Eigenstate thermalization hypothesis for Wigner matrices (Q2244923)

The authors prove that any deterministic matrix is approximately the identity in the eigenbasis of a large random Wigner matrix with high probability and with an optimal error inversely proportional to the square root of the dimension. More precisely, let $W$ be an $N\times N$ random Wigner matrix whose entries $w_{ij}$ are i.i.d. up to the symmetry constraint $w_{ij} = \overline{w_{ji}}$. Let $u_1,\ldots, u_N$ be an orthonormal eigenbasis of $W$. One of the main results of the paper states that for any deterministic matrix $A$ with $\|A\|\leq 1$ it holds that $\max_{i,j}|\langle u_i, A u_j\rangle - \delta_{ij} \mathrm{Tr}(A)/N|=\mathcal O(N^{\varepsilon-1/2})$ with very high probability. This result thus rigorously verifies the Eigenstate Thermalisation Hypothesis by \textit{J. Deutsch} [``Quantum statistical mechanics in a closed system'', Phys. Rev. A 43, No. 4, 2046--2049 (1991; \url{doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.43.2046})] for the simplest chaotic quantum system, the Wigner ensemble. In mathematical terms, the authors prove the strong form of Quantum Unique Ergodicity (QUE) with an optimal convergence rate for all eigenvectors simultaneously, generalizing previous probabilistic QUE results in [\textit{P. Bourgade} and \textit{H. T. Yau}, Commun. Math. Phys. 350, No. 1, 231--278 (2017; Zbl 1379.58014); \textit{P. Bourgade} et al., Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 73, No. 7, 1526--1596 (2020; Zbl 1446.60005)]. On a technical level, a key contribution of this work is to identify improved multi-resolvent local laws that arise when intersplicing resolvents with traceless deterministic matrices by a careful analysis of a cumulant expansion via Feynman diagrams. The improvement also arises on the level of a single resolvent for $\mathrm{Tr}(GA)$ with $A$ traceless and deterministic, as shown in Theorem 3.