Cooling the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model using thermofield double states
Abstract
We analyze a simple and efficient experimental protocol to cool the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model to low temperatures. The protocol utilizes local couplings between two copies of an SYK model to create a gapped adiabatic path, between a high temperature product state and a low temperature thermofield double state. By smoothly varying the coupling strength between these two limits, one efficiently cools the SYK model. We support these predictions-and demonstrate fast cooling to the low-temperature gravitational regime-via exact numerical solutions to the large-N equations of motion that govern the ground state and dynamical properties of the coupled system. Finally, we present a theoretical framework based upon eigenstate thermalization that provides a microscopic explanation for the efficacy of the cooling protocol; intriguingly, this suggests that the protocol may be applicable for cooling strongly-interacting quantum Hamiltonians more broadly.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2511.09620,
title = {Cooling the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model using thermofield double states},
author = {Thomas Schuster and Bryce Kobrin and Vincent P. Su and Hugo Marrochio and Norman Y. Yao},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.09620},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
6+25 pages, 4+2 figures