An Exactly Solvable Toy Model of Autocatalysis: Irreversible Relaxation after a Quantum Quench
Statistical Mechanics
2023-07-19 v1
Abstract
A fully resolvable quantum many-body Hamiltonian is introduced that mimics the behavior of the autocatalytic chemical reaction A+B <-> 2B involving two different molecular species, A and B. The model also describes two nonlinearly-coupled modes of an optical cavity. Consistent with the current understanding of the relaxation dynamics of integrable systems in isolation, the wavefunction following a quantum quench exhibits irreversibility with retention of the memory about its initial conditions. Salient features of the model include a marked similarity with conventional quantum decay and a total B-to-A conversion, with associated classical-like behavior of the wavefunction, when the initial state does not contain A-type molecules.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2208.04183,
title = {An Exactly Solvable Toy Model of Autocatalysis: Irreversible Relaxation after a Quantum Quench},
author = {Roberto Merlin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2208.04183},
year = {2023}
}