Statistics of matrix elements of local operators in integrable models

TL;DR

This paper investigates the statistical properties of local operator matrix elements in the integrable Lieb-Liniger model, revealing unique scaling behaviors and distribution patterns that differ from non-integrable systems and relate to free theories.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of matrix element scaling in integrable models, connecting their structure to free theories and characterizing their distribution with Fréchet laws.

Findings

Off-diagonal elements within the same macro-state scale as exp(-cL log L - L M)

Off-diagonal elements between different macro-states scale as exp(-d L^2)

Diagonal elements depend primarily on macro-state information

Abstract

We study the statistics of matrix elements of local operators in the basis of energy eigenstates in a paradigmatic integrable many-particle quantum theory, the Lieb-Liniger model of bosons with repulsive delta-function interaction. Using methods of quantum integrability we determine the scaling of matrix elements with system size. As a consequence of the extensive number of conservation laws the structure of matrix elements is fundamentally different from, and much more intricate than, the predictions of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis for generic models. We uncover an interesting connection between this structure for local operators in interacting integrable models, and the one for local operators that are not local with respect to the elementary excitations in free theories. We find that typical off-diagonal matrix elements $\langle\boldsymbol{\mu}|O|\boldsymbol{\lambda}\rangle$ in the same macro-state scale as $\exp(-c^{ O}L\ln(L)-LM^{O}_{\boldsymbol{\mu},\boldsymbol{\lambda}})$ where the probability distribution function for $M^{O}_{\boldsymbol{\mu},\boldsymbol{\lambda}}$ are well described by Fr\'echet distributions and $c^{O}$ depends only on macro-state information. In contrast, typical off-diagonal matrix elements between two different macro-states scale as $\exp(-d^{ O}L^2)$, where $d^{O}$ depends only on macro-state information. Diagonal matrix elements depend only on macro-state information up to finite-size corrections.