Oct 25, 2024: Thermalization and Quantum Information Workshop - Alexander Altland [U of Cologne]

Title: Late time quantum chaos in low-dimensional gravity
Abstract:Spectra and wave functions of quantum chaotic systems show universal correlations which have been described in terms of a multitude of concepts, including random matrix theory, diagrammatic perturbation theory, or quantum field theory. While most of these were developed in fields such as condensed matter or many body physics, more recent work aims to extend the concept of quantum chaotic universality to gravity. These ideas assume their most concrete form in the construction of a two-dimensional holographic correspondence, and the observation of chaotic correlations in a gravitational path integral. In this talk, we will review these developments (for non-experts) and reason qualitatively why the completion of the holographic principle suggests an extension by elements of string theory. In more concrete terms, we will show that the relevant string theory contains the Efetov nonlinear sigma model as an ergodic limit, demonstrating the presence of universal spectral correlations in the gravitational micro state spectrum.