Thermofield Double State Research Articles

Baby universe operators in the ETH matrix model of double-scaled SYK

We consider the baby universe operator Ba\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\mathcal{B}}_a $$\\end{document} in the double-scaled SYK (DSSYK) model, which creates a baby universe of size a. We find that Ba\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\mathcal{B}}_a $$\\end{document} is written in terms of the transfer matrix T, and vice versa. In particular, the identity operator on the chord Hilbert space is expanded as a linear combination of Ba\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\mathcal{B}}_a $$\\end{document}, which implies that the disk partition function of DSSYK is written as a linear combination of trumpets. We also find that the thermofield double state of DSSYK is generated by a pair of baby universe operators, which corresponds to a double trumpet. This can be thought of as a concrete realization of the idea of ER=EPR.

TT¯ deformation on non-Hermitian two coupled SYK model

We investigate TT¯ deformation on non-Hermitian coupled Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model and the holographic picture. The relationship between ground state and thermofield double state is preserved under the TT¯ deformation. We prove that TT¯ deformed theory provides a reparametrization in large N limit. We numerically calculate the deformation effects on the correlation function in imaginary time and the free energy. The thermodynamic phase structures show the equivalence of the wormhole-black hole picture between non-Hermitian model and Hermitian model still holds under TT¯ deformation. The correlation function in Lorentz time, revival dynamic, and the deformed holography are also evaluated. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Spread and spectral complexity in quantum spin chains: from integrability to chaos

We explore spread and spectral complexity in quantum systems that exhibit a transition from integrability to chaos, namely the mixed-field Ising model and the next-to-nearest-neighbor deformation of the Heisenberg XXZ spin chain. We corroborate the observation that the presence of a peak in spread complexity before its saturation, is a characteristic feature in chaotic systems. We find that, in general, the saturation value of spread complexity post-peak depends not only on the spectral statistics of the Hamiltonian, but also on the specific state. However, there appears to be a maximal universal bound determined by the symmetries and dimension of the Hamiltonian, which is realized by the thermofield double state (TFD) at infinite temperature. We also find that the time scales at which the spread complexity and spectral form factor change their behaviour agree with each other and are independent of the chaotic properties of the systems. In the case of spectral complexity, we identify that the key factor determining its saturation value and timescale in chaotic systems is given by minimum energy difference in the theory’s spectrum. This explains observations made in the literature regarding its earlier saturation in chaotic systems compared to their integrable counterparts. We conclude by discussing the properties of the TFD which, we conjecture, make it suitable for probing signatures of chaos in quantum many-body systems.

Approximate Quantum Codes From Long Wormholes

We discuss families of approximate quantum error correcting codes which arise as the nearly-degenerate ground states of certain quantum many-body Hamiltonians composed of non-commuting terms. For exact codes, the conditions for error correction can be formulated in terms of the vanishing of a two-sided mutual information in a low-temperature thermofield double state. We consider a notion of distance for approximate codes obtained by demanding that this mutual information instead be small, and we evaluate this mutual information for the SYK model and for a family of low-rank SYK models. After an extrapolation to nearly zero temperature, we find that both kinds of models produce fermionic codes with constant rate as the number, N, of fermions goes to infinity. For SYK, the distance scales as N1/2, and for low-rank SYK, the distance can be arbitrarily close to linear scaling, e.g. N.99, while maintaining a constant rate. We also consider an analog of the no low-energy trivial states property which we dub the no low-energy adiabatically accessible states property and show that these models do have low-energy states that can be prepared adiabatically in a time that does not scale with system size N. We discuss a holographic model of these codes in which the large code distance is a consequence of the emergence of a long wormhole geometry in a simple model of quantum gravity.

Entanglement inside a black hole before the Page time

We investigate the evolution of entanglement within an open, strongly coupled system interacting with a heat bath as its environment, in the frameworks of both the doubly holographic model and the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model. Generally, the entanglement within the system initially increases as due to internal interactions; however, it eventually dissipates into the environment. In the doubly holographic setup, we consider an end-of-the-world brane in the bulk to represent an eternal black hole coupled with its radiation and the evolution of the global thermofield double (TFD) state. For small black holes, the reflected entropy between the bipartition exhibits a ramp-plateau-slump behavior, where the plateau arises due to the phase transition of the entanglement wedge cross-section before the Page time. Similarly, the mutual information between the bipartition displays a ramp-slop-stabilizing behavior. In quantum mechanics, we consider a double copy of the SYK-plus-bath system in a global TFD state, resembling an eternal black hole interacting with an environment. The Rényi mutual information within the double-copied SYK clusters exhibits a ramp-plateau-slope-stabilizing behavior. The dynamic behaviors of the entanglement quantities observed in these two models are attributable to the competition between the internal interaction of the system and the external interaction with the baths. Our study provides a fine-grained picture of the entanglement dynamics inside black holes before their Page time.

Double holography of entangled universes

We employ double holography to examine a system of two entangled gravitating universes that live on two codimension-one branes in an asymptotically AdS3 spacetime with two disjoint conformal boundaries. There are distinct brane configurations depending on the temperature of the thermofield double (TFD) state between the left and right systems. The topology transition between two branes is naturally identified with the emergence of an Einstein-Rosen bridge connecting the two entangled universes. This doubly holographic construction offers a holographic perspective on gravitational collapse and black hole formation in brane universes. Through this holographic framework, we analyze the quantum information structure of the two gravitating universes. Specifically, we calculate the mutual information between defects present in the boundary theories on the left and right sides. Furthermore, we investigate the decoupling process in the Hayden-Preskill protocol applied to the two copies of the defect field theory and discuss the interpretation of the Yoshida-Kitaev decoding protocol.

Black hole wavefunctions and microcanonical states

We consider the problem of defining a microcanonical thermofield double state at fixed energy and angular momentum from the gravitational path integral. A semiclassical approximation to this state is obtained by imposing a mixed boundary condition on an initial time surface. We analyze the corresponding boundary value problem and gravitational action. The overlap of this state with the canonical thermofield double state, which is interpreted as the Hartle-Hawking wavefunction of an eternal black hole in a mini-superspace approximation, is calculated semiclassically. The relevant saddlepoint is a higher-dimensional, rotating generalization of the wedge geometry that has been studied in two-dimensional gravity. Along the way we discuss a new corner term in the gravitational action that arises at a rotating horizon.

Subsystem complexity and measurements in holography

We investigate the impact of measuring one subsystem on the holographic complexity of another. While a naive expectation might suggest a reduction in complexity due to the collapse of the state to a trivial product state during quantum measurements, our findings reveal a counterintuitive result: in numerous scenarios, measurements on one subsystem can amplify the complexity of another. We first present a counting argument elucidating this complexity transition in random states. Then, employing the subregion “complexity=volume” (CV) proposal, we identify a complexity phase transition induced by projective measurements in various holographic CFT setups, including CFT vacuum states, thermofield double states, and the joint system of a black hole coupled to a bath. According to the AdS/BCFT correspondence, the post-measurement dual geometry involves an end-of-the-world brane created by the projective measurement. The complexity phase transition corresponds to the transition of the entanglement wedge to the one connected to the brane. In the context of the thermofield double setup, complete projection on one side can transform the other side into a boundary state black hole with higher complexity or a pure AdS with lower complexity. In the joint system of a black hole coupled to a nongraviting bath, where (a part of) the radiation is measured, the BCFT features two boundaries: one for the black hole and the other for the measurement. We construct the bulk dual involving intersecting or non-intersecting branes, and investigate the complexity transition induced by the projective measurement. Notably, for a subsystem that contains the black hole brane, its RT surface may undergo a transition, giving rise to a complexity jump.

Holographic reflected entropy and islands in interface CFTs

We investigate the reflected entropy for various mixed state configurations in the two dimensional holographic conformal field theories sharing a common interface (ICFTs). In the AdS3/ICFT2 framework, we compute the holographic reflected entropy for the required configurations in the vacuum state of the ICFT2 which is given by twice the entanglement wedge cross section (EWCS) in a spacetime involving two AdS3 geometries glued along a thin interface brane. Subsequently, we evaluate the EWCS in the bulk geometry involving eternal BTZ black strings with an AdS2 interface brane, which is dual to an ICFT2 in the thermofield double (TFD) state. We explore the system from a doubly holographic perspective and determine the island contributions to the reflected entropy in the two dimensional semi-classical description involving two CFT2s coupled to an AdS2 brane. We demonstrate that the results from the island formula match precisely with the bulk AdS3 results in the large tension limit of the interface brane. We illustrate that the phase structure of the reflected entropy is quite rich involving many novel induced island phases and demonstrate that it obeys the expected Page curve for the reflected entropy in a radiation bath coupled to the AdS2 black hole.

Spread complexity in saddle-dominated scrambling

Recently, the concept of spread complexity, Krylov complexity for states, has been introduced as a measure of the complexity and chaoticity of quantum systems. In this paper, we study the spread complexity of the thermofield double state within integrable systems that exhibit saddle-dominated scrambling. Specifically, we focus on the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model and the inverted harmonic oscillator as representative examples of quantum mechanical systems featuring saddle-dominated scrambling. Applying the Lanczos algorithm, our numerical investigation reveals that the spread complexity in these systems exhibits features reminiscent of chaotic systems, displaying a distinctive ramp-peak-slope-plateau pattern. Our results indicate that, although spread complexity serves as a valuable probe, accurately diagnosing true quantum chaos generally necessitates additional physical input. We also explore the relationship between spread complexity, the spectral form factor, and the transition probability within the Krylov space. We provide analytical confirmation of our numerical results, validating the Ehrenfest theorem of complexity and identifying a distinct quadratic behavior in the early-time regime of spread complexity.

Scrambling and recovery of quantum information in inhomogeneous quenches in two-dimensional conformal field theories

We study various quantum quench processes induced by the Möbius/sine-square deformation of the Hamiltonian in two-dimensional conformal field theories starting from the thermofield double state in the two copies of the Hilbert space. These quantum quenches, some of which are directly related to the operator entanglement of the time-evolution operators, allow us to study scrambling and recovery of quantum information. In particular, under the sine-square deformed time evolution, we show from the time dependence of mutual information that the Bell pairs, initially shared by the subsystems of the two Hilbert spaces, may revive even after the mutual information for small subsystems is completely destroyed by quantum information scrambling dynamics. This mutual information is robust against the strong scrambling dynamics. As a consequence, the steady state has a nonlocal correlation shared not by any of two parties but by three parties. In the holographic dual description, a wormhole connecting the two Hilbert spaces may nonlinearly grow with time during the quantum quenches. We also propose effective pictures that describe the dynamics of mutual information during the time evolution by inhomogeneous Hamiltonians. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Position dependence of Nielsen complexity for the thermofield double state

In this paper, the Nielsen geometric method is used to study the position dependence of the Nielsen complexity for the thermofield double state of a harmonic oscillator. We present the state shift under the influence of an external electric field and demonstrate its importance for the construction of the corresponding circuit. By numerical analysis, we investigate the effect of the frequency and the external field on the dynamics of complexity. Our observation reveals that the system's complexity diminishes considerably with the rise of the frequency. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the complexity exhibits a distinct behavior under a feeble external electric field, as it grows more intricate with the escalation of the frequency. However, with higher magnitudes of the electric field, the system reverts to its prior behavior. We also remark on the influence of the reference state's frequency on the complexity.

Krylov Complexity of Fermionic and Bosonic Gaussian States

AbstractThe concept of complexity has become pivotal in multiple disciplines, including quantum information, where it serves as an alternative metric for gauging the chaotic evolution of a quantum state. This paper focuses on Krylov complexity, a specialized form of quantum complexity that offers an unambiguous and intrinsically meaningful assessment of the spread of a quantum state over all possible orthogonal bases. This study is situated in the context of Gaussian quantum states, which are fundamental to both Bosonic and Fermionic systems and can be fully described by a covariance matrix. While the covariance matrix is essential, it is insufficient alone for calculating Krylov complexity due to its lack of relative phase information is shown. The relative covariance matrix can provide an upper bound for Krylov complexity for Gaussian quantum states is suggested. The implications of Krylov complexity for theories proposing complexity as a candidate for holographic duality by computing Krylov complexity for the thermofield double States (TFD) and Dirac field are also explored.

Bulk modified gravity from a thermal CFT by the conformal flow

We construct a bulk spacetime from a boundary conformal field theory, O(N) free scalar model, at finite temperature using a smearing technique, called a conformal flow. The bulk metric is constructed from the thermal two-point function of the smeared boundary elementary field in such a way that it can be interpreted as an information metric associated with the boundary thermofield double state. Near the boundary (UV region), an asymptotically anti–de Sitter (AdS) spacetime is obtained with a leading order perturbation of scalar mode. Based on the falloff behavior of the perturbations and the O(N) symmetry in the conformal field theory, we argue that the corresponding bulk theory is a modified gravity with scalar mode such as f(R) gravity rather than Einstein’s general relativity coupled minimally to matter fields. Moving to the Einstein frame, we show that the metric is asymptotically the same as the AdS black brane solution. On the other hand, deep in the bulk (IR region), the spacetime turns out to be conformally equivalent to the near horizon limit of AdS extremal black brane, though it is no longer a solution of f(R) gravity, and hence more general classes of modified gravity need to be considered. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Entanglement and Chaos near critical point in strongly coupled Gauge theory

We perform a holographic study of the high and low temperature behaviours of logarithmic negativity (LN) and entanglement wedge cross section (EWCS) in a large N strongly coupled thermal field theory with critical point, having a well defined gravity dual known as 1RC black hole. The bulk theory accommodates a dimensionless parameter ξ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\xi $$\\end{document}, proportional to the charge of the 1RC black hole. Holographically, ξ→2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\xi \\rightarrow 2$$\\end{document} limit ensures an existence of a critical point in the dual boundary theory. We show that the logarithmic negativity in low and high temperature limits enhances with increasing ξ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\xi $$\\end{document}. We analytically compute the EWCS in low and high temperature limits and find an agreement with the previously reported numerical results. We holographically explore the correlation between two identical copies of thermal field theory with critical point forming a thermofield double state (TFD) by computing the thermo mutual information (TMI). TMI shows an increasing behaviour with respect to the width of the boundary region. Furthermore, we study the chaotic behaviour of the field theory by analyzing a shock wave in the dual eternal 1 RC black hole and then estimate the degradation of TMI. The rate of such disruption of TMI slows down as the value of critical parameter ξ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\xi $$\\end{document} takes higher values.

Entanglement entropy in conformal quantum mechanics

We consider sets of states in conformal quantum mechanics associated to generators of time evolution whose orbits cover different regions of the time domain. States labelled by a continuous global time variable define the two-point correlation functions of the theory seen as a one-dimensional conformal field theory. Such states exhibit the structure of a thermofield double built on bipartite eigenstates of generators of non-global time evolution. In terms of the correspondence between radial conformal symmetries in Minkowski space-time and time evolution in conformal quantum mechanics proposed in [1, 2] these generators coincide with conformal Killing vectors tangent to worldlines of Milne and diamond observers at constant radius. The temperature of the thermofield double states in conformal quantum mechanics reproduces the temperatures perceived by such diamond and Milne observers. We calculate the entanglement entropy associated to the thermofield double states and obtain a UV divergent logarithmic behaviour analogous to known results in two-dimensional conformal field theory in which the entangling boundary is point-like.

Circuit complexity for coherent-thermal states in bosonic string theory

In this paper, we first construct thermofield double states for bosonic string theory in the light-cone gauge. We then obtain a coherent-thermal string state and a thermal-coherent string state. We use the covariance matrix approach to calculate the circuit complexity of coherent-thermal string states. In this approach, we generate the optimal geodesics by a horizontal string generator, and then obtain the circuit complexity using the length of the minimal geodesics in the group manifold.

A bulk manifestation of Krylov complexity

There are various definitions of the concept of complexity in Quantum Field Theory as well as for finite quantum systems. For several of them there are conjectured holographic bulk duals. In this work we establish an entry in the AdS/CFT dictionary for one such class of complexity, namely Krylov or K-complexity. For this purpose we work in the double-scaled SYK model which is dual in a certain limit to JT gravity, a theory of gravity in AdS2. In particular, states on the boundary have a clear geometrical definition in the bulk. We use this result to show that Krylov complexity of the infinite-temperature thermofield double state on the boundary of AdS2 has a precise bulk description in JT gravity, namely the length of the two-sided wormhole. We do this by showing that the Krylov basis elements, which are eigenstates of the Krylov complexity operator, are mapped to length eigenstates in the bulk theory by subjecting K-complexity to the bulk-boundary map identifying the bulk/boundary Hilbert spaces. Our result makes extensive use of chord diagram techniques and identifies the Krylov basis of the boundary quantum system with fixed chord number states building the bulk gravitational Hilbert space.

Canonical purification and the quantum extremal shock

We study the canonical purification of pure, bi-partite states (with respect to one of the parties) obtained by turning on sources in the Euclidean path integral. In holographic conformal field theories, the Lorentzian bulk dual of the canonical purification consists of the corresponding entanglement wedge glued to its CRT image at the quantum extremal surface. However, the mismatch in the classical expansions at the QES due to quantum corrections needs to be supported by a shock in the bulk matter stress tensor in order for the bulk to satisfy Einstein’s equations. Working perturbatively to first order in double-trace sources around the thermofield double state, we demonstrate that the state of the bulk matter in the dual to the canonically purified boundary CFT state precisely has this quantum extremal shock in the bulk stress tensor. We interpret our results as the emergence of gravitational physics from the CFT entanglement structure in a context where bulk quantum corrections are important.

Information loss, mixing and emergent type III1 factors

A manifestation of the black hole information loss problem is that the two-point function of probe operators in a large Anti-de Sitter black hole decays in time, whereas, on the boundary CFT, it is expected to be an almost periodic function of time. We point out that the decay of the two-point function (clustering in time) holds important clues to the nature of observable algebras, states, and dynamics in quantum gravity.We call operators that cluster in time “mixing” and explore the necessary and sufficient conditions for mixing. The information loss problem is a special case of the statement that in type I algebras, there exists no mixing operators. We prove that, in a thermofield double state (KMS state), if mixing operators form an algebra (close under multiplication), the resulting algebra must be a von Neumann type III1 factor. In other words, the physically intuitive requirement that all nonconserved operators should exponentially mix is so strong that it fixes the observable algebra to be an exotic algebra called a type III1 factor. More generally, for an arbitrary out-of-equilibrium state of a general quantum system (von Neumann algebra), we show that if the set of operators that mix under modular flow forms an algebra, it is a type III1 von Neumann factor.In a theory of Generalized Free Fields (GFF), we show that if the two-point function clusters in time, all operators are mixing, and the algebra is a type III1 factor. For example, in \U0001d4a9 = 4 SYM, above the Hawking-Page phase transition, clustering of the single trace operators implies that the algebra is a type III1 factor, settling a recent conjecture of Leutheusser and Liu. We explicitly construct the C∗-algebra and von Neumann subalgebras of GFF associated with time bands and, more generally, open sets of the bulk spacetime using the HKLL reconstruction map.