Eigenstate thermalization
Quantum Physics
2026-04-29 v2 Statistical Mechanics
Abstract
We provide a pedagogical introduction to eigenstate thermalization. This phenomenon, which occurs in generic quantum systems, allows one to understand why thermalization takes place in isolated systems under unitary dynamics. We motivate eigenstate thermalization using random matrix theory and discuss recent complementary results for the volume-law entanglement entropy of Haar-random states. We discuss numerical results that highlight the corresponding behaviors in quantum many-body systems.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.11872,
title = {Eigenstate thermalization},
author = {Rohit Patil and Marcos Rigol},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.11872},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
23 pages, 9 figures; Chapter for the Quantum Chaos volume in 'Comprehensive Quantum Mechanics', to be published by Elsevier (Main editor: R.B. Mann; volume editors: S. Gnutzmann and K. \.Zyczkowski)