Finite temperature free fermions and the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation at finite time

TL;DR

This paper studies finite temperature free fermions in a harmonic trap, deriving their density profile and edge fluctuations, which interpolate between Gaussian and Wigner semi-circle laws, and reveals a kernel related to the KPZ equation at finite time.

Contribution

It introduces a new scaling limit for fermion edge fluctuations at finite temperature, connecting them to a generalized Airy kernel and the KPZ equation at finite time.

Findings

Density profile interpolates between Gaussian and Wigner semi-circle laws.

Edge fluctuations are described by a generalized Airy kernel depending on temperature.

The same kernel appears in the KPZ equation solution at finite time.

Abstract

We consider the system of $N$ one-dimensional free fermions confined by a harmonic well $V(x) = m\omega^2 {x^2}/{2}$ at finite inverse temperature $\beta = 1/T$. The average density of fermions $\rho_N(x,T)$ at position $x$ is derived. For $N \gg 1$ and $\beta \sim {\cal O}(1/N)$, $\rho_N(x,T)$ is given by a scaling function interpolating between a Gaussian at high temperature, for $\beta \ll 1/N$, and the Wigner semi-circle law at low temperature, for $\beta \gg N^{-1}$. In the latter regime, we unveil a scaling limit, for $\beta {\hbar \omega}= b N^{-1/3}$, where the fluctuations close to the edge of the support, at $x \sim \pm \sqrt{2\hbar N/(m\omega)}$, are described by a limiting kernel $K^{\rm ff}_b(s,s')$ that depends continuously on $b$ and is a generalization of the Airy kernel, found in the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble of random matrices. Remarkably, exactly the same kernel $K^{\rm ff}_b(s,s')$ arises in the exact solution of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation in 1+1 dimensions at finite time $t$, with the correspondence $t= b^3$.