Generalized Gibbs Ensembles for Quantum Field Theories
Abstract
We consider the non-equilibrium dynamics in isolated systems, described by quantum field theories (QFTs). After being prepared in a density matrix that is not an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian, such systems are expected to relax locally to a stationary state. In a presence of local conservation laws, these stationary states are believed to be described by appropriate generalized Gibbs ensembles. Here we demonstrate that in order to obtain a correct description of the stationary state, it is necessary to take into account conservation laws that are not (ultra-)local in the usual sense of QFT, but fulfil a significantly weaker form of locality. We discuss implications of our results for integrable QFTs in one spatial dimension.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1411.5352,
title = {Generalized Gibbs Ensembles for Quantum Field Theories},
author = {F. H. L. Essler and G. Mussardo and M. Panfil},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1411.5352},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
published version