Out-of-time-order correlator computation based on a discrete truncated Wigner approximation
Phys. Rev. B 112, 014309 – Published 17 July, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/lxwb-ql9q
Abstract
We propose a method based on the discrete truncated Wigner approximation (DTWA) for computing out-of-time-order correlators. This method is applied to long-range interacting quantum spin systems where the interactions decay as a power law with distance. As a demonstration, we use a squared commutator of local operators and its higher-order extensions that describe quantum information scrambling under Hamilton dynamics. Our results reveal that the DTWA method accurately reproduces the exact dynamics of the average spreading of quantum information (i.e., the squared commutator) across all time regimes in strongly long-range interacting systems. We also identify limitations in the DTWA method when capturing dynamics in weakly long-range interacting systems and the fastest spreading of quantum information. Then we apply the DTWA method to investigate the system-size dependence of the scrambling time in strongly long-range interacting systems. We reveal that the scaling behavior of the scrambling time for large system sizes qualitatively changes depending on the interaction range. This work provides and demonstrates a technique to study scrambling dynamics in long-range interacting quantum spin systems.
