Complexity from the reduced density matrix: a new diagnostic for chaos

Abstract

We investigate circuit complexity to characterize chaos in multiparticle quantum systems. In the process, we take a stride to analyze open quantum systems by using complexity. We propose a new diagnostic of quantum chaos from complexity based on the reduced density matrix by exploring different types of quantum circuits. Through explicit calculations on a toy model of two coupled harmonic oscillators, where one or both of the oscillators are inverted, we demonstrate that the evolution of complexity is a possible diagnostic of chaos.