1/f noise in the two-body random ensemble

Abstract

We show that the spectral fluctuations of the two-body random ensemble exhibit 1/f noise. This result supports a recent conjecture stating that chaotic quantum systems are characterized by 1/f noise in their energy level fluctuations. After suitable individual averaging, we also study the distribution of the exponent alpha in the 1/f(alpha) noise for the individual members of the ensemble. Almost all the exponents lie inside a narrow interval around alpha=1, suggesting that also individual members exhibit 1/f noise, provided they are individually unfolded.