Cooling the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model using thermofield double states

TL;DR

This paper proposes an efficient experimental protocol to cool the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model to low temperatures using local couplings, supported by numerical simulations and a theoretical framework based on eigenstate thermalization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cooling protocol for the SYK model via adiabatic variation of local couplings, supported by numerical and theoretical analysis.

Findings

Successful cooling to low-temperature gravitational regime

Numerical solutions confirm fast cooling efficiency

Eigenstate thermalization explains protocol's effectiveness

Abstract

We analyze a simple and efficient experimental protocol to cool the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model to low temperatures. The protocol utilizes local couplings between two copies of an SYK model to create a gapped adiabatic path, between a high temperature product state and a low temperature thermofield double state. By smoothly varying the coupling strength between these two limits, one efficiently cools the SYK model. We support these predictions-and demonstrate fast cooling to the low-temperature gravitational regime-via exact numerical solutions to the large-N equations of motion that govern the ground state and dynamical properties of the coupled system. Finally, we present a theoretical framework based upon eigenstate thermalization that provides a microscopic explanation for the efficacy of the cooling protocol; intriguingly, this suggests that the protocol may be applicable for cooling strongly-interacting quantum Hamiltonians more broadly.