Complexity and Floquet dynamics: Nonequilibrium Ising phase transitions

We study the time-dependent circuit complexity of the periodically driven transverse field Ising model using Nielsen's geometric approach. In the high-frequency driving limit the system is known to exhibit nonequilibrium phase transitions governed by the amplitude of the driving field. We analytically compute the complexity in this regime and show that it clearly distinguishes between the different phases, exhibiting a universal linear behavior at early times. We also evaluate the time-averaged complexity, provide evidence of nonanalytic behavior at the critical points, and discuss its origin. Finally, we comment on the freezing of quantum dynamics at specific configurations and on the use of complexity as a tool to understand quantum phase transitions in Floquet systems.