For a generic quantum many-body system, the quantum ergodic regime is defined as the limit in which the spectrum of the system resembles that of a random matrix theory (RMT) in the corresponding symmetry class. In this paper we analyse the time depen
dence of correlation functions of operators. We study them in the ergodic limit as well as their approach to the ergodic limit which is controlled by non-universal massive modes. An effective field theory (EFT) corresponding to the causal symmetry and its breaking describes the ergodic phase. We demonstrate that the resulting Goldstone-mode theory has a topological expansion, analogous to the one described in arXiv:2008.02271 with added operator sources, whose leading non-trivial topologies give rise to the universal ramp seen in correlation functions. The ergodic behaviour of operators in our EFT is seen to result from a combination of RMT-like spectral statistics and Haar averaging over wave-functions. Furthermore we analytically capture the plateau behaviour by taking into account the contribution of a second saddle point. Our main interest are quantum many-body systems with holographic duals and we explicitly establish the validity of the EFT description in the SYK-class of models, starting from their microscopic description. By studying the tower of massive modes above the Goldstone sector we get a detailed understanding of how the ergodic EFT phase is approached and derive the relevant Thouless time scales. We point out that the topological expansion can be reinterpreted in terms of contributions of bulk wormholes and baby-universes.
We generalize the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis to systems with global symmetries. We present t
The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model provides an uncommon example of a chaotic theory that can be analysed analytically. In the deep infrared limit, the original model has an emergent conformal (reparametrisation) symmetry that is broken both spontaneou
sly and explicitly. The explicit breaking of this symmetry comes about due to pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone modes that are not exact zero-modes of the model. In this paper, we study a version of the model which preserves the reparametrisation symmetry at all length scales. We study the heavy-light correlation functions of the operators in the conformal spectrum of the theory. The three point functions of such operators allow us to demonstrate that matrix elements of primaries ${cal O}_n$ of the CFT$_1$ take the form postulated by the Eigenstate Thermalisation Hypothesis. We also discuss the implications of these results for the states in AdS$_2$ gravity dual.
We work out constraints imposed by channel duality and analyticity on tree-level amplitudes of four identical real scalars, with the assumptions of a linear spectrum of exchanged particles and Regge asymptotic behaviour. We reduce the requirement of
channel duality to a countably infinite set of equations in the general case. We show that channel duality uniquely fixes the soft Regge behaviour of the amplitudes to that found in String theory, $(-s)^{2t}$. Specialising to the case of tachyonic external particles, we use channel duality to show that the amplitude can be any one in an infinite-dimensional parameter space, and present evidence that unitarity doesnt significantly reduce the dimension of the space of amplitudes.
The Nambu-Goldstone (NG) bosons of the SYK model are described by a coset space Diff/$mathbb{SL}(2,mathbb{R})$, where Diff, or Virasoro group, is the group of diffeomorphisms of the time coordinate valued on the real line or a circle. It is known tha
t the coadjoint orbit action of Diff naturally turns out to be the two-dimensional quantum gravity action of Polyakov without cosmological constant, in a certain gauge, in an asymptotically flat spacetime. Motivated by this observation, we explore Polyakov action with cosmological constant and boundary terms, and study the possibility of such a two-dimensional quantum gravity model being the AdS dual to the low energy (NG) sector of the SYK model. We find strong evidences for this duality: (a) the bulk action admits an exact family of asymptotically AdS$_2$ spacetimes, parameterized by Diff/$mathbb{SL}(2,mathbb{R})$, in addition to a fixed conformal factor of a simple functional form; (b) the bulk path integral reduces to a path integral over Diff/$mathbb{SL}(2,mathbb{R})$ with a Schwarzian action; (c) the low temperature free energy qualitatively agrees with that of the SYK model. We show, up to quadratic order, how to couple an infinite series of bulk scalars to the Polyakov model and show that it reproduces the coupling of the higher modes of the SYK model with the NG bosons.
We revisit AdS/CFT at finite radial cut-off, specifically in the context of double trace perturbations, $mathbb{O}_n$= $mathbb{O}(x) (partial^2)^{n} {mathcal O}(x)$, with arbitrary $n$. As well-known, the standard GKPW prescription, applied to a fini
te radial cut-off, leads to contact terms in correlators. de Haro et al (arXiv:hep-th/0002230) introduced bulk counterterms to remove these. However, this prescription yields additional terms in the correlator corresponding to spurious double trace deformations. Further, if we view GKPW prescription coupled with the prescription in arXiv:hep-th/0002230, in terms of a boundary wavefunction, we find that it is incompatible with radial Schrodinger evolution (in the spirit of holographic Wilsonian RG). We consider a more general wavefunction satisfying the Schrodinger equation, and find that generically such wavefunctions generate both (a) double trace deformations and (b) contact terms. However, we find that there exist special choices of these wavefunctions, amounting to a new AdS/CFT prescription at a finite cut-off, so that both (a) and (b) are removed and we obtain a pure power law behaviour for the correlator. We compare these special wavefunctions with a specific RG scheme in field theory. We give a geometric interpretation of these wavefunctions; these correspond to some specific smearing of boundary points in the Witten diagrams. We present a comprehensive calculation of exact double-trace beta-functions for all couplings $mathbb{O}_n$ and match with a holographic computation using the method described above. The matching works with a mapping between the field theory and bulk couplings; such a map is highly constrained because the beta-functions are quadratic and exact on both sides. We generalize standard double-trace Wilson-Fisher flow to the space of the infinite number of couplings.
