Remarks on replica diagonal collective field condensations in SYK

Abstract

In the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model with generic order $q \ge 4$ random couplings, we compute the critical temperature relating the Majorana fermions high temperature perturbative vacuum to the vacuum where the replica diagonal collective field $G(\tau, \tau')$ condenses. We study, by a finite temperature diagrammatic analysis, the effective action of an auxiliary Hubbard-Stratonovich bilocal field related to $G(\tau, \tau')$ in the large $N$ limit. Subtelties that arise in switching from the operatorial to the functional integral representation of the SYK thermal partition function are also discussed.