Low-rank Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Models*

Motivated by recent works on atom-cavity realizations of fast scramblers, and on Cooper pairing in non-Fermi liquids, we study a family of solvable variants of the (q=4) Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model in which the rank and eigenvalue distribution of the coupling matrix J are tuneable. When the rank is proportional to the number of fermions, the low temperature behavior is sensitive to the eigenvalue distribution. We obtain a complete classification of the possible non-Fermi liquid quantum phases. These include two previously studied phases whose fermion scaling dimension depends continuously on the rank; we show that they are maximally chaotic, but necessitate an extensively degenerate or negative semidefinite coupling matrix. More generic distributions give rise to "almost Fermi liquids'' with a scaling dimension Delta = 1/2, but which differ from a genuine Fermi-liquid in quasi-particle decay rate, quantum Lyapunov exponent and/or specific heat.