English

More on OTOCs and Chaos in Quantum Mechanics -- Magnetic Fields

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-02-06 v1 Chaotic Dynamics Quantum Physics

Abstract

We revisit thermal out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs) in single-particle quantum systems, focusing on magnetic billiards. Using the stadium billiard as a testbed, we compute the thermal OTOC CT(t)=[x(t),p]2βC_T(t) = -\langle [x(t), p]^2 \rangle_\beta and extract Lyapunov-like exponents λL\lambda_L that quantify early-time growth. We map out λL(T,B)\lambda_L(T, B), revealing a crossover from quantum chaos to magnetic rigidity. In parallel, we compute an alternative OTOC built from guiding-center operators, which exhibits qualitatively distinct dynamics and no exponential growth. Our results offer a controlled framework for probing scrambling, temperature dependence, and the interplay of geometry and magnetic fields in quantum systems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.05322,
  title  = {More on OTOCs and Chaos in Quantum Mechanics -- Magnetic Fields},
  author = {Cameron Beetar and Jeff Murugan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.05322},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

29 pages, 9 figures (Appendices: 6 pages, 3 figures)