Gaussian one, treating the coupling as a random tensor, thanks to Gurau’s Gaussian universality result.
The SYK model involves N Majorana fermions in 1+0 dimensions with quenched Gaussian dis- order and proves to be exactly solvable in the large N limit at strong coupling. It has been initially proposed by Sachdev and Ye as a model of condensed matter and later gained some interest as a toy model of AdS/CFT correspondence, thanks to the work of Kitaev. On the other side, random tensors are generalisations of random matrices to objets that carry more than two indices. It turns out that the SYK model and random tensors involve a special class of Feynman graphs known as "melons". We will briefly review both constructions. Then, we will show how non Gaussian disorder can be reduced to a Gaussian one, treating the coupling as a random tensor, thanks to Gurau’s Gaussian universality result.
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.
Abstract In this chapter, we first review the Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev (SYK) model, which is a quantum mechanical model of N fermions. The model is a quenched model, which means that the coupling constant is a random tensor with Gaussian distribution. The SYK model is dominated in the large N limit by melonic graphs, in the same way the tensor models presented in the previous three chapters are dominated by melonic graphs. We then present a purely graph theoretical proof of the melonic dominance of the SYK model. It is this property which led E. Witten to relate the SYK model to the coloured tensor model. In the rest of the chapter we deal with the so-called coloured SYK model, which is a particular case of the generalisation of the SYK model introduced by D. Gross and V. Rosenhaus. We first analyse in detail the leading order and next-to-leading order vacuum, two- and four-point Feynman graphs of this model. We then exhibit a thorough asymptotic combinatorial analysis of the Feynman graphs at an arbitrary order in the large N expansion. We end the chapter by an analysis of the effect of non-Gaussian distribution for the coupling of the model.
In this thesis, we discuss the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model and tensor models with similar properties. The SYK model is a quantum field theoretical model describing N interacting fermions, whose coupling constants are drawn from a Gaussian ensemble. Noteworthy properties of the SYK model include that it is analytically solvable in the large N limit, that it exhibits conformal symmetry at low energies and that it is maximally chaotic. These properties are remarkably similar to those of a 1 + 1 dimensional Schwarzschild black hole. It has been conjectured the SYK model is a holographic dual to the black hole. We introduce a set of Feynman rules for the SYK model. Using these rules, we show that in the large N limit the diagrams that contribute to the two-point function are all so-called iterated melonic diagrams. This allows us to derive a Schwinger-Dyson equation for the two-point function, which, in turn, can be solved exactly in the infrared limit. We also consider the four-point function. In the large N limit, the leading-order correction to the four-point function is given by so-called ladder diagrams. This allows us to derive an explicit expression for the four-point function. The SYK model can be generalized in a few different ways. In this thesis, we consider the generalization where the fermions act through q-fold interactions instead of quartic interactions present in the original SYK model. In particular, considerable simplifications can be achieved in the q → ∞ limit or q = 2 case, which we study. While the SYK model has many interesting properties, its random couplings limit its usability especially as a dual to a Schwarzschild black hole. We therefore also consider tensor models which do not have this drawback but manage to preserve the interesting properties of the SYK model. In the last chapter, we briefly inspect the chaotic behaviour of the SYK and tensor models and derive Lyapunov exponent for them. It can be shown that the expression saturates an upper bound for Lyapunov exponents of a large class of quantum systems, including large N systems.
The SYK model of Sachdev, Ye and Kitaev is a recent model of N Majorana fermions coupled via quartic random interaction. It has the extraordinary properties of being exactly solvable at large N , having emergent conformal symmetry in the IR, and exhibiting maximal quantum chaos. The confluence of these properties make SYK a highly attractive candidate for a solvable AdS/CFT correspondence. What’s more, it was found to capture elements of non-Fermi-liquid behavior in strange metals. This thesis introduces the SYK model and discusses a recent variant, the SYK∗ model of Marcus and Vandoren. In the latter, the effective action is derived and branches of conformal solutions are discussed. The parameter space of SYK∗ is investigated for large and small M . The former reveals a phase separation and a N critical point in the T−M plane is claimed to exist.
Abstract The Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev (SYK) model is a strongly coupled, quantum many-body system that is chaotic, nearly conformally invariant, and exactly solvable. This remarkable and, to date, unique combination of properties have driven the intense activity surrounding the SYK model and its applications within both high energy and condensed matter physics. In this review we give an introduction to the SYK model and recent developments connected to it. We discuss: SYK and tensor models as a new class of large N quantum field theories, the near-conformal invariance in the infrared, the computation of correlation functions, generalizations of the SYK model, and applications to AdS/CFT and strange metals.
The SYK model proposed by Sachdev, Ye, and Kitaev consists of Majorana fermions that interact randomly four at a time. The model develops a dense spectrum above the ground state, due to which the model becomes nearly conformal. This suggests that a holographic dual may exist, which makes the SYK model interesting in the study of quantum gravity. It has been found that the SYK model is similar to large N tensor models: in both models, only the melonic diagrams survive in the large N limit. In this thesis, we explore the large N tensor model with O(N)3 symmetry containing two flavors of Majorana fermions in the fundamental representation. Its quartic Hamiltonian depends on a real parameter β. We derive the kernels of the four point functions. With the spectra that we find from the kernels, we calculate the scaling dimensions of several types of conformal primaries. We also find a duality relation between two Hamiltonians of different values of β. This is not a perfect duality, because the normalization of energy scales with the transformation. Nevertheless, the ratios of the energies are the same, and the operator dimensions are preserved. In addition, we discover that for β>1 or β<0 the scaling dimensions of one of the conformal primaries become complex, rendering the model unstable.