Emergent quantum chaos from correlations on a random graph

This work demonstrates that sparse long-range random bonds on a one-dimensional lattice alone can generate quantum-chaotic spectral correlations and also drive a localization transition in a noninteracting single-particle Hamiltonian. The model is a one-dimensional ring in which each pair of sites is connected independently with a probability $p_{ij}= d_{ij}^{-(1+\sigma)}$. Each bond carries identical unit hopping and on-site disorder is absent. Despite the absence of on-site disorder and interaction, the model displays quantum chaotic spectra with Gaussian orthogonal ensemble (GOE) level statistics at small $\sigma$ and localized eigenstates with Poisson statistics at larger $\sigma$. The transition occurs in the range $0.80 \lesssim \sigma_c \lesssim 0.85$, far above the summability threshold of the mean hopping profile ($\sigma=0$). A Gaussian field theory retaining only the mean and variance of the Bernoulli bonds instead predicts a threshold at $\sigma=1$, suggesting that higher cumulants are infrared-relevant. Our findings hint towards a universality class that is distinct from both the power-law random banded matrix model and the standard Anderson transition.