Random Lindblad Dynamics

Abstract

We study the mixing behavior of random Lindblad generators with no symmetries, using the dynamical map or propagator of the dissipative evolution. In particular, we determine the long-time behavior of a dissipative form factor, which is the trace of the propagator, and use this as a diagnostic for the existence or absence of a spectral gap in the distribution of eigenvalues of the Lindblad generator. We find that simple generators with a single jump operator are slowly mixing, and relax algebraically in time, due to the closing of the spectral gap in the thermodynamic limit. Introducing additional jump operators or a Hamiltonian opens up a spectral gap which remains finite in the thermodynamic limit, leading to exponential relaxation and thus rapid mixing. We use the method of moments and introduce a novel diagrammatic expansion to determine exactly the form factor to leading order in Hilbert space dimension $N$. We also present numerical support for our main results.

v2: 38 pages, 17 figures, with a few more substantial appendices elaborating upon the main results