Evolution with(out) time: relational holography & BPS complexity growth in $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 2 double-scaled SYK

A bstract How do we describe non-trivial bulk measurements relative to an observer (i.e. relationally) when both the observer and the system it probes may/may not evolve in time? How can we interpret this holographically; particularly for zero-energy BPS states in supersymmetric theories? We address these questions, in the $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 2 double-scaled SYK model and its putative bulk dual by: (i) formulating a holographic procedure in the language of quantum reference frames to gravitationally dress bulk observables to “clocks” parametrized by both boundary time and R-charge; and (ii) proposing a new measure of Krylov complexity with R-charge in the boundary theory that probes zero-energy BPS states. Holographically, this proposal reproduces a relational bulk observable, a BPS wormhole length. We contrast this to the Krylov complexity for Hartle-Hawking states with non-trivial time flow. The latter reproduces the same observable as for the bosonic DSSYK in the semiclassical limit, while its quantum fluctuations can capture supersymmetric corrections depending on the specific initial state.