arXiv subjects

Benjamin Doyon

Publications and source records attributed to Benjamin Doyon.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Where solitons are in a KdV soliton gas

The Korteweg-De Vries (KdV) equation, a paradigmatic integrable model, admits multi-soliton solutions where localised profiles interact by elastic, factorised scattering. But when solitons interact, their shapes are modified, and individual solitons cannot be identified anymore, a key problem in soliton gases where one needs a density of solitons per unit distance. This is the question of quasi-particles in integrable systems: can we locate asymptotic objects at finite times and densities in the macroscopic limit of infinite number of solitons? A good definition of solitons' positions should guarantee that the field in any mesoscopic neighbourhood is determined by solitons lying there. We solve this problem for the KdV equation. We define solitons' positions as explicit solutions to the semiclassical Bethe equations. We show a density lower bound generalising the hard-rod condition and reminiscent of the condensate lower-bound known from soliton gases. We construct a fluid-cell projection, that projects out solitons lying outside mesoscopic regions, and show that the result is a field composed solely of the remaining solitons, unchanged in this region and exponentially supported there. From this we show that in the weak limit, conserved densities are given by the empirical density for these solitons' positions. Thus we have associated a kinetic theory of quasi-particles to the KdV equation. We also find new bounds on the growth of the multi-soliton support and on the supremum of the field and its derivatives. The results hold under natural conditions on spectral and impact parameters, and no randomness or large-wavelength conditions are required. Our proof is based on a novel solitonic tau function. This is a first step towards rigorously deriving the kinetic equation of the KdV soliton gas, first proposed by Gennady El in 2003. The methods are generalisable to other solitonic models.

math-ph↗

arXiv2026

Full counting statistics after quantum quenches as hydrodynamic fluctuations

The statistics of fluctuations on large regions of space encodes universal properties of many-body systems. At equilibrium, it is described by thermodynamics. However, away from equilibrium such as after quantum quenches, the fundamental principles are more nebulous. In particular, although exact results have been conjectured in integrable models, a correct understanding of the physics is largely missing. In this letter, we explain these principles, taking the example of the number of particles lying on a large interval in one-dimensional interacting systems. These are based on simple hydrodynamic arguments from the theory of ballistically transported fluctuations, and in particular the Euler-scale transport of long-range correlations. Using these principles, we obtain the full counting statistics in terms of thermodynamic and hydrodynamic quantities, whose validity depends on the structure of hydrodynamic modes and on the fluctuations in the initial state. In fermionic-statistics interacting integrable models with a continuum of hydrodynamic modes, such as the Lieb-Liniger model for cold atomic gases, the formula reproduces previous conjectures, but is in fact not exact: it gives the correct cumulants up to, including, order 5, while long-range correlations modify higher cumulants. In integrable and non-integrable models with two or less hydrodynamic modes, the formula is expected to give all cumulants.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

A Hydrodynamic Theory for Non-Equilibrium Full Counting Statistics in One-Dimensional Quantum Systems

We study the dynamics of charge fluctuations after homogeneous quantum quenches in one-dimensional systems with ballistic transport. For short but macroscopic times where the non-trivial dynamics is largely dominated by long-range correlations, a simple expression for the associated full counting statistics can be obtained by hydrodynamic arguments. This formula links the non-equilibrium charge fluctuation after the quench to the fluctuations of the associated current after a charge-biased inhomogeneous modification of the original quench which corresponds to the paradigmatic partitioning protocol. Under certain assumptions, the fluctuations in the latter case can be expressed by explicit closed form formulas in terms of thermodynamic and hydrodynamic quantities via the Ballistic Fluctuations Theory. In this work, we identify precise physical conditions for the applicability of a fully hydrodynamic theory, and provide a detailed analysis explicitly demonstrating how such conditions are met and how this leads to such hydrodynamic treatment. We discuss these conditions at length in non-relativistic free fermions, where calculations become feasible and allow for cross-checks against exact results. In physically relevant cases, strong long-range correlations can complicate the hydrodynamic picture, but our formula still correctly reproduces the first cumulants.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Kinetic equations for a two-dimensional soliton gas

We formulate a general system of kinetic equations for a non-stationary two-dimensional gas of elastically interacting line solitons and apply it to the description of a soliton gas governed by the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili II (KPII) equation. We then verify the predictions of the kinetic theory in two analytically tractable problems: the oblique interaction of a KPII line soliton with a one-dimensional soliton condensate of the Korteweg-de Vries equation, and the interaction of a trial KPII soliton with a monochromatic KPII soliton gas. In both cases, we compare the analytical results with direct numerical simulations obtained by constructing two-dimensional soliton gases via exact KPII $N$-soliton solutions for large $N$, using appropriately chosen random distributions of soliton parameters. The comparison demonstrates excellent agreement, thereby providing strong validation of the proposed kinetic theory of 2D non-equilibrium soliton gases.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2026

Towards an ab initio derivation of generalised hydrodynamics from a gas of interacting wave packets

We present steps towards an ab initio derivation of generalised hydrodynamics in quantum integrable models, starting from the Bethe wave functions, and explained on the example of the repulsive Lieb-Liniger model. This includes an identification of the generalised hydrodynamics quasi-particles as wave packets in the quantum model. These wave packets evolve according to a classical particle model and collect two-particle scattering shifts similar to solitons in integrable PDEs. We then discuss potential routes to obtain the generalised hydrodynamics equation for average conserved densities in long-wavelength states from this description. As part of this, we provide an explicit formula for the action of the spectral phase-space density operator on Bethe wave functions, and show that it generates local conserved densities.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Hydrodynamic noise in one dimension: projected Kubo formula and how it vanishes in integrable models

Hydrodynamic noise is the Gaussian process that emerges at larges scales of space and time in many-body systems. It is justified by the central limit theorem, and represents degrees of freedom forgotten when projecting coarse-grained observables onto conserved quantities. It is the basis for fluctuating hydrodynamics, where it appears along with bare diffusion terms related to the noise covariance by the Einstein relation. In one spatial dimension, nonlinearities are relevant and may modify the corrections to ballistic behaviours by superdiffusive effects. But in systems where no shocks appear, such as linearly degenerate and integrable systems, the diffusive scaling of these corrections stays intact. Nevertheless, anomalies remain. We show that in such systems, the noise covariance is given by a modification of the Kubo formula, where effects of ballistic long-range correlations have been projected out, and that nonlinearities are tamed by a point-splitting regularisation. With these ingredients, we obtain a well-defined hydrodynamic fluctuation theory in the ballistic scaling of space-time, as a stochastic PDE. It describes the asymptotic expansion in the inverse variation scale of connected correlation functions, self-consistently organised via a cumulant expansion. The resulting anomalous hydrodynamic equation for average densities takes into account both long-range correlations and bare diffusion, generalising recent results. Despite these anomalies, two-point functions satisfy an ordinary diffusion equation, with diffusion matrix determined by the Kubo formula. In integrable systems, we show that hydrodynamic noise, hence bare diffusion, must vanish, as was conjectured recently, and argue that under an appropriate gauge of the currents, this is true at all orders. Thus the Ballistic Macroscopic Fluctuation Theory give the all-order hydrodynamic theory for integrable models.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Observing quantum phase transitions at non-zero temperature: non-analytic behavior of order-parameter correlation times

Phase transitions occur when a macroscopic number of local degrees of freedom coherently change their behavior. In ground states of quantum many-body systems, phase transitions due to quantum fluctuations are observed as non-analytic behaviors of order parameters, such as magnetization, as functions of a conjugate parameter, such as the magnetic field. However, as soon as thermal fluctuations are present, these effects are believed to disappear for local observables. We show that this is not necessarily the case: order parameters may still show non-analytic behaviors within their dynamics. With the example of the Ising model and using methods based on hydrodynamic fluctuations, we evaluate the exact order-parameter correlation time, in space-time directions of all velocities, in equilibrium states at nonzero temperature. We reveal non-analytic behaviors of spin correlation times as functions of the magnetic field, velocity, and temperature. As a function of the magnetic field, they occur at values that continuously approach that of the zero-temperature equilibrium transition point as the velocity is decreased and reach it within the light cone, where we obtain a new, temperature-independent logarithmic divergence characterizing the collective dynamics. Thus, collective effects induced by quantum fluctuations persist within the dynamics of local observables.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Diffusive hydrodynamics from long-range correlations

In the hydrodynamic theory, the non-equilibrium dynamics of a many-body system is approximated, at large scales of space and time, by irreversible relaxation to local entropy maximisation. This results in a convective equation corrected by viscous or diffusive terms in a gradient expansion, such as the Navier-Stokes equations. Diffusive terms are evaluated using the Kubo formula, and possibly arising from an emergent noise due to discarded microscopic degrees of freedom. In one dimension of space, diffusive scaling is often broken as noise leads to super-diffusion. But in linearly degenerate hydrodynamics, such as that of integrable models, diffusive behaviors are observed, and it has long be thought that the standard diffusive picture remains valid. In this letter, we show that in such systems, the Navier-Stokes equation breaks down beyond linear response. We demonstrate that diffusive-order corrections do not take the form of a gradient expansion. Instead, they are completely determined by ballistic transport of initial-state fluctuations, and obtained from the non-local two-point correlations recently predicted by the ballistic macroscopic fluctuation theory (BMFT); the resulting hydrodynamic equations are reversible. To do so, we establish a regularised fluctuation theory, putting on a firm basis the recent idea that ballistic transport of initial-state fluctuations determines fluctuations and correlations beyond the Euler scale. This extends the idea of ``diffusion from convection'' previously developed to explain the Kubo formula in integrable systems, to generic non-equilibrium settings.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Twist fields in many-body physics

The notion of twist fields has played a fundamental role in many-body physics. It is used to construct the so-called disorder parameter for the study of phase transitions in the classical Ising model of statistical mechanics, it is involved in the Jordan-Wigner transformation in quantum chains and bosonisation in quantum field theory, and it is related to measures of entanglement in many-body quantum systems. I provide a pedagogical introduction to the notion of twist field and the concepts at its roots, and review some of its applications, focussing on 1+1 dimension. This includes: locality and extensivity, internal symmetries, semi-locality, the standard exponential form and height fields, path integral defects and Riemann surfaces, topological invariance, and twist families. Additional topics touched upon include renormalisation and form factors in relativistic quantum field theory, tau functions of integrable PDEs, thermodynamic and hydrodynamic principles, and branch-point twist fields for entanglement entropy. One-dimensional quantum systems such as chains (e.g. quantum Heisenberg model) and field theory (e.g. quantum sine-Gordon model) are the main focus, but I also explain how the notion applies to equilibrium statistical mechanics (e.g. classical Ising lattice model), and how some aspects can be adapted to one-dimensional classical dynamical systems (e.g. classical Toda chain).

math-ph↗

arXiv2025

Nonlinear projection for ballistic correlation functions: a formula in terms of minimal connected covers

In many-body systems, the dynamics is governed, at large scales of space and time, by the hydrodynamic principle of projection onto the conserved densities admitted by the model. This is formalised as local relaxation of fluctuations in the Ballistic Macroscopic Fluctuation Theory, and is a nonlinear version of the Boltzmann-Gibbs principle. We use it to derive a projection formula, expressing $n$-point connected correlation functions (cumulants) of generic observables at different space-time points, in terms of those of conserved densities. This applies in every $d\geq 1$ spatial dimensions and under the ballistic scaling of space and time, both in and out of equilibrium. It generalises the well-known linear-response principle for 2-point functions. For higher-point functions, one needs to account for nonlinear fluctuations of conserved densities and, correspondingly, higher derivatives of local averages. Using Malyshev's formula for the cumulant expansion, and keeping the leading order, the result is a nonlinear projection, expressed as a sum of products of correlation functions of conserved densities with equilibrium multivariances as coefficients. The sum is combinatorially organised via certain covers of the set of space-time points, which we call minimal connected covers. We use this in order to get general, explicit formulas for two- and three-point functions in stationary states, expressed in terms of thermodynamic and Euler-scale data.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

A new quadrature for the generalized hydrodynamics equation and absence of shocks in the Lieb-Liniger model

In conventional fluids, it is well known that Euler-scale equations are plagued by ambiguities and instabilities. Smooth initial conditions may develop shocks, and weak solutions, such as for domain wall initial conditions (the paradigmatic Riemann problem of hydrodynamics), are not unique. The absence of shock formation experimentally observed in quasi-one-dimensional cold-atomic gases, which are described by the Lieb-Liniger model, provides perhaps the strongest pointer to a modification of the hydrodynamic equation due to integrability. Generalised hydrodynamics (GHD) is the required hydrodynamic theory, taking into account the infinite number of conserved quantities afforded by integrability. We provide a new quadrature for the GHD equation -- a solution in terms of a Banach fixed-point problem where time has been explicitly integrated. The quadrature is an efficient numerical solution tool; and it allows us, in the Lieb-Liniger model, to rigorously show that no shock may appear at all times, and, when combined with recent hydrodynamic fluctuation theories, to obtain new expressions for correlations in non-stationary states, establishing for the first time the presence of discontinuities characteristic of the non-equilibrium dynamics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Diffusive hydrodynamics of hard rods from microscopics

We derive exact equations governing the large-scale dynamics of hard rods, including diffusive effects that go beyond ballistic transport. Diffusive corrections are the first-order terms in the hydrodynamic gradient expansion and we obtain them through an explicit microscopic calculation of the dynamics of hard rods. We show that they differ significantly from the prediction of Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics, as the correct hydrodynamics description is instead given by two coupled equations, giving respectively the evolution of the one point functions and of the connected two-point correlations. The resulting equations are time-reversible and reduce to the usual Navier-Stokes hydrodynamic equations in the limit of near-equilibrium evolution. This represents the first exact microscopic calculation showing how ballistic dynamics generates long-range correlations, in agreement with general results from the recently developed ballistic macroscopic fluctuation theory, and showing how such long range-correlations directly affect the diffusive hydrodynamic terms, in agreement with, and clarifying, recent related results.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Circuits as a simple platform for the emergence of hydrodynamics in deterministic chaotic many-body systems

The emergence of hydrodynamics is one of the deepest phenomena in many-body systems. Arguably, the hydrodynamic equations are also the most important tools for predicting large-scale behaviour. Understanding how such equations emerge from microscopic deterministic dynamics is a century-old problem, despite recent progress in fine-tuned integrable systems. Due to the universality of hydrodynamics, the specific microscopic implementation should not matter. Here, we show that classical deterministic circuits provide a minimal, exact, and efficient platform that admits non-trivial hydrodynamic behaviour for deterministic but chaotic systems. By developing new techniques and focusing on 1D circuits as a proof of concept, we obtain the characteristic dynamics, including relaxation to Gibbs states, exact Euler equations, shocks, diffusion, and exact KPZ super-diffusion. Our methods can be easily generalised to higher dimensions or quantum circuits.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Rigorous bound on hydrodynamic diffusion for chaotic open spin chains

The emergence of diffusion is one of the deepest physical phenomena observed in many-body interacting, chaotic systems. But establishing rigorously that correlation functions, say of the spin, expand diffusively, remains one of the most important problems of mathematical physics. We establish for the first time, with Lindbladian evolution, a lower bound on spin diffusion in chaotic, translation-invariant, nearest-neighbor open quantum spin-1/2 chain satisfying a local detailed-balance condition and strong conservation of magnetisation. The bound is strictly positive if and only if the local quantum jumps transport spin. Physically, the bound comes from the spreading effects of initial-state macroscopic fluctuations, a mechanism which occurs whenever spin is an interacting ballistic mode. Chaoticity means that the Hilbert space of extensive charges is spanned by magnetisation; we expect this to be generic. Our main tool is the Green-Kubo formula, the mathematical technique of projection over quadratically extensive charges, and appropriate correlation decay bounds recently established. Because Lindbladian dynamics is not reversible, the Green-Kubo spin diffusion strength includes a contribution due to irreversibility, which we interpret as encoding the hydrodynamic entropy production that may occur in the forgotten environment. This, we show, vanishes for certain choices of interaction parameters, for which the Lindbladian dynamics becomes reversible. Our methods can be extended to finite or short ranges, higher spins, and other non-Hamiltonian systems such as quantum circuits. As we argue, according to the theory of nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics, we further expect these systems to display superdiffusion, and thus have infinite diffusivity; however this is still beyond the reach of mathematical rigour.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions to the Generalized Hydrodynamics Equation

The generalized hydrodynamics (GHD) equation is the equivalent of the Euler equations of hydrodynamics for integrable models. Systems of hyperbolic equations such as the Euler equations usually develop shocks and are plagued by problems of uniqueness. We establish for the first time the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the full GHD equation and the absence of shocks, from a large class of initial conditions with bounded occupation function. We assume only absolute integrability of the two-body scattering shift. In applications to quantum models of fermionic type, this includes all commonly used physical initial states, such as locally thermal states and zero-entropy states. We show in particular that differentiable initial conditions give differentiable solutions at all times and that weak initial conditions such as the Riemann problem have unique weak solutions which preserve entropy. For this purpose, we write the GHD equation as a new fixed-point problem (announced in a companion paper). We show that the fixed point exists, is unique, and is approached, under an iterative solution procedure, in the Banach topology on functions of momenta.

math-ph↗

arXiv2024

Hamiltonian formulation and aspects of integrability of generalised hydrodynamics

Generalised Hydrodynamics (GHD) describes the large-scale inhomogeneous dynamics of integrable (or close to integrable) systems in one dimension of space, based on a central equation for the fluid density or quasi-particle density: the GHD equation. We consider a new, general form of the GHD equation: we allow for spatially extended interaction kernels, generalising previous constructions. We show that the GHD equation, in our general form and hence also in its conventional form, is Hamiltonian. This holds also including force terms representing inhomogeneous external potentials coupled to conserved densities. To this end, we introduce a new Poisson bracket on functionals of the fluid density, which is seen as our dynamical field variable. The total energy is the Hamiltonian whose flow under this Poisson bracket generates the GHD equation. The fluid density depends on two (real and spectral) variables so the GHD equation can be seen as a $2+1$-dimensional classical field theory. In its $1+1$-dimensional reduction corresponding to the case without external forces, we further show the system admits an infinite set of conserved quantities that are in involution for our Poisson bracket, hinting at integrability of this field theory.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2024

Soliton gas of the integrable Boussinesq equation and its generalised hydrodynamics

Generalised hydrodynamics (GHD) is a recent and powerful framework to study many-body integrable systems, quantum or classical, out of equilibrium. It has been applied to several models, from the delta Bose gas to the XXZ spin chain, the KdV soliton gas and many more. Yet it has only been applied to (1+1)-dimensional systems and generalisation to higher dimensions of space is non-trivial. We study the Boussinesq equation which, while generally considered to be less physically relevant than the KdV equation, is interesting as a stationary reduction of the (boosted) Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP) equation, a prototypical and universal example of a nonlinear integrable PDE in (2+1) dimensions. We follow a heuristic approach inspired by the Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz in order to construct the GHD of the Boussinesq soliton gas. Such approach allows for a statistical mechanics interpretation of the Boussinesq soliton gas that comes naturally with the GHD picture. This is to be seen as a first step in the construction of the KP soliton gas, yielding insight on some classes of solutions from which we may be able to build an intuition on how to devise a more general theory. This also offers another perspective on the construction of anisotropic bidirectional soliton gases previously introduced phenomenologically by Congy et al (2021).

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2024

Two-dimensional stationary soliton gas

We study two-dimensional stationary soliton gas in the framework of the time-independent reduction of the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KPII) equation, which coincides with the integrable two-way ``good'' Boussinesq equation in the xy-plane. This (2+0)D reduction enables the construction of the kinetic equation for the stationary gas of KP solitons by invoking recent results on (1+1)D bidirectional soliton gases and generalised hydrodynamics of the Boussinesq equation. We then use the kinetic theory to analytically describe two basic types of 2D soliton gas interactions: (i) refraction of a line soliton by a stationary soliton gas, and (ii) oblique interference of two soliton gases. We verify the analytical predictions by numerically implementing the corresponding KPII soliton gases via exact N-soliton solutions with N-large and appropriately chosen random distributions for the soliton parameters. We also explicitly evaluate the long-distance correlations for the two-component interference configurations. The results can be applied to a variety of physical systems, from shallow water waves to Bose-Einstein condensates.

nlin.PS↗