Ergodic and mixing quantum channels: From two-qubit to many-body quantum systems

The development of classical ergodic theory has had a significant impact on the areas of mathematics, physics, and, in general, applied sciences. The quantum ergodic theory of Hamiltonian dynamics has its motivations in understanding thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. The quantum channel, a completely positive tracepreserving map, represents the most general representation of quantum dynamics and is an essential aspect of quantum information theory and quantum computation. In this work, we study the ergodic theory of quantum channels by characterizing different levels of ergodic hierarchy from integrable to mixing. The quantum channels on single systems are constructed from the unitary operators acting on bipartite states and tracing out the environment. The interaction strength of these unitary operators measured in terms of operator entanglement provides sufficient conditions for the channel to be mixing. By using block-diagonal unitary operators, we construct a set of nonergodic channels. By using the canonical form of the two-qubit unitary operator, we analytically construct channels on a single qubit ranging from integrable to mixing. Moreover, we also study interacting many-body quantum systems that include the famous Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and show that they display mixing within the framework of the quantum channel.