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 localized and delocalized non-interacting disordered models. Finally, based on a scaling argument, we state a conjecture about the effect of weak interactions on the growth of commutators in an interacting diffusive metal.
We study the quantum thermalization and information scrambling dynamics of an experimentally realizable quantum spin model with homogeneous XX-type all-to-all interactions and random local potentials. We identify the thermalization-localization transition by changing the disorder strength, under a proper all-to-all interaction strength. The scrambling dynamics in the localization phase shows novel behaviors distinct from that of local models. The operator scrambling grows almost equally fast in both phases. In the thermal phase, we show there exhibits fast scrambling without appealing to the s…
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…
We analyze the out-of-time-order correlation functions of a solvable model of a large number, $N$, of $M$-component quantum rotors coupled by Gaussian-distributed random, infinite-range exchange interactions. We focus on the growth of commutators of operators at a temperature $T$ above the zero temperature quantum critical point separating the spin-glass and paramagnetic phases. In the large $N,~M$ limit, the squared commutators of the rotor fields do not display any exponential growth of commutators, in spite of the absence of any sharp quasiparticle-like excitations in the disorder-averaged …
We study quantum information scrambling, specifically the growth of Heisenberg operators, in large disordered spin chains using matrix product operator dynamics to scan across the thermalization-localization quantum phase transition. We observe ballistic operator growth for weak disorder, and a sharp transition to a phase with sub-ballistic operator spreading. The critical disorder strength for the ballistic to sub-ballistic transition is well below the many body localization phase transition, as determined from finite size scaling of energy eigenstate entanglement entropy in small chains. In …
The many-body localization transition in quasiperiodic systems has been extensively studied in recent ultracold atom experiments. At intermediate quasiperiodic potential strength, a surprising Griffiths-like regime with slow dynamics appears in the absence of random disorder and mobility edges. In this work, we study the interacting Aubry-Andre model, a prototype quasiperiodic system, as a function of incommensurate potential strength using a novel dynamical measure, information scrambling, in a large system of 200 lattice sites. Between the thermal phase and the many-body localized phase, we …
Chaotic quantum systems with Lyapunov exponent $λ_\mathrm{L}$ obey an upper bound $λ_\mathrm{L}\leq 2πk_\mathrm{B}T/\hbar$ at temperature $T$, implying a divergence of the bound in the classical limit $\hbar\to 0$. Following this trend, does a quantum system necessarily become `more chaotic' when quantum fluctuations are reduced? Moreover, how do symmetry breaking and associated non-trivial dynamics influence the interplay of quantum mechanics and chaos? We explore these questions by computing $λ_\mathrm{L}(\hbar,T)$ in the quantum spherical $p$-spin glass model, where $\hbar$ can be continuou…
We propose a simple solvable variant of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model which displays a quantum phase transition from a fast-scrambling non-Fermi liquid to disordered Fermi liquid. Like the canonical SYK model, our variant involves a single species of Majorana fermions connected by all-to-all random four-fermion interactions. The phase transition is driven by a random two-fermion term added to the Hamiltonian whose structure is inspired by proposed solid-state realizations of the SYK model. Analytic expressions for the saddle point solutions at large number $N$ of fermions are obtained and …
In many-body chaotic systems, the size of an operator generically grows in Heisenberg evolution, which can be measured by certain out-of-time-ordered four-point functions. However, these only provide a coarse probe of the full underlying operator growth structure. In this article we develop a methodology to derive the full growth structure of fermionic systems, that also naturally introduces the effect of finite temperature. We then apply our methodology to the SYK model, which features all-to-all $q$-body interactions. We derive the full operator growth structure in the large $q$ limit at all…
Quantum scrambling plays an important role in understanding thermalization in closed quantum systems. By this effect, quantum information spreads throughout the system and becomes hidden in the form of non-local correlations. Alternatively, it can be described in terms of the increase in complexity and spatial support of operators in the Heisenberg picture, a phenomenon known as operator growth. In this work, we study the disordered fully-connected Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model, and we demonstrate that scrambling is absent for disorder-averaged expectation values of observables. In detail, we …
We investigate how information spreads in three paradigmatic one-dimensional models with spatial disorder. The models we consider are unitarily related to a system of free fermions and are thus manifestly integrable. We demonstrate that out-of-time-order correlators can spread slowly beyond the single-particle localization length, despite the absence of many-body interactions. This phenomenon is shown to be due to the nonlocal relationship between elementary excitations and the physical degrees of freedom. We argue that this non-locality becomes relevant for time-dependent correlation function…
We argue that in a large class of disordered quantum many-body systems, the late time dynamics of time-dependent correlation functions is captured by random matrix theory, specifically the energy eigenvalue statistics of the corresponding ensemble of disordered Hamiltonians. We find that late time correlation functions approximately factorize into a time-dependent piece, which only depends on spectral statistics of the Hamiltonian ensemble, and a time-independent piece, which only depends on the data of the constituent operators of the correlation function. We call this phenomenon "spectral de…
Electronic instabilities in transition metal compounds often spontaneously form orbital molecules, which consist of orbital-coupled metal ions at low temperature. Recent local structural studies utilizing the pair distribution function revealed that preformed orbital molecules appear disordered even in the high-temperature paramagnetic phase. However, it is unclear whether preformed orbital molecules are dynamic or static. Here, we provide clear experimental evidence of the slow dynamics of disordered orbital molecules realized in the high-temperature paramagnetic phase of LiVS2, which exhibit…
The search for a quantum theory of gravity has led to the discovery of quantum many-body systems that are dual to gravitational models with quantum properties. The perhaps most famous of these systems is the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model. It features maximal scrambling of quantum information, and opens a potential inroad to experimentally investigating aspects of quantum gravity. A scalable laboratory realisation of this model, however, remains outstanding. Here, we propose a feasible implementation of the SYK model in cavity quantum electrodynamics platforms. Through detailed analytical and n…
Recent numerical work by Bardarson et. al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 017202 (2012)] revealed a slow, logarithmic in time, growth of entanglement entropy for initial product states in a putative many-body localized phase. We show that this surprising phenomenon results from the dephasing due to exponentially small interaction-induced corrections to the eigenenergies of different states. For weak interactions, we find that the entanglement entropy grows as ξln (Vt/\hbar), where V is the interaction strength, and ξis the single-particle localization length. The saturated value of the entanglement en…
We characterize the growth and spreading of operators and entanglement in two paradigmatic non-thermalizing phases - the many-body localized phase and the random singlet phase - using out-of-time-ordered correlators, the entanglement contour, and operator entanglement. We contrast these phases with strongly thermalizing holographic conformal field theories and fully localized Anderson insulators. We obtain a phenomenological description of the operator and state dynamics of these phases and demonstrate the utility of the entanglement contour and operator entanglement measures as useful probes …
Scrambling in interacting quantum systems out of equilibrium is particularly effective in the chaotic regime. Under time evolution, initially localized information is said to be scrambled as it spreads throughout the entire system. This spreading can be analyzed with the spectral form factor, which is defined in terms of the analytic continuation of the partition function. The latter is equivalent to the survival probability of a thermofield double state under unitary dynamics. Using random matrices from the Gaussian unitary ensemble (GUE) as Hamiltonians for the time evolution, we obtain exac…
We study a quantum particle coupled to hard-core bosons and propagating on disordered ladders with $R$ legs. The particle dynamics is studied with the help of rate equations for the boson-assisted transitions between the Anderson states. We demonstrate that for finite $R < \infty$ and sufficiently strong disorder the dynamics is subdiffusive, while the two-dimensional planar systems with $R\to \infty$ appear to be diffusive for arbitrarily strong disorder. The transition from diffusive to subdiffusive regimes may be identified via statistical fluctuations of resistivity. The corresponding dist…
We present a theory of phase transition in quantum critical paraelectrics in presence of quenched random-Tc disorder using replica trick. The effects of disorder induced locally ordered regions and their slow dynamics are included by breaking the replica symmetry at vector level. The occurrence of a mixed phase at any finite value of disorder strength is argued. A broad power law distribution of quantum critical points and and its finite temperature consequences are predicted. Results are interesting in the context of a certain class of disordered materials near quantum phase transition.
The interplay between the quantum interferences responsible for one particle localization over a length L_1, and the partial dephasing induced by a local interaction of strength U with another particle leading to partial delocalization over a length L_2 > L_1, is illustrated by a study of the motion of two particles put close to each other at the initial time. Localization is reached in two steps. First, before the time t_1 necessary to propagate over L_1, the interaction slows down the ballistic motion. On the contrary, after t_1 the interaction favors a very slow delocalization, characterize…
We investigate charge relaxation in disordered and quasi-periodic quantum-wires of spin-less fermions ($t{-}V$-model) at different inhomogeneity strength $W$ in the localized and nearly-localized regime. Our observable is the time-dependent density correlation function, $Φ(x,t)$, at infinite temperature. We find that disordered and quasi-periodic models behave qualitatively similar: Although even at longest observation times the width $Δx(t)$ of $Φ(x,t)$ does not exceed significantly the non-interacting localization length, $ξ_0$, strong finite-size effects are encountered. Our findings appear…
We use quasiclassical methods of superconductivity to study the superconducting proximity effect from a topological $p$-wave superconductor into a disordered one-dimensional metallic wire. We demonstrate that the corresponding Eilenberger equations with disorder reduce to a closed non-linear equation for the superconducting component of the matrix Green's function. Remarkably, this equation is formally equivalent to a classical mechanical system (i.e., Newton's equations), with the Green function corresponding to a coordinate of a fictitious particle and the coordinate along the wire correspon…
