We present a hypothesis for the universal properties of operators evolving under Hamiltonian dynamics in many-body systems. The hypothesis states that successive Lanczos coefficients in the continued fraction expansion of the Green's functions grow linearly with rate α in generic systems, with an extra logarithmic correction in 1d. The rate α -an experimental observable -governs the exponential growth of operator complexity in a sense we make precise. This exponential growth prevails beyond semiclassical or large-N limits. Moreover, α upper bounds a large class of operator complexity measures, including the out-of-time-order correlator. As a result, we obtain a sharp bound on Lyapunov exponents λL ≤ 2α, which complements and improves the known universal low-temperature bound λL ≤ 2πT . We illustrate our results in paradigmatic examples such as non-integrable spin chains, the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model, and classical models. Finally we use the hypothesis in conjunction with the recursion method to develop a technique for computing diffusion constants. CONTENTS

We consider chiral liquids, that is liquids consisting of massless fermions and right-left asymmetric. In such media, one expects existence of electromagnetic current flowing along an external magnetic field, associated with the chiral anomaly. The current is predicted to be dissipation-free. We consider dynamics of chiral liquids, concentrating on the issues of possible instabilities and infrared sensitivity. Instabilities arise, generally speaking, already in the limit of vanishing electromagnetic constant, α el → 0. In particular, liquids with non-vanishing chiral chemical potential might decay into rightleft asymmetric states containing vortices.

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