Onset of Quantum Chaos and Ergodicity in Spin Systems with Highly Degenerate Hilbert Spaces

We show that in systems with highly degenerate energy spectra, such as the 2D transverse-field Ising model (2DTFIM) in the strong-field limit, quantum chaos can emerge in finite systems for arbitrary small perturbations. In this regime, the presence of extensive quasiconserved quantities can prevent finite systems from becoming ergodic. We study the ensuing crossover to ergodicity in a family of models that includes the 2DTFIM, in which the onset of ergodic behavior exhibits universality and occurs for perturbation strengths that decrease polynomially with increasing system size. We discuss the behaviors of quantum chaos indicators, such as level spacing statistics and bipartite entanglement, and of the fidelity susceptibilities and spectral functions across the crossover.