Contributor info: Mr Ward Vleeshouwers

Diego Liska, Vladimir Gritsev, Ward Vleeshouwers, Jiří Minář

SciPost Phys. 15, 106 (2023) · published 20 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

We discuss a construction of quantum many-body scars in the context of holography. We consider two-dimensional conformal field theories and use their dynamical symmetries, naturally realized through the Virasoro algebra, to construct scarred states. By studying their Loschmidt amplitude, we evaluate the states' periodic properties. A geometrical interpretation allows us to compute the expectation value of the stress tensor and entanglement entropy of these scarred states. We show that their holographic dual is related by a diffeomorphism to empty AdS, even for energies above the black hole threshold. We also demonstrate that expectation values in the scarred states are generally non-thermal and that their entanglement entropy grows with the energy as $\log(E)$ in contrast to $\sqrt{E}$ for the typical (bulk) states. Furthermore, we identify fixed points on the CFT plane associated with divergent or vanishing entanglement entropy in the limit where the scarred states have infinite energy.

Ward L. Vleeshouwers, Vladimir Gritsev

SciPost Phys. Core 5, 051 (2022) · published 1 December 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

The Spectral Form Factor (SFF) is a convenient tool for the characterization of eigenvalue statistics of systems with discrete spectra, and thus serves as a proxy for quantum chaoticity. This work presents an analytical calculation of the SFF of the Chern-Simons Matrix Model (CSMM), which was first introduced to describe the intermediate level statistics of disordered electrons at the mobility edge. The CSMM is characterized by a parameter $ 0 \leq q\leq 1$, where the Circular Unitary Ensemble (CUE) is recovered for $q\to 0$. The CSMM was later found as a matrix model description of $U(N)$ Chern-Simons theory on $S^3$, which is dual to a topological string theory characterized by string coupling $g_s=-\log q$. The spectral form factor is proportional to a colored HOMFLY invariant of a $(2n,2)$-torus link with its two components carrying the fundamental and antifundamental representations, respectively. We check that taking $N \to \infty$ whilst keeping $q<1$ reduces the connected SFF to an exact linear ramp of unit slope, confirming the main result from arXiv:2012.11703 for the specific case of the CSMM. We then consider the `t Hooft limit, where $N \to \infty$ and $q \to 1^-$ such that $y = q^N $ remains finite. As we take $q\to 1^-$, this constitutes the opposite extreme of the CUE limit. In the `t Hooft limit, the connected SFF turns into a remarkable sequence of polynomials which, as far as the authors are aware, have not appeared in the literature thus far. A gap opens in the spectrum and, after unfolding by a constant rescaling, the connected SFF approximates a linear ramp of unit slope for all $y$ except $y \approx 1$, where the connected SFF goes to zero. We thus find that, although the CSMM was introduced to describe intermediate statistics and the `t Hooft limit is the opposite limit of the CUE, we still recover Wigner-Dyson universality for all $y$ except $y\approx 1$.

Ward L. Vleeshouwers, Vladimir Gritsev

SciPost Phys. 10, 146 (2021) · published 16 June 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

Random matrix models provide a phenomenological description of a vast variety of physical phenomena. Prominent examples include the eigenvalue statistics of quantum (chaotic) systems, which are characterized by the spectral form factor (SFF). Here, we calculate the SFF of unitary matrix ensembles of infinite order with the weight function satisfying the assumptions of Szegö’s limit theorem. We then consider a parameter-dependent critical ensemble which has intermediate statistics characteristic of ergodic-to-nonergodic transitions such as the Anderson localization transition. This same ensemble is the matrix model of $U(N)$ Chern-Simons theory on $S^3$ , and the SFF of this ensemble is proportional to the HOMFLY invariant of (2n,2)-torus links with one component in the fundamental and one in the antifundamental representation. This is one example of a large class of ensembles with intermediate statistics arising from topological field and string theories. Indeed, the absence of a local order parameter suggests that it is natural to characterize ergodic-to-nonergodic transitions using topological tools, such as we have done here.