Is energy diffusion bounded above by the butterfly velocity
In plain words
In some theories, how fast heat spreads is limited by how fast chaos spreads. Whether this limit holds in every chaotic lattice system is not settled.
Precise statement
Blake (2016) found $D = C v_B^2/(2 \pi k_B T/\hbar)$ with $C$ of order one in holographic theories, where $v_B$ is the butterfly velocity of the OTOC front; its charge-diffusion form fails in inhomogeneous holographic models (Lucas and Steinberg 2016). Hartman, Hartnoll and Mahajan (2017) conjectured an upper bound $D <\sim v^2 \tau_{\mathrm{eq}}$ ($v$ a characteristic velocity, $\tau_{\mathrm{eq}}$ the local equilibration time), and in inhomogeneous SYK chains energy diffusion obeys $D \le v_B^2/\lambda_L$ (Gu, Lucas, Qi 2017). For local chaotic lattice systems with a well-defined Lyapunov regime, does $D_{\mathrm{energy}} \le C v_B^2/\lambda_L$ hold with a universal $C$ of order one? Answer yes or no, with a counterexample or derivation.
What would settle it
A general derivation from hydrodynamics and operator growth, or an explicit lattice model with $D_{\mathrm{energy}}\,\lambda_{\mathrm{L}}/v_{\mathrm{B}}^2 \to \infty$.
Status in the literature
The upper bound holds in holographic models and inhomogeneous SYK chains, and the charge-diffusion version has counterexamples; the general lattice case is open.