This thesis investigates universality and complexity in classical and quantum statistical physics, with a particular emphasis on nonequilibrium phenomena. While the emergence of universal behavior in equilibrium systems stands as one of the cornerstones of statistical physics, the extension of these ideas to nonequilibrium settings presents fundamental and still open challenges. The inherently diverse and system-specific nature of nonequilibrium dynamics calls for a broad spectrum of conceptual and analytical tools. Furthermore, nonequilibrium dynamics is nowadays accessible to experiments in both classical and quantum regimes. These modern experiments produce a large amount of experimental data, which calls for analysis of physics through data-driven methods, complexity theory and high-dimensional statistics. The possibility of probing and accessing correlated states of matter out of equilibrium in modern experiments raises several questions. Can we understand the output of experiments in terms of complexity theory and dimensional reduction? Is it possible to extend concepts of universality to data structures arising in simulations? Can we describe phase transitions (either classical or quantum) concepts of modern data science? How to control entanglement in quantum dynamics? Which nonequilibrium phenomena can we hope to observe in quantum simulators? The research work presented in this thesis is an attempt to answer to these questions. In this thesis, we argue that order parameters and diagnostics of criticality in nonequilibrium classical systems can be found by unsupervised learning and dimensional reduction, which allow to reduce the complexity of datasets by projections on lower-dimensional spaces, while still preserving essential universal features. We then move to the study of models of quantum dynamics relevant for quantum simulators. In particular, we show that the same concepts of dimensional reduction apply also to quantum systems, allowing for the extraction of information from outputs of quantum simulators. We then study a protocol to prepare complex, entangled states via unitary evolution and enhance entanglement via measurements in a fermionic model. Finally, we study the emergence of anomalous transport in one-dimensional chiral systems with non-Abelian symmetries.
This thesis investigates universality and complexity in classical and quantum statistical physics, with a particular emphasis on nonequilibrium phenomena. While the emergence of universal behavior in equilibrium systems stands as one of the cornerstones of statistical physics, the extension of these ideas to nonequilibrium settings presents fundamental and still open challenges. The inherently diverse and system-specific nature of nonequilibrium dynamics calls for a broad spectrum of conceptual and analytical tools. Furthermore, nonequilibrium dynamics is nowadays accessible to experiments in both classical and quantum regimes. These modern experiments produce a large amount of experimental data, which calls for analysis of physics through data-driven methods, complexity theory and high-dimensional statistics. The possibility of probing and accessing correlated states of matter out of equilibrium in modern experiments raises several questions. Can we understand the output of experiments in terms of complexity theory and dimensional reduction? Is it possible to extend concepts of universality to data structures arising in simulations? Can we describe phase transitions (either classical or quantum) concepts of modern data science? How to control entanglement in quantum dynamics? Which nonequilibrium phenomena can we hope to observe in quantum simulators? The research work presented in this thesis is an attempt to answer to these questions. In this thesis, we argue that order parameters and diagnostics of criticality in nonequilibrium classical systems can be found by unsupervised learning and dimensional reduction, which allow to reduce the complexity of datasets by projections on lower-dimensional spaces, while still preserving essential universal features. We then move to the study of models of quantum dynamics relevant for quantum simulators. In particular, we show that the same concepts of dimensional reduction apply also to quantum systems, allowing for the extraction of information from outputs of quantum simulators. We then study a protocol to prepare complex, entangled states via unitary evolution and enhance entanglement via measurements in a fermionic model. Finally, we study the emergence of anomalous transport in one-dimensional chiral systems with non-Abelian symmetries.
Out-of-equilibrium quantum many-body systems stand at the forefront of modern theoretical physics, addressing fundamental questions on thermalization, transport, and universal phenomena. These fields, already well established in condensed matter, statistical physics, quantum optics, and quantum information theory, are progressively gaining even greater relevance with the rapid development of quantum technologies and simulation, which inherently operate in dynamical regimes. In recent years, the traditional paradigm of unitary quantum evolution has been expanded to include measurements, opening new directions in out-of-equilibrium physics. At the core of these advances lie measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPTs), which have emerged as a new class of dynamical critical phenomena characterizing the general behavior of monitored quantum dynamics. When external monitoring intertwines with unitary evolution, many-body quantum correlations change their structure, giving rise to distinct entanglement phases of matter. This discovery has sparked enormous interest in MIPTs, leading to significant advances in open quantum systems, entanglement theory, and more broadly quantum complexity. Despite much progress, a full understanding of monitored many-body dynamics is far from complete, leaving several open questions on the nature of MIPTs, their experimental observability, and the possibilities offered by measurements to enhance control over synthetic quantum matter. These issues persist due to the intrinsic complexity of the problem and the lack of efficient tools to study it, mainly caused by the stochastic character of monitored evolution. This thesis addresses these challenges by expanding the investigation of measurement-induced phenomena in new settings and introducing innovative probes of entanglement and many-body quantum complexity for MIPTs. A core question we investigate is the role of symmetries, non-ergodicity, and especially integrability in measurement-induced criticality, which dramatically affect the non-equilibrium phases. We further explore how these phenomena extend beyond bipartite quantum correlations to multipartite entanglement and quantum non-stabilizerness, highlighting the non-trivial interplay between measurements and complexity notions rooted in quantum information theory. Finally, we focus on the compelling problem of decoherence, modeling how noise spoils entanglement structures. These findings, supported by advanced numerical simulations and theoretical analysis, deepen the current understanding of entanglement, complexity, and integrability in monitored quantum many-body systems, offering new perspectives on their rich behavior. In parallel, we address the experimental problem of dissipation in MIPTs, which is of key relevance for practical implementations. We anticipate the present investigation to foster future research on the nature of monitored dynamical critical phenomena and, more broadly, the applications of measurements in quantum state evolution.
The study of non-equilibrium behaviors of quantum matter is one of the research directions at the frontiers of condensed matter physics and, in general, of theoretical and experimental physics. Understanding the mechanisms which prevent many quantum particles from reaching thermal equilibrium can ultimately shed light on the foundations of statistical physics and provide insight into the anomalous long-time collective behaviors observed in experiments. In this thesis, we present new theoretical developments in this direction. In the first part of the thesis we discuss the non-equilibrium dynamics of the two-dimensional quantum Ising model, the prototypical model of magnetism. In particular, we investigate the dynamics of interfaces separating different spin domains. In some regimes, we can provide an exact description of their unitary time evolution, but we also discuss the robustness of our predictions away from the exactly-solvable limit. Moreover, we address the same problem in the presence of disorder and provide a hydrodynamic interpretation of our findings. In the second part of the thesis, we investigate the localization properties of disordered quantum systems. In particular, we develop a renormalization-group picture of the Anderson localization transition in generic geometries. This provides a new framework to understand the phase diagram of such systems and their critical behavior beyond the usual finite-size scaling analysis. We also provide further insights on this topic both by studying resonances and their connection with observables and by employing unsupervised non-parametric learning techniques to probe disordered systems in an experimentally accessible form. The results presented in this thesis constitute a step forward in understanding the non-equilibrium phases and regimes of quantum matter and they pave the way to interesting future developments.
Characterizing universal entanglement features in higher-dimensional quantum matter is a central goal of quantum information science and condensed matter physics. While the subleading corner terms in two-dimensional quantum systems encapsulate essential universal information of the underlying conformal field theory, our understanding of these features remains remarkably limited compared to their one-dimensional counterparts. We address this challenge by investigating the entanglement dynamics of fermionic systems along the imaginary-time evolution. We uncover a pioneering non-equilibrium scaling law where the corner entanglement entropy grows linearly with the logarithm of imaginary time, dictated solely by the universality class of the quantum critical point. Through unbiased Quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we verify this scaling in the interacting Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model, demonstrating that universal data can be accurately recovered from the early stages of relaxation. Our findings significantly circumvent the computational bottlenecks inherent in reaching full equilibrium convergence. This work establishes a direct link between the fundamental theory of non-equilibrium critical phenomena and the high-precision determination of universal entanglement properties on both classical and quantum platforms, paving the way for probing the rich entanglement structure of quantum critical systems.
In this thesis we examine universal scaling properties of strongly-correlated systems near and far from equilibrium. We discuss quantum phase transitions at vanishing temperature, multicritical and dynamic critical behavior near thermal equilibrium, and scaling properties of nonequilibrium steady states. We employ nonperturbative methods including the functional renormalization group as well as Monte Carlo simulations. A general outline of the functional renormalization group is given in the introductory chapters. \n \nIn the first part of this thesis, we investigate spinless fermions on the honeycomb lattice interacting via short-range repulsive interactions. Such a system can be seen as a simple model for suspended graphene. The short-range interactions control the ground state properties of the system that may lead to a chiral phase transition from the semimetal to the charge density wave (CDW)/Kekulé ordered state. We determine the universal scaling properties at the chiral transition, and establish the presence of large anomalous dimensions indicating the importance of strong fluctuations. \n \nThe competition of two nonvanishing order parameters and their corresponding multicritical behavior are investigated in the subsequent chapter. We characterize the bicritical and tetracritical behavior in the purely bosonic O(N_1) + O(N_2) symmetric model and comment on possible applications to condensed-matter and high-energy physics. \n \nIn the following chapter we discuss the long-time relaxational behavior at criticality of an order parameter with O(N) symmetry coupled to an additional conserved density. We find an anomalous diffusion phase with new dynamic scaling properties. Using the functional renormalization group we determine the complete dynamic critical behavior of the model in 2 < d < 4 dimensions and compare our results to experiments. \n \nFinally, we investigate the scaling properties of stationary states far from equilibrium. At the example of the one-dimensional Burgers’ equation we develop a novel approach to hydrodynamic turbulence using lattice Monte Carlo methods. We apply these techniques to determine the statistical properties of small-scale fluctuations in this model and identify the anomalous scaling behavior. \n
Quantum chaos concerns the emergence of universal statistical and dynamical prop- erties in quantum systems whose classical counterparts exhibit chaotic behavior. Unlike classical chaos, which can be characterized by sensitivity to initial conditions and exponential divergence of trajectories, quantum chaos manifests itself through a variety of indirect diagnostics, including spectral correlations, operator growth, and information scrambling. Understanding how these signatures arise from microscopic dynamics, and how they can be accessed in realistic many-body systems, is a central challenge in modern physics. This thesis investigates quantum chaos from complementary theoretical and practical perspectives. On the theoretical side, it develops effective descriptions of chaotic dy- namics in many-body systems with approximate symmetries, focusing on how weak symmetry breaking controls the exploration of Hilbert space and the crossover to random-matrix universality. Using perturbative arguments, numerical simulations, and a nonlinear sigma-model formulation, we identify a regime of Hilbert-space dif- fusion in which chaotic dynamics unfolds through a slow, collective spreading across nearly decoupled symmetry sectors. On the practical side, the thesis addresses the question of how paradigmatic chaotic models can be realized and probed in controlled experimental platforms. In partic- ular, it explores quantum simulation schemes for Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev (SYK) models using cavity quantum electrodynamics. By employing time-dependent disorder and Trotterized evolution in single-mode optical cavities, we demonstrate how low-rank interactions can be systematically promoted to effective all-to-all randomness, re- producing the spectral and dynamical signatures of SYK physics. Extensions to open-system dynamics are discussed, including Lindbladian realizations and the role of dissipation. The thesis thus highlights the connections between effective descriptions of quantum chaos and their implementation in controlled quantum simulation settings.
Simulating quantum many-body systems is essential for understanding complex phenomena in condensed matter, chemistry, and materials science. Quantum computing offers a way to overcome the limitations of classical methods by operating directly in exponentially large Hilbert spaces. In particular, classical methods often fail to capture the dynamics of strongly correlated systems, which makes quantum algorithms a promising alternative for exploring these challenging regimes. This thesis uses quantum dynamics simulations to probe the behaviour of many-body systems. We first introduce a spectroscopy-based protocol to extract excitation spectra from the time evolution of observables and analyse its performance on near-term quantum devices. We show that the protocol requires only short evolution times and is resilient to errors, facilitating its implementation on real hardware. Building on this, we simulate fermionic excitation spectra using current quantum devices, introducing resource optimisations - including an approximate free-fermion initial state, a unitary quench without ancillae, and reduced Trotter steps - that significantly lower circuit depth. These improvements enable simulations at system sizes competitive with the state of the art, yielding results that match classical benchmarks. While most studies focus on unitary dynamics of isolated systems, open quantum dynamics is increasingly relevant for describing non-equilibrium processes across biology, materials science, and quantum control. We extend our scope to systems coupled to an environment and governed by Lindbladian evolution. By studying simulation complexity through physically meaningful quantities - such as correlation length and mixing time - we explore whether open-system dynamics can be as tractable as their unitary counterparts. These findings provide insights into the computational complexity landscape of open-system simulation and highlight regimes where quantum methods offer a clear advantage.