Many proposed quantum mechanical models of black holes include highly nonlocal interactions. The time required for thermalization to occur in such models should reflect the relaxation times associated with classical black holes in general relativity. Moreover, the time required for a particularly strong form of thermalization to occur, sometimes known as scrambling, determines the time scale on which black holes should start to release information. It has been conjectured that black holes scramble in a time logarithmic in their entropy, and that no system in nature can scramble faster. In this article, we address the conjecture from two directions. First, we exhibit two examples of systems that do indeed scramble in logarithmic time: Brownian quantum circuits and the antiferromagnetic Ising model on a sparse random graph. Unfortunately, both fail to be truly ideal fast scramblers for reasons we discuss. Second, we use Lieb-Robinson techniques to prove a logarithmic lower bound on the scrambling time of systems with finite norm terms in their Hamiltonian. The bound holds in spite of any nonlocal structure in the Hamiltonian, which might permit every degree of freedom to interact directly with every other one.
I consider a spin chain with nearest-neighbor and next nearest-neighbor interactions. I show that the Hamiltonian obtained by specifying the desired combination of symmetry blocks is a fast scrambler. This is a smaller model than the "minimal model" by Belyansky et al..
Recently, physicists have started applying quantum information theory to black holes. This led to the conjecture that black holes are the fastest scramblers of information, and that they scramble it in time order M log M, where M is the mass of the black hole in natural units. As stated above, the conjecture is not completely defined, as there are several possible definitions of scrambling times. It appears that not all papers that refer to this conjecture interpret it the same way. We consider a definition of scrambling time stronger than the one given in the paper that first proposed this co…
We propose an experimentally realizable quantum spin model that exhibits fast scrambling, based on non-local interactions which couple sites whose separation is a power of 2. By controlling the relative strengths of deterministic, non-random couplings, we can continuously tune from the linear geometry of a nearest-neighbor spin chain to an ultrametric geometry in which the effective distance between spins is governed by their positions on a tree graph. The transition in geometry can be observed in quench dynamics, and is furthermore manifest in calculations of the entanglement entropy. Between…
It is shown that the fast scrambling of information in a black hole can be viewed as Brownian motion of information in a fluid with negative viscosity (and negative temperature). It is argued that a non-local character of the fast scrambling is only an illusion; the stretched horizon with negative viscosity is an amplifying medium that mimics non-locality and superluminal communication.
Given a quantum many-body system with few-body interactions, how rapidly can quantum information be hidden during time evolution? The fast scrambling conjecture is that the time to thoroughly mix information among N degrees of freedom grows at least logarithmically in N. We derive this inequality for generic quantum systems at infinite temperature, bounding the scrambling time by a finite decay time of local quantum correlations at late times. Using Lieb-Robinson bounds, generalized Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev models, and random unitary circuits, we propose that a logarithmic scrambling time can be achi…
The notion of information scrambling is tied to the long-time behaviour of a system and therefore is related to its infra-red dynamics. In fast scramblers, information spreads as a logarithmic function of the number of degrees of freedom. Ordinarily, under an RG-flow, scrambling will become faster in the IR since many degrees of freedom are integrated out, as a consequence of the c-theorem. In this article, we consider a class of Holographic quantum field theories (QFT), which are strongly coupled large $N$ gauge theories with large number of adjoint and fundamental matter, in which scrambling…
Out-of-time-order correlation functions provide a proxy for diagnosing chaos in quantum systems. We propose and analyze an interferometric scheme for their measurement, using only local quantum control and no reverse time evolution. Our approach utilizes a combination of Ramsey interferometry and the recently demonstrated ability to directly measure Renyi entropies. To implement our scheme, we present a pair of cold-atom-based experimental blueprints; moreover, we demonstrate that within these systems, one can naturally realize the transverse-field Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (TFSK) model, which e…
The information loss problem in black hole evaporation is one of fundamental issues. Its resolution requires more profound understanding of information storage mechanism in quantum systems. In this Letter, we argue that when multiple unknown parameters are stored in large entangled qudits, strong chaos generated by fast scrambling in high temperature limit yields an ordered information storage structure with decoupled quantum information capsules (QICs). A rotational isometry emerges in the quantum Fisher information metric. The isometry is expected to be observed in future experiments on cold…
We study the perturbation due to rotating shockwaves in BTZ geometries at late times and analyse the change in Mutual Information between the two subsystems belonging to the dual CFT$_L$ and CFT$_R$. We find that the scrambling of Mutual Information is in general governed by the Lyapunov index $λ_L$ which is bounded by $κ=\frac{2π}{β(1-μ\mathcal{L})}\geq \frac{2π}β$ where $μ=r_-/r_+$ and $\mathcal{L}$ is the angular momentum of the shockwave. For the special case of $\mathcal{L}$=$1$ we find the Mutual Information analytically and show that it is characterized by $λ_L=κ/2$ with the scrambling …
In this study, we investigate out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs) in systems with power-law decaying interactions such as $R^{-α}$, where $R$ is the distance. In such systems, the fast scrambling of quantum information or the exponential growth of information propagation can potentially occur according to the decay rate $α$. In this regard, a crucial open challenge is to identify the optimal condition for $α$ such that fast scrambling cannot occur. In this study, we disprove fast scrambling in generic long-range interacting systems with $α>D$ ($D$: spatial dimension), where the total energy …
Fast scramblers process information in characteristic times scaling logarithmically with the entropy, a behavior which has been conjectured for black hole horizons. In this note we use the AdS/CFT fold to argue that causality bounds on information flow only depend on the properties of a single thermal cell, and admit a geometrical interpretation in terms of the optical depth, i.e. the thickness of the Rindler region in the so-called optical metric. The spatial sections of the optical metric are well approximated by constant-curvature hyperboloids. We use this fact to propose an effective kinet…
We demonstrate that a holographic model of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pair exhibits fast scrambling. Strongly entangled quark and antiquark in $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills theory are considered. Their gravity dual is a fundamental string whose endpoints are uniformly accelerated in opposite direction. We slightly increase the acceleration of the endpoint and show that it quickly destroys the correlation between the quark and antiquark. The proper time scale of the destruction is $τ_\ast\sim β\ln S$ where $β$ is the inverse Unruh temperature and $S$ is the entropy of the accelerating quark…
We study holographic entanglement and information scrambling in de-Sitter (dS) space in the context of the DS/dS correspondence. We find that our previously identified non-local entanglement structure of dS vacua can be extended out of the time-reflection symmetric slice. We extend the geometry to a two-sided configuration and calculate the zero-time mutual information between two intervals on different sides when there is a localized shock wave in the bulk. Interestingly, we find that the information scrambling time saturates the fast scrambler bound proposed by Sekino and Susskind and that t…
Some deep conjectures about quantum gravity are closely related to the role of symmetries in the gravitational background, especially for quantum black holes. In this paper, we systematically study the theory of quantum information for a charged, chaotic system. We show how the quantum information in the whole system has been represented by its charge sectors, using the theory of quantum chaos and quantum error correction, with concrete examples in the context of the complex SYK model. We discuss possible implications for black hole thought experiments and conjectures about quantum gravity in …
Random transformations are typically good at "scrambling" information. Specifically, in the quantum setting, scrambling usually refers to the process of mapping most initial pure product states under a unitary transformation to states which are macroscopically entangled, in the sense of being close to completely mixed on most subsystems containing a fraction fn of all n particles for some constant f. While the term scrambling is used in the context of the black hole information paradox, scrambling is related to problems involving decoupling in general, and to the question of how large isolated…
We compute the disruption of mutual information between the hemispherical subsystems on the left and right CFT$s$ of a Thermofield Double state described by a Kerr geometry in $AdS_4$ due to shockwaves along the equatorial plane. The shockwaves and the subsystems considered respect the axi-symmetry of the geometry. At late times the disruption of the mutual information is given by the lengthening of the HRT surface connecting the two subsystems, we compute the minimum value of the Lyapunov index-$λ_L^{(min)}$ at late times and find that it is bounded by $κ=\frac{2πT_H}{(1-μ\, \mathcal{L})}$ wh…
Collective behavior strongly influences the charging dynamics of quantum batteries (QBs). Here, we study the impact of nonlocal correlations on the energy stored in a system of $N$ QBs. A unitary charging protocol based on a Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) quench Hamiltonian is thus introduced and analyzed. SYK models describe strongly interacting systems with nonlocal correlations and fast thermalization properties. Here, we demonstrate that, once charged, the average energy stored in the QB is very stable, realizing an ultraprecise charging protocol. By studying fluctuations of the average energy st…
Two seemingly distinct notions regarding black holes have captured the imagination of theoretical physicists over the past decade: First, black holes are conjectured to be fast scramblers of information, a notion that is further supported through connections to quantum chaos and decay of mutual information via AdS/CFT holography. Second, black hole information paradox has motivated exotic quantum structure near horizons of black holes (e.g., gravastars, fuzzballs, or firewalls) that may manifest themselves through delayed gravitational wave echoes in the aftermath of black hole formation or me…
The scrambling time and its delay are calculated using holography in an asymptotically AdS black hole solution of the gauged Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton-Axion (EMDA) theory, the dyonic Kerr-Sen-AdS$_4$ black hole, perturbed by rotating and charged shock waves along the equator. The leading term of the scrambling time for a black hole with large entropy is logarithmic in the entropy and hence supports the fast scrambling conjecture for this black hole solution, which implies that the system under consideration is chaotic. We also find that the instantaneous minimal Lyapunov index is bounded by $κ=…
BMN Matrix theory admits vacua in the shape of large spherical membranes. Per- turbing around such vacua, the setup provides for a controlled computational frame- work for testing information evolution in Matrix black holes. The theory realizes excitations in the supergravity multiplet as qubits. These qubits are coupled to matrix degrees of freedom that describe deformations of the spherical shape of the membrane. Arranging the ripples on the membrane into a heat bath, we use the qubit system as a probe and compute the associated Feynman-Vernon density matrix at one loop order. This allows us…
If black holes are not to be dreaded syncs of information but be fully described by unitary evolution, they must scramble in-falling data and eventually leak it through Hawking radiation. Sekino and Susskind have conjectured that black holes are fast scramblers: they generate entanglement at a remarkably efficient rate, with characteristic time scaling logarithmically with the entropy. In this work, we focus on Matrix theory -- M theory in the light-cone frame -- and directly probe the conjecture. We develop a concrete test bed for quantum gravity using the fermionic variables of Matrix theory…
We study a family of weighted random walks on complete graphs. These `democratic walks' turn out to be explicitly solvable, and we find the hierarchy window for which the characteristic time scale saturates the so-called fast scrambling conjecture. We show that these democratic walks describe well the properties of information spreading in systems in which every degree of freedom interacts with every other degree of freedom, such as Matrix or infinite range models. The argument is based on the analysis of suitably defined `Information fields' ($\mathcal{I}$), which are shown to evolve stochast…
We study from the perspective of quantum information scrambling an acoustic black hole modelled by two semi-infinite, stationary, one dimensional condensates, connected by a spatial step-like discontinuity, and flowing respectively at subsonic and supersonic velocities. We develop a simple analytical treatment based on Bogolyubov theory of quantum fluctuations which is sufficient to derive analogue Hawking emission, and we compute out-of-time order correlations (OTOCs) of the Bose density field. We find that sonic black holes are slow scramblers contrary to their astrophysical counterparts: th…
Proof of a Universal Speed Limit on Fast Scrambling in Quantum Systems
Joint Quantum Institute and Department of Physics, University of Maryland（马里兰大学联合量子研究所与物理系）；Condensed Matter Theory Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland（马里兰大学凝聚态理论中心与物理系）
Scrambling is a process by which the state of a quantum system is effectively randomized due to the global entanglement that "hides" initially localized quantum information. In this work, we lay the mathematical foundations of studying randomness complexities beyond scrambling by entanglement properties. We do so by analyzing the generalized (in particular Rényi) entanglement entropies of designs, i.e. ensembles of unitary channels or pure states that mimic the uniformly random distribution (given by the Haar measure) up to certain moments. A main collective conclusion is that the Rényi entang…
We compute the disruption of mutual information in a TFD state dual to a Kerr black hole with equal angular momenta in $AdS_5$ due to an equatorial shockwave. The shockwave respects the axi-symmetry of the Kerr geometry with specific angular momenta $\mathcal{L}_{ϕ_1}$ & $\mathcal{L}_{ϕ_2}$. The sub-systems considered are hemispheres in the $left$ and the $right$ dual CFTs with the equator of the $S^3$ as their boundary. We compute the change in the mutual information by determining the growth of the HRT surface at late times. We find that at late times leading upto the scrambling time the min…
We consider the quantisation of the Artin dynamical system defined on the fundamental region of the modular group. In classical regime the geodesic flow in the fundamental region represents one of the most chaotic dynamical systems, it has mixing of all orders, Lebesgue spectrum and non-zero Kolmogorov entropy. As a result, the classical correlation functions decay exponentially. In order to investigate the influence of the classical chaotic behaviour on the quantum-mechanical properties of the Artin system we calculated the corresponding thermal quantum-mechanical correlation functions. It wa…
Stationary observers in static spacetimes see falling objects spread exponentially fast, or fast-scramble, near event horizons. We generalize this picture to arbitrary cosmological horizons. We give examples of exponential fast-scrambling and power-law scrambling and "de-scrambling" as charges propagate freely near a horizon. In particular we show that when the universe is decelerating, information hidden behind the apparent horizon is de-scrambled as it re-enters the view of the observer. In contrast to the de Sitter case, the power-law scaling suggests that the microscopic dynamics of the ho…
Chaotic dynamics in closed local quantum systems scrambles quantum information, which is manifested quantitatively in the decay of the out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOC) of local operators. How is information scrambling affected when the system is coupled to the environment and suffers from dissipation? In this paper, we address this question by defining a dissipative version of OTOC and numerically study its behavior in a prototypical chaotic quantum chain in the presence of dissipation. We find that dissipation leads to not only the overall decay of the scrambled information due to leaki…
Scrambling, a process in which quantum information spreads over a complex quantum system becoming inaccessible to simple probes, happens in generic chaotic quantum many-body systems, ranging from spin chains, to metals, even to black holes. Scrambling can be measured using out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOCs), which are closely tied to the growth of Heisenberg operators. In this work, we present a general method to calculate OTOCs of local operators in local one-dimensional systems based on approximating Heisenberg operators as matrix-product operators (MPOs). Contrary to the common belief …
We propose an extension of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model that exhibits a quantum phase transition from the previously identified non-Fermi liquid fixed point to a Fermi liquid like state, while still allowing an exact solution in a suitable large $N$ limit. The extended model involves coupling the interacting $N$-site SYK model to a new set of $pN$ peripheral sites with only quadratic hopping terms between them. The conformal fixed point of the SYK model remains a stable low energy phase below a critical ratio of peripheral sites $p<p_c(n)$ that depends on the fermion filling $n$. The scra…
Recent work has studied the growth of commutators as a probe of chaos and information scrambling in quantum many-body systems. In this work we study the effect of static disorder on the growth of commutators in a variety of contexts. We find generically that disorder slows the onset of scrambling, and, in the case of a many-body localized state, partially halts it. We access the many-body localized state using a standard fixed point Hamiltonian, and we show that operators exhibit slow logarithmic growth under time evolution. We compare the result with the expected growth of commutators in both…
We propose that fast scrambling on finite-entropy stretched horizons can be modeled by a diffusion process on an effective ultrametric geometry. A scrambling time scaling logarithmically with the entropy is obtained when the elementary transition rates saturate causality bounds on the stretched horizon. The so-defined ultrametric diffusion becomes unstable in the infinite-entropy limit. A formally regularized version can be shown to follow a particular case of the Kohlrausch law.
Center for Theoretical Physics – a Leinweber Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院理论物理中心——莱因韦伯研究所）；School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study（普林斯顿高等研究院自然科学学院）
The entanglement evolution after a quantum quench became one of the tools to distinguish integrable versus chaotic (non-integrable) quantum many-body dynamics. Following this line of thoughts, here we propose that the revivals in the entanglement entropy provide a finite-size diagnostic benchmark for the purpose. Indeed, integrable models display periodic revivals manifested in a dip in the block entanglement entropy in a finite system. On the other hand, in chaotic systems, initial correlations get dispersed in the global degrees of freedom (information scrambling) and such a dip is suppresse…
How quantum information is scrambled in the global degrees of freedom of non-equilibrium many-body systems is a key question to understand local thermalization. Here we propose that the scaling of the mutual information between two intervals of fixed length as a function of their distance is a diagnostic tool for scrambling after a quantum quench. We consider both integrable and non-integrable one dimensional systems. In integrable systems, the mutual information exhibits an algebraic decay with the distance between the intervals, signalling weak scrambling. This behavior may be qualitatively …
In the current manuscript we perform a systematic investigation about the effects of nonlocal interaction to the spread of quantum information in many body system. In particular, we have studied how nonlocality influence the existing bound on the growth rate of the commutator involving two local operators, the butterfly velocity. For this purpose, we consider the nonlocal theory on the worldvolume of $N\gg 1$, NS$5$ branes arising in the limit of vanishing string coupling, the `little string theory'. A direct evidence of nonlocality can be realized from the `volume law' behavior for the most d…
The onset of quantum chaos in quantum field theory may be studied using out-of-time-order correlators at finite temperature. Recent work argued that a timescale logarithmic in the central charge emerged in the context of two-dimensional conformal field theories, provided the intermediate channel was dominated by the Virasoro identity block. This suggests a wide class of conformal field theories exhibit a version of fast scrambling. In the present work we study this idea in more detail. We begin by clarifying to what extent correlators of wavepackets built out of superpositions of primary opera…
From the entropy argument for the dS swampland conjecture which connects the Gibbons-Hawking entropy bound with the distance conjecture, we find the entropic quasi-dS instability time given by $1/(\sqrt{ε_H}H)\log(m_{\rm Pl}/H)$ as the lifetime of quasi-dS spacetime. It depends on the slow-roll parameter, and contains the logarithmic factor $\log(m_{\rm Pl}/H)$ which can be found in the scrambling (or decoherence) time as well. Such a logarithmic factor enhances the geodesic distance of the modulus from the mere Planck scale, and also possibly relaxes the bound on $m_{\rm Pl}^2 \nabla^2 V/V$.
We study chaos in the classical limit of the matrix quantum mechanical system describing D0-brane dynamics. We determine a precise value of the largest Lyapunov exponent, and, with less precision, calculate the entire spectrum of Lyapunov exponents. We verify that these approach a smooth limit as $N \rightarrow \infty$. We show that a classical analog of scrambling occurs with fast scrambling scaling, $t_* \sim \log S$. These results confirm the k-locality property of matrix mechanics discussed by Sekino and Susskind.
The growth of the "size" of operators is an important diagnostic of quantum chaos. In arXiv:1802.01198 [hep-th] it was conjectured that the holographic dual of the size is proportional to the average radial component of the momentum of the particle created by the operator. Thus the growth of operators in the background of a black hole corresponds to the acceleration of the particle as it falls toward the horizon. In this note we will use the momentum-size correspondence as a tool to study scrambling in the field of a near-extremal charged black hole. The agreement with previous work provides a…
One characterization of a chaotic system is the quick delocalization of quantum information (fast scrambling). One therefore expects that in such a system a state quickly becomes locally indistinguishable from its perturbations. In this paper we study the time dependence of the relative entropy between the reduced density matrices of the thermofield double state and its perturbations in two dimensional conformal field theories. We show that in a CFT with a gravity dual, this relative entropy exponentially decays until the scrambling time. This decay is not uniform. We argue that the early time…
To model the interior of a black hole, a study is made of a spin system with long-range random four-spin couplings that exhibits quantum chaos. The black hole limit corresponds to a system where the microstates are approximately degenerate and equally likely, corresponding to the high temperature limit of the spin system. At the leading level of approximation, reconstruction of bulk physics implies that local probes of the black hole should exhibit free propagation and unitary local evolution. We test the conjecture that a particular mean field Hamiltonian provides such a local bulk Hamiltonia…
We first propose and study a quantum toy model of black hole dynamics. The model is unitary, displays quantum thermalization, and the Hamiltonian couples every oscillator with every other, a feature intended to emulate the color sector physics of large-$\mathcal{N}$ matrix models. Considering out of equilibrium initial states, we analytically compute the time evolution of every correlator of the theory and of the entanglement entropies, allowing a proper discussion of global thermalization/scrambling of information through the entire system. Microscopic non-locality causes factorization of red…
