Complexity as a novel probe of quantum quenches: universal scalings and purifications

Hugo A. Camargo, Pawel Caputa, Diptarka Das, Michal P. Heller, Ro Jefferson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We apply the recently developed notion of complexity for field theory to a quantum quench through a critical point in 1+1 dimensions. We begin with a toy model consisting of a quantum harmonic oscillator, and show that complexity exhibits universal scalings in both the slow and fast quench regimes. We then generalize our results to a one-dimensional harmonic chain, and show that preservation of these scaling behaviors in free field theory depends on the choice of norm. Applying our setup to the case of two oscillators, we quantify the complexity of purification associated with a subregion, and demonstrate that complexity is capable of probing features to which the entanglement entropy is insensitive. We find that the complexity of subregions is subadditive, and comment on potential implications for holography.
Original languageEnglish
Article number081601
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume122
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes

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