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Ben Craps

Publications and source records attributed to Ben Craps.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2020

Lyapunov growth in quantum spin chains

The Ising spin chain with longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields is often used in studies of quantum chaos, displaying both chaotic and integrable regions in its parameter space. However, even at a strongly chaotic point this model does not exhibit Lyapunov growth of the commutator squared of spin operators, as this observable saturates before exponential growth can manifest itself (even in situations where a spatial suppression factor makes the initial commutator small). We extend this model from the spin 1/2 Ising model to higher spins, demonstrate numerically that a window of exponential growth opens up for sufficiently large spin, and extract a quantity which corresponds to a notion of a Lyapunov exponent. In the classical infinite-spin limit, we identify and compute the appropriate classical analogue of the commutator squared, and show that the corresponding exponent agrees with the infinite-spin limit extracted from the quantum spin chain.

hep-th↗
arXiv2020

Superluminal chaos after a quantum quench

Thermal states holographically dual to black holes in Einstein gravity display maximal Lyapunov growth as well as "butterfly effect cones". We study these effects in highly non-equilibrium states, obtained from an initial thermal state by the sudden injection of energy. We do this by computing out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs) in BTZ-Vaidya spacetimes, which describe transitions between black holes at different temperatures. If both pairs of boundary operators appearing in the OTOC are inserted before the energy injection, we recover standard results, with butterfly effect cones displaying a light-cone structure. But when one pair of operators is inserted before and the other pair after the energy injection, the Lyapunov growth saturates the chaos bounds set by the local temperatures and the butterfly effect cones "open up", becoming superluminal, albeit in a way that does not violate causality. In the limiting case, in which the initial state is the vacuum, Lyapunov growth only starts after the energy injection. Our computations of the OTOCs are phrased in terms of gravitationally interacting particles, where fields are treated in a geodesic approximation and the eikonal phase shift is expressed in terms of stress tensors and shock waves associated to geodesics.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Energy level splitting for weakly interacting bosons in a harmonic trap

We consider identical quantum bosons with weak contact interactions in a two-dimensional isotropic harmonic trap. When the interactions are turned off, the energy levels are equidistant and highly degenerate. At linear order in the coupling parameter, these degenerate levels split, and we study the patterns of this splitting. It turns out that the problem is mathematically identical to diagonalizing the quantum resonant system of the two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation, whose classical counterpart has been previously studied in the mathematical literature on turbulence. Our purpose is to explore the implications of the symmetries and energy bounds of this resonant system, previously studied for the classical case, for the quantum level splitting. Simplifications in computing the splitting spectrum numerically result from exploiting the symmetries. The highest energy state emanating from each unperturbed level is explicitly described by our analytics. We furthermore discuss the energy level spacing distributions in the spirit of quantum chaos theory. After separating the eigenvalues into blocks with respect to the known conservation laws, we observe the Wigner-Dyson statistics within specific large blocks, which leaves little room for further integrable structures in the problem beyond the symmetries that are already explicitly known.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗
arXiv2019

Energy returns in global AdS_4

Recent studies of the weakly nonlinear dynamics of probe fields in global AdS$_4$ (and of the nonrelativistic limit of AdS resulting in the Gross-Pitaevskii equation) have revealed a number of cases with exact dynamical returns for two-mode initial data. In this paper, we address the question whether similar exact returns are present in the weakly nonlinear dynamics of gravitationally backreacting perturbations in global AdS$_4$. In the literature, approximate returns were first pointed out numerically and with limited precision. We first provide a thorough numerical analysis and discover returns that are so accurate that it would be tantalizing to sign off the small imperfections as an artifact of numerics. To clarify the situation, we introduce a systematic analytic approach by focusing on solutions with spectra localized around one of the two lowest modes. This allows us to demonstrate that in the gravitational case the returns are not exact. Furthermore, our analysis predicts and explains specific integer numbers of direct-reverse cascade sequences that result in particularly accurate energy returns (elaborate hierarchies of more and less precise returns arise if one waits for appropriate longer multiple periods in this manner). In addition, we explain, at least in this regime, the ubiquitous appearance of direct-reverse cascades in the weakly nonlinear dynamics of AdS-like systems.

hep-th↗
arXiv2019

Entanglement versus entwinement in symmetric product orbifolds

We study the entanglement entropy of gauged internal degrees of freedom in a two dimensional symmetric product orbifold CFT, whose configurations consist of $N$ strands sewn together into "long" strings, with wavefunctions symmetrized under permutations. In earlier work a related notion of "entwinement" was introduced. Here we treat this system analogously to a system of $N$ identical particles. From an algebraic point of view, we point out that the reduced density matrix on $k$ out of $N$ particles is not associated with a subalgebra of operators, but rather with a linear subspace, which we explain is sufficient. In the orbifold CFT, we compute the entropy of a single strand in states holographically dual in the D1/D5 system to a conical defect geometry or a massless BTZ black hole and find a result identical to entwinement. We also calculate the entropy of two strands in the state that represents the conical defect; the result differs from entwinement. In this case, matching entwinement would require finding a gauge-invariant way to impose continuity across strands.

hep-th↗
arXiv2018

Two infinite families of resonant solutions for the Gross-Pitaevskii equation

We consider the two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation describing a Bose-Einstein condensate in an isotropic harmonic trap. In the small coupling regime, this equation is accurately approximated over long times by the corresponding nonlinear resonant system whose structure is determined by the fully resonant spectrum of the linearized problem. We focus on two types of consistent truncations of this resonant system: first, to sets of modes of fixed angular momentum, and second, to excited Landau levels. Each of these truncations admits a set of explicit analytic solutions with initial conditions parametrized by three complex numbers. Viewed in position space, the fixed angular momentum solutions describe modulated oscillations of dark rings, while the excited Landau level solutions describe modulated precession of small arrays of vortices and antivortices. We place our findings in the context of similar results for other spatially confined nonlinear Hamiltonian systems in recent literature.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗
arXiv2017

Exact lowest-Landau-level solutions for vortex precession in Bose-Einstein condensates

The Lowest Landau Level (LLL) equation emerges as an accurate approximation for a class of dynamical regimes of Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC) in two-dimensional isotropic harmonic traps in the limit of weak interactions. Building on recent developments in the field of spatially confined extended Hamiltonian systems, we find a fully nonlinear solution of this equation representing periodically modulated precession of a single vortex. Motions of this type have been previously seen in numerical simulations and experiments at moderately weak coupling. Our work provides the first controlled analytic prediction for trajectories of a single vortex, suggests new targets for experiments, and opens up the prospect of finding analytic multi-vortex solutions.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗
arXiv2017

Heavy-Heavy-Light-Light correlators in Liouville theory

We compute four-point functions of two heavy and two "perturbatively heavy" operators in the semiclassical limit of Liouville theory on the sphere. We obtain these "Heavy-Heavy-Light-Light" (HHLL) correlators to leading order in the conformal weights of the light insertions in two ways: (a) via a path integral approach, combining different methods to evaluate correlation functions from complex solutions for the Liouville field, and (b) via the conformal block expansion. This latter approach identifies an integral over the continuum of normalizable states and a sum over an infinite tower of lighter discrete states, whose contribution we extract by analytically continuing standard results to our HHLL setting. The sum over this tower reproduces the sum over those complex saddlepoints of the path integral that contribute to the correlator. Our path integral computations reveal that when the two light operators are inserted at equal time in radial quantization, the leading-order HHLL correlator is independent of their separation, and more generally that at this order there is no short-distance singularity as the two light operators approach each other. The conformal block expansion likewise shows that in the discrete sum short-distance singularities are indeed absent for all intermediate states that contribute. In particular, the Virasoro vacuum block, which would have been singular at short distances, is not exchanged. The separation-independence of equal-time correlators is due to cancelations between the discrete contributions. These features lead to a Lorentzian singularity that, in conformal theories with anti-de Sitter (AdS) duals, would be associated to locality below the AdS scale.

hep-th↗
arXiv2017

Maximally rotating waves in AdS and on spheres

We study the cubic wave equation in AdS_(d+1) (and a closely related cubic wave equation on S^3) in a weakly nonlinear regime. Via time-averaging, these systems are accurately described by simplified infinite-dimensional quartic Hamiltonian systems, whose structure is mandated by the fully resonant spectrum of linearized perturbations. The maximally rotating sector, comprising only the modes of maximal angular momentum at each frequency level, consistently decouples in the weakly nonlinear regime. The Hamiltonian systems obtained by this decoupling display remarkable periodic return behaviors closely analogous to what has been demonstrated in recent literature for a few other related equations (the cubic Szego equation, the conformal flow, the LLL equation). This suggests a powerful underlying analytic structure, such as integrability. We comment on the connection of our considerations to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensates.

hep-th↗
arXiv2017

Echoes of chaos from string theory black holes

The strongly coupled D1-D5 conformal field theory is a microscopic model of black holes which is expected to have chaotic dynamics. Here, we study the weak coupling limit of the theory where it is integrable rather than chaotic. In this limit, the operators creating microstates of the lowest mass black hole are known exactly. We consider the time-ordered two-point function of light probes in these microstates, normalized by the same two-point function in vacuum. These correlators display a universal early-time decay followed by late-time sporadic behavior. To find a prescription for temporal coarse-graining of these late fluctuations we appeal to random matrix theory, where we show that a progressive time-average smooths the spectral form factor (a proxy for the 2-point function) in a typical draw of a random matrix. This coarse-grained quantity reproduces the matrix ensemble average to a good approximation. Employing this coarse-graining in the D1-D5 system, we find that the early-time decay is followed by a dip, a ramp and a plateau, in remarkable qualitative agreement with recent studies of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model. We study the timescales involved, comment on similarities and differences between our integrable model and the chaotic SYK model, and suggest ways to extend our results away from the integrable limit.

hep-th↗
arXiv2017

Conformal flow on $S^3$ and weak field integrability in AdS$_4$

We consider the conformally invariant cubic wave equation on the Einstein cylinder $\mathbb{R} \times \mathbb{S}^3$ for small rotationally symmetric initial data. This simple equation captures many key challenges of nonlinear wave dynamics in confining geometries, while a conformal transformation relates it to a self-interacting conformally coupled scalar in four-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime (AdS$_4$) and connects it to various questions of AdS stability. We construct an effective infinite-dimensional time-averaged dynamical system accurately approximating the original equation in the weak field regime. It turns out that this effective system, which we call the conformal flow, exhibits some remarkable features, such as low-dimensional invariant subspaces, a wealth of stationary states (for which energy does not flow between the modes), as well as solutions with nontrivial exactly periodic energy flows. Based on these observations and close parallels to the cubic Szego equation, which was shown by Gerard and Grellier to be Lax-integrable, it is tempting to conjecture that the conformal flow and the corresponding weak field dynamics in AdS$_4$ are integrable as well.

math.AP↗
arXiv2017

Matrix Thermalization

Matrix quantum mechanics offers an attractive environment for discussing gravitational holography, in which both sides of the holographic duality are well-defined. Similarly to higher-dimensional implementations of holography, collapsing shell solutions in the gravitational bulk correspond in this setting to thermalization processes in the dual quantum mechanical theory. We construct an explicit, fully nonlinear supergravity solution describing a generic collapsing dilaton shell, specify the holographic renormalization prescriptions necessary for computing the relevant boundary observables, and apply them to evaluating thermalizing two-point correlation functions in the dual matrix theory.

hep-th↗
arXiv2015

Ultraviolet asymptotics and singular dynamics of AdS perturbations

Important insights into the dynamics of spherically symmetric AdS-scalar field perturbations can be obtained by considering a simplified time-averaged theory accurately describing perturbations of amplitude epsilon on time-scales of order 1/epsilon^2. The coefficients of the time-averaged equations are complicated expressions in terms of the AdS scalar field mode functions, which are in turn related to the Jacobi polynomials. We analyze the behavior of these coefficients for high frequency modes. The resulting asymptotics can be useful for understanding the properties of the finite-time singularity in solutions of the time-averaged theory recently reported in the literature. We highlight, in particular, the gauge dependence of this asymptotics, with respect to the two most commonly used gauges. The harsher growth of the coefficients at large frequencies in higher-dimensional AdS suggests strengthening of turbulent instabilities in higher dimensions. In the course of our derivations, we arrive at recursive relations for the coefficients of the time-averaged theory that are likely to be useful for evaluating them more efficiently in numerical simulations.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2015

Ultraviolet asymptotics for quasiperiodic AdS_4 perturbations

Spherically symmetric perturbations in AdS-scalar field systems of small amplitude epsilon approximately periodic on time scales of order 1/epsilon^2 (in the sense that no significant transfer of energy between the AdS normal modes occurs) have played an important role in considerations of AdS stability. They are seen as anchors of stability islands where collapse of small perturbations to black holes does not occur. (This collapse, if it happens, typically develops on time scales of the order 1/epsilon^2.) We construct an analytic treatment of the frequency spectra of such quasiperiodic perturbations, paying special attention to the large frequency asymptotics. For the case of a self-interacting phi^4 scalar field in a non-dynamical AdS background, we arrive at a fairly complete analytic picture involving quasiperiodic spectra with an exponential suppression modulated by a power law at large mode numbers. For the case of dynamical gravity, the structure of the large frequency asymptotics is more complicated. We give analytic explanations for the general qualitative features of quasiperiodic solutions localized around a single mode, in close parallel to our discussion of the probe scalar field, and find numerical evidence for logarithmic modulations in the gravitational quasiperiodic spectra existing on top of the formulas previously reported in the literature.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2015

Renormalization, averaging, conservation laws and AdS (in)stability

We continue our analytic investigations of non-linear spherically symmetric perturbations around the anti-de Sitter background in gravity-scalar field systems, and focus on conservation laws restricting the (perturbatively) slow drift of energy between the different normal modes due to non-linearities. We discover two conservation laws in addition to the energy conservation previously discussed in relation to AdS instability. A similar set of three conservation laws was previously noted for a self-interacting scalar field in a non-dynamical AdS background, and we highlight the similarities of this system to the fully dynamical case of gravitational instability. The nature of these conservation laws is best understood through an appeal to averaging methods which allow one to derive an effective Lagrangian or Hamiltonian description of the slow energy transfer between the normal modes. The conservation laws in question then follow from explicit symmetries of this averaged effective theory.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2014

Cosmological perturbations in non-local higher-derivative gravity

We study cosmological perturbations in a non-local higher-derivative model of gravity introduced by Biswas, Mazumdar and Siegel. We extend previous work, which had focused on classical scalar perturbations around a cosine hyperbolic bounce solution, in three ways. First, we point out the existence of a Starobinsky solution in this model, which is more attractive from a phenomenological point of view (even though it has no bounce). Second, we study classical vector and tensor perturbations. Third, we show how to quantize scalar and tensor perturbations in a de Sitter phase (for choices of parameters such that the model is ghost-free). Our results show that the model is well-behaved at this level, and are very similar to corresponding results in local $f(R)$ models. In particular, for the Starobinsky solution of non-local higher-derivative gravity, we find the same tensor-to-scalar ratio as for the conventional Starobinsky model.

hep-th↗
arXiv2014

Low Tension Strings on a Cosmological Singularity

It has recently been argued that the singularity of the Milne orbifold can be resolved in higher spin theories. In string theory scattering amplitudes, however, the Milne singularity gives rise to ultraviolet divergences that signal uncontrolled backreaction. Since string theory in the low tension limit is expected to be a higher spin theory (although precise proposals only exist in special cases), we investigate what happens to these scattering amplitudes in the low tension limit. We point out that the known problematic ultraviolet divergences disappear in this limit. In addition we systematically identify all divergences of the simplest 2-to-2 string scattering amplitude on the Milne orbifold, and argue that the divergences that survive in the low tension limit have sensible infrared interpretations.

hep-th↗