Random Matrix Statistics in Propagating Correlation Fronts of Fermions

Abstract: We theoretically study propagating correlation fronts in non-interacting fermions on a one-dimensional lattice starting from an alternating state, where the fermions occupy every other site. We find that, in the long-time asymptotic regime, all the moments of dynamical fluctuations around the correlation fronts are described by the universal correlation functions of Gaussian orthogonal and symplectic random matrices at the soft edge. Our finding here sheds light on a hitherto unknown connection between random matrix theory and correlation propagation in quantum dynamics.