Local box-counting dimensions of discrete quantum eigenvalue spectra: Analytical connection to quantum spectral statistics.

Two decades ago, Wang and Ong, [Phys. Rev. A 55, 1522 (1997)]10.1103/PhysRevA.55.1522 hypothesized that the local box-counting dimension of a discrete quantum spectrum should depend exclusively on the nearest-neighbor spacing distribution (NNSD) of the spectrum. In this Rapid Communication, we validate their hypothesis by deriving an explicit formula for the local box-counting dimension of a countably-infinite discrete quantum spectrum. This formula expresses the local box-counting dimension of a spectrum in terms of single and double integrals of the NNSD of the spectrum. As applications, we derive an analytical formula for Poisson spectra and closed-form approximations to the local box-counting dimension for spectra having Gaussian orthogonal ensemble (GOE), Gaussian unitary ensemble (GUE), and Gaussian symplectic ensemble (GSE) spacing statistics. In the Poisson and GOE cases, we compare our theoretical formulas with the published numerical data of Wang and Ong and observe excellent agreement between their data and our theory. We also study numerically the local box-counting dimensions of the Riemann zeta function zeros and the alternate levels of GOE spectra, which are often used as numerical models of spectra possessing GUE and GSE spacing statistics, respectively. In each case, the corresponding theoretical formula is found to accurately describe the numerically computed local box-counting dimension.