How to distinguish chaos from integrability using OTOC
quant-ph, cond-mat.stat-mech, cond-mat.str-el, hep-th
Submitted: 2026-10-03
Updated: 2026-10-03
Comments: 13+7 pages, 2 figures
License: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
The gist: The decay of out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOCs) to a small residual value signals the scrambling of quantum information.
Abstract
The decay of out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOCs) to a small residual value signals the scrambling of quantum information. This behavior is generic: it occurs in both chaotic and interacting integrable many-body systems, and therefore cannot by itself distinguish between them. In this paper we analytically study the late-time saturation value of a closely related observable, operator purity, and show that its scaling with system size robustly distinguishes chaotic from integrable systems. Our approach is based on the Mazur bound, which provides concrete scaling estimates and makes explicit why the locality of integrable charges matters. We support our findings with numerical simulations of one-dimensional spin chains.
Sources
- Out-of-time-order correlators and quantum chaos
- Chaos in quantum channels
- Timelike entanglement entropy
- Observable and computable entanglement in time
- A bound on chaos
- Does scrambling equal chaos?
- Scrambling of Quantum Information in Quantum Many-Body Systems
- Time Evolution of Entanglement Entropy from Black Hole Interiors
- Bound on Eigenstate Thermalization from Transport
- From Quantum Chaos and Eigenstate Thermalization to Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
- Finite-size scaling of out-of-time-ordered correlators at late times
- Information Scrambling with Conservation Laws
- BROTOCs and Quantum Information Scrambling at Finite Temperature
- Scrambling and operator entanglement in local non-Hermitian quantum systems
- Gauging classical and quantum integrability through out-of-time ordered correlators
- Local and Quasilocal Conserved Quantities in Integrable Systems
- Geometry of Free Fermion Commutants
- Entanglement dynamics from universal low-lying modes
- Complete Generalized Gibbs Ensemble in an interacting Theory
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