Evolution of complexity following a quantum quench in free field theory

Abstract

Using a recent proposal of circuit complexity in quantum field theories introduced by Jefferson and Myers, we compute the time evolution of the complexity following a smooth mass quench characterized by a time scale $\delta t$ in a free scalar field theory. We show that the dynamics has two distinct phases, namely an early regime of approximately linear evolution followed by a saturation phase characterized by oscillations around a mean value. The behavior is similar to previous conjectures for the complexity growth in chaotic and holographic systems, although here we have found that the complexity may grow or decrease depending on whether the quench increases or decreases the mass, and also that the time scale for saturation of the complexity is of order $\delta t$ (not parametrically larger).