Arul Lakshminarayan

We derive universal entanglement entropy and Schmidt eigenvalue behaviors for the eigenstates of two quantum chaotic systems coupled with a weak interaction. The progression from a lack of entanglement in the noninteracting limit to the entanglement expected of fully randomized states in the opposite limit is governed by the single scaling transition parameter Λ. The behaviors apply equally well to few- and many-body systems, e.g., interacting particles in quantum dots, spin chains, coupled quantum maps, and Floquet systems, as long as their subsystems are quantum chaotic and not localized in some manner. To calculate the generalized moments of the Schmidt eigenvalues in the perturbative regime, a regularized theory is applied, whose leading-order behaviors depend on Λ. The marginal case of the 1/2 moment, which is related to the distance to the closest maximally entangled state, is an exception having a ΛlnΛ leading order and a logarithmic dependence on subsystem size. A recursive embedding of the regularized perturbation theory gives a simple exponential behavior for the von Neumann entropy and the Havrda-Charvát-Tsallis entropies for increasing interaction strength, demonstrating a universal transition to nearly maximal entanglement. Moreover, the full probability densities of the Schmidt eigenvalues, i.e., the entanglement spectrum, show a transition from power laws and Lévy distribution in the weakly interacting regime to random matrix results for the strongly interacting regime. The predicted behaviors are tested on a pair of weakly interacting kicked rotors, which follow the universal behaviors extremely well.

The entanglement and localization in eigenstates of strongly chaotic subsystems are studied as a function of their interaction strength. Excellent measures for this purpose are the von Neumann entropy, Havrda-Charvát-Tsallis entropies, and the averaged inverse participation ratio. All the entropies are shown to follow a remarkably simple exponential form, which describes a universal and rapid transition to nearly maximal entanglement for increasing interaction strength. An unexpectedly exact relationship between the subsystem averaged inverse participation ratio and purity is derived that prescribes the transition in the localization as well.

The statistical properties of interacting strongly chaotic systems are investigated for varying interaction strength. In order to model tunable entangling interactions between such systems, we introduce a new class of random matrix transition ensembles. The nearest-neighbor-spacing distribution shows a very sensitive transition from Poisson statistics to those of random matrix theory as the interaction increases. The transition is universal and depends on a single scaling parameter only. We derive the analytic relationship between the model parameters and those of a bipartite system, with explicit results for coupled kicked rotors, a dynamical systems paradigm for interacting chaotic systems. With this relationship the spectral fluctuations for both are in perfect agreement. An accurate approximation of the nearest-neighbor-spacing distribution as a function of the transition parameter is derived using perturbation theory.

A bipartite system whose subsystems are fully quantum chaotic and coupled by a perturbative interaction with a tunable strength is a paradigmatic model for investigating how isolated quantum systems relax toward an equilibrium. It is found that quantum coherence of the initial product states in the energy eigenbasis of the subsystems - quantified by the off-diagonal elements of the subsystem density matrices - can be viewed as a resource for equilibration and thermalization as manifested by the entanglement generated. Results are given for four distinct perturbation strength regimes, the ultraweak, weak, intermediate, and strong regimes. For each, three types of tensor product states are considered for the initial state: uniform superpositions, random superpositions, and individual subsystem eigenstates. A universal timescale is identified involving the interaction strength parameter. In particular, maximally coherent initial product states (a form of uniform superpositions) thermalize under time evolution for any perturbation strength in spite of the fact that in the ultraweak perturbative regime the underlying eigenstates of the system have a tensor product structure and are not at all thermal-like; though the time taken to thermalize tends to infinity as the interaction vanishes. Moreover, it is shown that in the ultraweak regime the initial entanglement growth of the system whose initial states are maximally coherent is quadratic-in-time, in contrast to the widely observed linear behavior.

Spectral statistics of quantum systems have been studied in detail using the nearest neighbour level spacings, which for generic chaotic systems follows random matrix theory predictions. In this work, the probability density of the closest neighbour and farther neighbour spacings from a given level are introduced. Analytical predictions are derived using a 3 × 3 matrix model. The closest neighbour density is generalized to the kth closest neighbour spacing density, which allows for investigating long-range correlations. For larger k the probability density of kth closest neighbour spacings is well described by a Gaussian. Using these kth closest neighbour spacings we propose the ratio of the closest neighbour to the second closest neighbour as an alternative to the ratio of successive spacings. For a Poissonian spectrum the density of the ratio is flat, whereas for the three Gaussian ensembles repulsion at small values is found. The ordered spacing statistics and their ratio are numerically studied for the integrable circle billiard, the chaotic cardioid billiard, the standard map and the zeroes of the Riemann zeta function. Very good agreement with the predictions is found.

The entanglement production in bipartite quantum systems is studied for initially unentangled product eigenstates of the subsystems, which are assumed to be quantum chaotic. Based on a perturbative computation of the Schmidt eigenvalues of the reduced density matrix, explicit expressions for the time-dependence of entanglement entropies, including the von Neumann entropy, are given. An appropriate rescaling of time and the entropies by their saturation values leads a universal curve, independent of the interaction. The extension to the nonperturbative regime is performed using a recursively embedded perturbation theory to produce the full transition and the saturation values. The analytical results are found to be in good agreement with numerical results for random matrix computations and a dynamical system given by a pair of coupled kicked rotors.