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arXiv:math-ph/9907016 · Journal of Mathematical Physics

The Lanczos algorithm for extensive many-body systems in the thermodynamic limit

Nicholas S. Witte, D. Bessis

Published Oct 1, 1999• 11 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We establish rigorously the scaling properties of the Lanczos process applied to an arbitrary extensive many-body system which is carried to convergence n→∞ and the thermodynamic limit N→∞ taken. In this limit the solution for the limiting Lanczos coefficients are found exactly and generally through two equivalent sets of equations, given initial knowledge of the exact cumulant generating function. The measure and the orthogonal polynomial system associated with the Lanczos process in this regime are also given explicitly. Some important representations of these Lanczos functions are given, including Taylor series expansions, and theorems controling their general properties are proven.

DOI
10.1063/1.533010

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We establish rigorously the scaling properties of the Lanczos process applied to an arbitrary extensive many-body system which is carried to convergence n→∞ and the thermodynamic limit N→∞ taken. In this limit the solution for the limiting Lanczos coefficients are found exactly and generally through two equivalent sets of equations, given initial knowledge of the exact cumulant generating function. The measure and the orthogonal polynomial system associated with the Lanczos process in this regime are also given explicitly. Some important representations of these Lanczos functions are given, including Taylor series expansions, and theorems controling their general properties are proven.
The classical formalism of the Moment Problem has been combined with a cumulant approach and applied to the extensive many-body problem. This has yielded many new exact results for many-body systems in the thermodynamic limit - for the ground state energy, for excited state gaps, and for arbitrary ground state averages. The method applies to any extensive Hamiltonian system, for any phase or symmetry arising in the model, whether on a lattice or in the continuum, and for any dimensionality. The theorems are of a nonperturbative nature with respect to any couplings occuring in the model.
We suggest a method to compute approximations to temporal correlation functions of few-body observables in chaotic many-body systems in the thermodynamic limit based on the respective Lanczos coefficients. Given the knowledge of these Lanczos coefficients, the method is very cheap. Usually, accuracy increases with more Lanczos coefficients taken into account; however, we numerically find and analytically argue that the convergence is rather quick if the Lanczos coefficients exhibit a smoothly increasing structure. For pertinent examples, we compare with data from dynamical typicality computations for large but finite systems and find good agreement if few Lanczos coefficients are taken into account. From the method, it is evident that in these cases the correlation functions are well described by a low number of damped oscillations.
We study the universal properties of the Lanczos algorithm applied to finite-size many-body quantum systems. Focusing on autocorrelation functions of local operators and on their infinite-time behaviour at finite size, we conjecture that in the large nnn limit, the ratios between consecutive Lanczos coefficients should have specific scalings with the size of the lattice that we make precise and that depend on the hydrodynamic tail of the autocorrelation function. The scaling associated with strong or approximate zero-modes is also discussed. We support our conjecture with a numerical study of different models.
This cumulative doctoral thesis, based on the works [P1–P5], addresses various topical concepts as well as foundational questions in the nonequilibrium physics of quantum many-body systems. Publication [P1] concerns itself with the question of time’s arrow in quantum mechanics. Based on the recursion method, we attribute autocorrelation functions of few-body observables at infinite temperature (almost) monotonously decreasing functions, constructed from temporal derivatives of the correlation function that indicate a directed approach to equilibrium. We numerically find that in chaotic models, these constructions comprise a notion of simplicity of the underlying dynamics. Addressing the ubiquity of simple relaxation dynamics in otherwise complex chaotic systems, in Ref. [P3] we introduce a scheme based on Lanczos coefficients to approximate correlation functions in the thermodynamic limit. Examining several pertinent condensed-matter type models and benchmarking with state-of-the-art numerics, we find the method to yield good results already for a low number of included Lanczos coefficients, provided that the latter exhibit a smooth and increasing structure. We underpin these findings with analytical arguments on the method’s applicability. Ref. [P2] provides an estimate on the equilibration time of such infinite-temperature correlation functions in the thermodynamic limit. Similarly to Ref. [P3], we find the estimate to capture the equilibration times very reasonably, given that the corresponding Lanczos coefficients exhibit a smooth growth. Substantiated by analytical considerations, the convergence of the estimate implies that equilibration timescales of the relaxation processes are finite and conceivably short. In Ref. [P5] we scrutinize the interpretative power of the Lanczos coefficients concerning the system’s integrability or chaoticity, operator growth and the indicativeness of physical behavior. To this end, we analytically deter- mine the Lanczos coefficients for a Majorana observable in a strictly quadratic model and illustrate that within this model any structure of the Lanczos coefficients may be realised. Different to the other works, Ref. [P4] is not cast in the language of the recursion method. Focusing on the full eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, it explores the connection between thermalization dynamics of multi-point correlation functions and the scaling of thermal free cumulants in setups mimicking a system-bath situation.
An analysis of a general non-perturbative technique for calculating ground-state properties of extensive lattice many-body systems is presented, in order to extract accurate numerical values characterizing the ground-state spectrum. This technique, the plaquette expansion, employs an expansion about the thermodynamic limit of the coefficients that are generated by the Lanczos process. For the ground-state energy this error analysis, using theorems on the error bounds for the Lanczos method and the truncation in the plaquette expansion, allows for an accurate estimate when the approximation is taken to a given order. As an example we analyse the one-dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, and find that the best ground-state energy density is within of the exact value, although the systematic error is . We also find, for this model, systematic improvement with each new order included in the expansion and have not observed any asymptotic tendencies. At equivalent orders of truncation we achieve far better results than for the other moment methods, such as the t-expansion or the connected-moment expansion.
We establish a direct correspondence between the Lanczos approach and the orthogonal polynomials approach in random matrix theory. In the large-NNN and continuum limits, the average Lanczos coefficients and the recursion coefficients become equivalent, with the precise mapping b(1−x)=R(x)b(1-x)=\sqrt{R(x)}b(1−x)=R(x)​ and a(1−x)=S(x)a(1-x)=S(x)a(1−x)=S(x). As a result, the two formalisms yield identical expressions for the leading density of states. We further analyze the Krylov dynamics associated with the recursion coefficients and show that the orthogonal polynomials admit a natural interpretation as Krylov polynomials. This picture is realized explicitly in the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble, where all quantities can be computed analytically.