Characterizing Fermionic Non-Gaussianity in the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Model via Replica Twist Entropy

Abstract: Understanding the non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems plays a central role in modern many-body physics. Intriguing insights emerge from investigating how quantum resources, which are essential for achieving unambiguous quantumness, are generated and spread under chaotic quantum dynamics. In fermionic systems, non-Gaussianity constitutes an important resource beyond entanglement, characterizing the deviation of generic quantum states from free-fermion states. In this Letter, we propose using the \textit{replica twist entropy}, defined through the expectation value of a replica rotation operator with a tunable angle $α$, as a natural probe of non-Gaussianity in pure fermionic states. After deriving its behavior for typical many-body states, we establish a general framework for analyzing the replica twist entropy in solvable Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev models in the large-$N$ limit. Applying this framework to the dynamics of the thermofield double state, we uncover a novel dynamical phase diagram in the parameter space of $α$ and evolution time $t$, exhibiting spontaneous $Z_2$ symmetry breaking at $α=π/4$ and universal cusps as a function of $α$ in the long-time regime. Our results pave the way for studying non-Gaussianity in strongly correlated fermionic systems and reveal a new class of dynamical transitions probed by non-Gaussianity.