Demonstrating the equivalence between the recent theory of Flambaum and collaborators which is based on smoothed strength functions, with the much earlier formulation due to French and collaborators which is based on embedded random matrix ensembles and smoothed transition strength densities, we derive a theory for matrix elements of one-body transition operators in the quantum chaotic domain of isolated finite interacting particle systems with a mean-field and a chaos generating two-body interaction (V). The role of the bivariate correlation coefficient (zeta) arising out of the noncommutability of V and the transition operator (in the theory of Flambaum et al., zeta=0) is tested in numerical embedded ensemble calculations with a one- plus two-body Hamiltonian generating order-chaos transitions.
Interacting many-particle systems with a mean-field one-body part plus a chaos generating random two-body interaction having strength lambda exhibit Poisson to Gaussian orthogonal ensemble and Breit-Wigner (BW) to Gaussian transitions in level fluctuations and strength functions with transition points marked by lambda = lambda c and lambda = lambda F, respectively; lambda F >> lambda c. For these systems a theory for the matrix elements of one-body transition operators is available, as valid in the Gaussian domain, with lambda > lambda F, in terms of orbital occupation numbers, level densities, and an integral involving a bivariate Gaussian in the initial and final energies. Here we show that, using a bivariate-t distribution, the theory extends below from the Gaussian regime to the BW regime up to lambda = lambda c. This is well tested in numerical calculations for 6 spinless fermions in 12 single-particle states.
Random matrix ensembles defined by a mean-field one body plus a chaos generating random two-body interaction [called embedded ensembles of (1+2)-body interactions] predict for wave functions, in the chaotic domain, an essentially one-parameter Gaussian forms for the energy dependence of the number of principal components (NPC) and the localization length l(H) (defined by information entropy), which are two important measures of chaos in finite interacting many-particle systems. Numerical embedded ensemble calculations and nuclear shell-model results, for NPC and l(H), are compared with the theory. These analyses clearly point out that for realistic finite interacting many-particle systems, in the chaotic domain, wave-function structure is given by (1+2)-body embedded random matrix ensembles.
Embedded random matrix ensembles operating in nuclear shell model spaces, with nucleons occupying a finite set of single particle orbits and interacting via a two-body interaction, form the basis for statistical shell model. With sufficiently strong interaction, the level densities in shell model spaces take close to a Gaussian form and transition strength distributions close to a bivariate Gaussian form. In practice, partitioning via spherical configurations (
m~) and angular momentum
J (also isospin where appropriate) are essential. The resulting statistical spectroscopy or statistical shell model was applied successfully in the past in some studies of nuclear level densities, orbit occupancies,
β-decay matrix elements and so on. Going beyond these, recently it is recognized that embedded ensembles, in a better approximation, generate in-fact
q-normal form (
q=1 gives Gaussian and
q=0 Wigner's semi-circle) for density of eigenvalues, bivariate
q-normal form for transition strengths and conditional
q-normal form for strength functions. These then allow us to develop statistical shell model with
q-normal forms. These new developments in embedded ensembles and statistical shell model are briefly reviewed in this paper. Also described, using some examples, is the role of the
q parameter in generating statistical properties of general quantum many-particle systems.
Embedded random matrix ensembles generated by random interactions (of low body rank and usually two-body) in the presence of a one-body mean field, introduced in nuclear structure physics, are now established to be indispensable in describing statistical properties of a large number of isolated finite quantum many-particle systems. Lie algebra symmetries of the interactions, as identified from nuclear shell model and the interacting boson model, led to the introduction of a variety of embedded ensembles (EEs). These ensembles with a mean field and chaos generating two-body interaction generate in three different stages, delocalization of wave functions in the Fock space of the mean-field basis states. The last stage corresponds to what one may call thermalization and complex nuclei, as seen from many shell model calculations, lie in this region. Besides briefly describing them, their recent applications to nuclear structure are presented and they are (i) nuclear level densities with interactions; (ii) orbit occupancies; (iii) neutrinoless double beta decay nuclear transition matrix elements as transition strengths. In addition, their applications are also presented briefly that go beyond nuclear structure and they are (i) fidelity, decoherence, entanglement and thermalization in isolated finite quantum systems with interactions; (ii) quantum transport in disordered networks connected by many-body interactions with centrosymmetry; (iii) semicircle to Gaussian transition in eigenvalue densities with [Formula: see text]-body random interactions and its relation to the Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev (SYK) model for majorana fermions.
In finite many-body quantum systems such as nuclei, atoms, mesoscopic systems like quantum dots and small metallic grains, interacting spin systems modeling quantum computing core and BEC, the interparticle interactions are essentially two-body in nature. Therefore, it is more appropriate to represent the complex Hamiltonian of these systems by random ensembles that incorporate the two-body nature of interactions. These ensembles are generically called embedded Gaussian ensembles (EGEs). The aim of the present thesis is to identify and systematically analyze many different physically relevant EGEs with symmetries by considering a variety of quantities and measures that are important for isolated finite interacting quantum systems.