arXiv subjects

Lea F. Santos

Publications and source records attributed to Lea F. Santos.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Fragmented ETH and Ensemble Inequivalence

We investigate thermalization in finite quantum systems with strong long-range interactions. Nearly conserved quantities inherited from the fully connected limit organize the Hilbert space into weakly coupled sectors and split the many-body spectrum into energy bands. Despite the resulting breakdown of global ergodicity, quantum chaos develops within individual energy bands, enabling the definition of microcanonical ensembles within the bands. This supports a band-resolved formulation of thermalization, which we term fragmented eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (fETH). Unlike conventional ETH, finite-size scaling in fETH obeys a symmetry-imposed selection rule that restricts which system sizes can be compared. This band-resolved description has consequences for equilibrium statistical mechanics. While microcanonical ensembles remain confined to a single band, canonical ensembles mix different bands. This mismatch explains ensemble inequivalence without invoking equilibrium phase transitions. Our results apply broadly to Hamiltonians near a fully permutation-symmetric limit.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Observable- and state-selective prethermalization and bounds on prethermal lifetimes

Prethermalization describes long-lived intermediate regimes that precede equilibrium and can dominate experimentally accessible dynamics. Here, we show that a separation of spectral energy scales, despite giving rise to a hierarchy of dynamical timescales, does not by itself guarantee the appearance of a prethermal plateau. Under the same Hamiltonian, some observables may exhibit prethermal behavior, while others relax directly toward equilibrium. We uncover the mechanism governing this selectivity, showing that the emergence of a prethermal plateau depends not only on the Hamiltonian, but also on the observable and the initial state. Our results apply broadly to systems close to a fully permutation-symmetric limit and are illustrated with a long-range interacting spin model. We further prove that the Loschmidt echo provides a lower bound on the prethermal lifetime of any bounded observable whenever the prethermal and exact dynamics are unitary.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Classical and Quantum Properties of the Spin-Boson Dicke Model: Chaos, Localization, and Scarring

This review article describes major developments associated with the Dicke model, from its introduction in the 1950s to explain the transition from a normal to a superradiant phase to its modern applications in quantum many-body physics. Over the decades, this interacting spin-boson model has played a central role in the study of collective light-matter interactions, chaos, and quantum phase transitions. We focus on properties and phenomena that are best understood when seen from both the classical and quantum perspectives, with particular emphasis on the emergence of chaos, localization, and scarring. While our primary emphasis is on the isolated model, we also discuss recent advances in the open Dicke model, where environmental couplings are needed for describing realistic experimental platforms and exploring new regimes of quantum dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Steady-state spectral kissing and dissipative phase transitions

Spectral kissing, recently realized in a Kerr parametric oscillator (KPO), refers to the merging of pairs of energy levels and arises as a manifestation of an excited-state quantum phase transition (ESQPT). Here, we show that this phenomenon has a dissipative counterpart encoded in the spectrum of the steady-state density matrix. Using a dissipative KPO as a representative example, we demonstrate that, in the weak-dissipation regime, the eigenvalues of the steady-state density matrix organize into quasi-degenerate pairs that mirror the spectral kissing of the corresponding closed system. As the dissipation strength increases, this pairing gradually disappears. By analyzing the classical limit of the system, we derive analytical expressions for the critical lines governing both the onset of steady-state spectral kissing and its disappearance at a dissipative phase transition.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Instability-Enhanced Quantum Sensing with Tunable Multibody Interactions

Dynamical instabilities can amplify small perturbations into measurable signals, offering a route to quantum-enhanced sensing. This mechanism was experimentally demonstrated in a collective-spin system with quadratic interactions, described by a twisting-and-turning Hamiltonian, where quantum evolution near an unstable point leads to exponential growth of spin fluctuations, enabling metrological gain beyond the standard quantum limit. Here, we show that a quartic extension of this Hamiltonian substantially increases the amplification. The additional nonlinear term reshapes the phase-space structure, generating new unstable points and accelerating signal amplification. As a result, enhanced sensitivity is achieved within experimentally accessible coherence times. Remarkably, even at fixed instability rate (equal Lyapunov exponent), multibody interactions outperform the quadratic case due to enhanced short-time dynamics. We analyze the classical and quantum behavior of the multibody model and discuss its experimental implementations. Our results identify phase-space curvature as a resource for optimizing the speed and performance of quantum sensors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Universal spectral correlations in open Floquet systems with localized leaks

We show that introducing a localized leak in Floquet systems with time-reversal symmetry leads to universal spectral correlations governed by the non-Hermitian symmetry class $\mathrm{AI}^{\dagger}$, associated with complex-symmetric Ginibre random matrices, rather than by the unconstrained Ginibre ensemble. As a concrete example, we analyze the leaky quantum standard map (L-QSM) of the kicked rotor. Since the closed map exhibits circular orthogonal ensemble (COE) statistics, the open system is naturally compared with the truncated circular orthogonal ensemble (TCOE), which models localized leakage by removing columns from a COE matrix. We find excellent agreement between the bulk spectral properties of the L-QSM and the TCOE, and demonstrate that their short-range spectral correlations follow the universal statistics of the non-Hermitian symmetry class $\mathrm{AI}^{\dagger}$. This agreement holds for smaller leak sizes as the matrices increase, while the COE limit is recovered only when the truncation is smaller than one full column. In contrast to local properties, the global density of states of the L-QSM and the TCOE approaches the Ginibre circular law only when the leakage becomes sufficiently strong.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Dissipation as a Resource: Synchronization, Coherence Recovery, and Chaos Control

Dissipation is commonly regarded as an obstacle to quantum control, as it induces decoherence and irreversibility. Here we demonstrate that dissipation can instead be exploited as a resource to reshape the dynamics of interacting quantum systems. Using an experimentally realizable Bose-Josephson junction containing two bosonic species, we demonstrate that dissipation enables distinct dynamical behaviors: synchronized phase-locked oscillations, transient chaos with long-time coherence recovery, and steady-state chaos. The emergence of each behavior is determined by experimentally tunable parameters. At weak interactions, the two components synchronize despite dissipation, exhibiting long-lived coherent oscillations reminiscent of a boundary time crystal. Stronger interactions induce a dissipative phase transition into a self-trapped regime accompanied by chaotic dynamics. Remarkably, dissipation regulates the lifetime of chaos and enables the recovery of coherence at long times. By introducing a controlled tilt between the wells, transient chaos can be converted into persistent steady-state chaos. We further show that standard spectral diagnostics fail to distinguish between the two chaotic regimes, revealing that spectral statistics primarily reflect short-time instability. These results establish dissipation as a powerful tool for engineering dynamical phases, restoring quantum coherence, and controlling the duration of chaotic behavior and information scrambling.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Transient and steady-state chaos in dissipative quantum systems

Dissipative quantum chaos plays a central role in the characterization and control of information scrambling, non-unitary evolution, and thermalization, but it still lacks a precise definition. The Grobe-Haake-Sommers conjecture, which links Ginibre level repulsion to classical chaotic dynamics, was recently shown to fail [Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 240404 (2024)]. We properly restore the quantum-classical correspondence through a dynamical approach based on entanglement entropy and out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs), which reveal signatures of chaos beyond spectral statistics. Focusing on the open anisotropic Dicke model, we identify two distinct regimes: transient chaos, marked by rapid early-time growth of entanglement and OTOCs followed by low saturation values, and steady-state chaos, characterized by high long-time values. We introduce a random matrix toy model and show that Ginibre spectral statistics signals short-time chaos rather than steady-state chaos. Our results establish entanglement dynamics and OTOCs as reliable diagnostics of dissipative quantum chaos across different timescales.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Semiclassical entanglement entropy for spin-field interaction

We study a general bipartite quantum system consisting of a spin interacting with a bosonic field, with the initial state prepared as the product of a spin coherent state and a canonical coherent state. Our goal is to develop a semiclassical framework to describe the entanglement dynamics between these two subsystems. Using appropriate approximations, we derive a semiclassical expression for the entanglement entropy that depends exclusively on the trajectories of the underlying classical description. By analytically extending the classical phase space into the complex domain, we identify additional complex trajectories that significantly improve the accuracy of the semiclassical description. The inclusion of these complex trajectories allows us to capture the entanglement dynamics with remarkable precision, even well beyond the Ehrenfest time. The approach is illustrated with a representative example, where the role of real and complex trajectories in reproducing the quantum entanglement entropy is explicitly demonstrated.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Thermalization in the mixed-field Ising model: An occupation number perspective

The occupation number is a key observable for diagnosing thermalization, as it connects directly to standard statistical laws such as Fermi--Dirac, Bose--Einstein, and Boltzmann distributions. In the context of spin systems, it represents the population of the sublevels of the magnetization in the $z$-direction. We use this quantity to probe the onset of thermalization in the isolated quantum and classical one-dimensional spin-1 Ising model with transverse and longitudinal fields. Thermalization is achieved when the long-time average of the occupation number converges to the microcanonical prediction as the chain length $L$ increases, consistent with the emergence of ergodicity. However, the finite-size scaling analysis in the quantum model is challenged by the exponential growth of the Hilbert space with $L$. To overcome this limitation, we turn to the corresponding classical model, which enables access to much larger system sizes. By tracking the dynamics of individual spins on their three-dimensional Bloch spheres and employing tools from random matrix theory, we establish a quantitative criterion for classical ergodicity in interacting spin systems. We find that deviations from classical ergodicity decay algebraically with system size. This power-law scaling then provides a quantitative bound on the approach to thermal equilibrium in the quantum model.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Qumode-Based Variational Quantum Eigensolver for Molecular Excited States

We introduce the Qumode Subspace Variational Quantum Eigensolver (QSS-VQE), a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm for computing molecular excited states using the Fock basis of bosonic qumodes in circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) devices. This approach harnesses the native universal gate sets of qubit-qumode architectures to construct highly expressive variational ansatze, offering potential advantages over conventional qubit-based methods. In QSS-VQE, the electronic structure Hamiltonian is first mapped to a qubit representation and subsequently embedded into the Fock space of bosonic qumodes, enabling efficient state preparation and reduced quantum resource requirements. We demonstrate the performance of QSS-VQE through simulations of molecular excited states, including dihydrogen and a conical intersection in cytosine. Additionally, we explore a bosonic model Hamiltonian to assess the expressivity of qumode gates, identifying regimes where qumode-based implementations outperform purely qubit-based approaches. These results highlight the promise of leveraging bosonic degrees of freedom for enhanced quantum simulation of complex molecular systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Quantum multifractality as a probe of phase space in the Dicke model

We study the multifractal behavior of coherent states projected in the energy eigenbasis of the spin-boson Dicke Hamiltonian, a paradigmatic model describing the collective interaction between a single bosonic mode and a set of two-level systems. By examining the linear approximation and parabolic correction to the mass exponents, we find ergodic and multifractal coherent states and show that they reflect details of the structure of the classical phase space, including chaos, regularity, and features of localization. The analysis of multifractality stands as a sensitive tool to detect changes and structures in phase space, complementary to classical tools to investigate it. We also address the difficulties involved in the multifractal analyses of systems with unbounded Hilbert spaces.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Spectral form factor and energy correlations in banded random matrices

Banded random matrices were introduced as a more realistic alternative to full random matrices for describing the spectral statistics of heavy nuclei. Initially considered by Wigner, they have since become a paradigmatic model for investigating level statistics and the localization-delocalization transition in disordered quantum systems. In this work, we demonstrate that, despite the absence of short-range energy correlations, weak long-range energy correlations persist in the nonergodic phase of banded random matrices. This result is supported by our numerical and analytical studies of quantities that probe both short- and long-range energy correlations, namely, the spectral form factor, level number variance, and power spectrum. We derive the timescales for the onset of spectral correlations (ramp) and for the saturation (plateau) of the spectral form factor. Unexpectedly, we find that in the nonergodic phase, these timescales decrease as the bandwidth of the matrices is reduced. We also show that the high-frequency behavior of the power spectrum of energy fluctuations can distinguish between the nonergodic and ergodic phases of the banded random matrices.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2025

Dynamical detection of extended nonergodic states in many-body quantum systems

Fractal dimensions are tools for probing the structure of quantum states and identifying whether they are localized or delocalized in a given basis. These quantities are commonly extracted through finite-size scaling, which limits the analysis to relatively small system sizes. In this work, we demonstrate that the correlation fractal dimension $D_2$ can be directly obtained from the long-time dynamics of interacting many-body quantum systems. Specifically, we show that it coincides with the exponent of the power-law decay of the time-averaged survival probability, defined as the fidelity between an initial state and its time-evolved counterpart. This dynamical approach avoids the need for scaling procedures and enables access to larger systems than those typically reachable via exact diagonalization. We test the method on various random matrix ensembles, including full random matrices, the Rosenzweig-Porter model, and power-law banded random matrices, and extend the analysis to interacting many-body systems described by the one-dimensional Aubry-André model and the disordered spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain. In the case of full random matrices, we also derive an analytical expression for the entire evolution of the time-averaged survival probability.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2025

Proposal for many-body quantum chaos detection with single-site measurements

We demonstrate that the long-time dynamics of an observable associated with a single lattice site is sufficient to determine whether a many-body quantum system exhibits level statistics characteristic of random matrix theory, a widely used diagnostic of quantum chaos. In particular, we focus on the partial survival probability and spin autocorrelation function at a single site, both evolved under a disordered spin-1/2 chain, which is a setup realizable in current experimental platforms. Given the precision and timescales currently achievable, our results indicate that the detection of many-body quantum chaos is feasible, but constrained to small system sizes.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Phase transitions, symmetries, and tunneling in Kerr parametric oscillators

Quantum Kerr parametric oscillators (KPOs) are systems out of equilibrium with a wide range of applications in quantum computing, quantum sensing, and fundamental research. They have been realized in superconducting circuits and photonic platforms. In this work, we explore the onset of ground-state and excited-state quantum phase transitions in KPOs, focusing on the role of the phase-space rotational symmetry when the driving frequency is $μ$ times the oscillator's natural frequency, specifically for $μ=1,2,3,4$. These cases are experimentally accessible in superconducting circuits, where the Floquet quasienergy spectrum can also be studied as a function of tunable control parameters. Using the classical Hamiltonian of the system, we identify the critical points associated with quantum phase transitions and analyze the emergence of both real and avoided level crossings, examining their influence on the energy spectrum and tunneling dynamics. Our findings provide insights into the engineering of robust quantum states, quantum dynamics control, and onset of quantum phase transitions with implications for critical quantum sensing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Timescales for thermalization, quantum chaos, and self-averaging

This chapter discusses the conditions and timescales under which isolated many-body quantum systems, initially far from equilibrium, ultimately reach thermal equilibrium. We also examine quantities that, during the relaxation process, exhibit dynamical manifestations of spectral correlations as in random matrix theory and investigate how these manifestations affect their equilibration times. We refer to systems presenting these spectral correlations as chaotic quantum systems, although the correct term to be employed, whether chaotic or ergodic quantum systems, is debatable and both have limitations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Impact of chaos on the excited-state quantum phase transition of the Kerr parametric oscillator

The driven Kerr parametric oscillator, of interest to fundamental physics and quantum technologies, exhibits an excited state quantum phase transition (ESQPT) originating in an unstable classical periodic orbit. The main signature of this type of ESQPT is a singularity in the level density in the vicinity of the energy of the classical separatrix that divides the phase space into two distinct regions. The quantum states with energies below the separatrix are useful for quantum technologies, because they show a cat-like structure that protects them against local decoherence processes. In this work, we show how chaos arising from the interplay between the external drive and the nonlinearities of the system destroys the ESQPT and eventually eliminates the cat states. Our results demonstrate the importance of the analysis of theoretical models for the design of new parametric oscillators with ever larger nonlinearities.

quant-ph↗