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Scar Full Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis

Quantum Physics 2026-05-27 v1 Quantum Gases

Abstract

The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) provides a fundamental mechanism for emergent statistical mechanics in isolated chaotic quantum systems, asserting that individual energy eigenstates behave as pseudorandom vectors within an energy window. This enables a complete characterization of nontrivial correlations among matrix elements in the energy eigenbasis, as described by the full ETH ansatz. Nevertheless, this description breaks down in systems exhibiting quantum many-body scars, which host non-thermal eigenstates with extensive energy. In this Letter, we address this problem by formulating the \textit{scar full ETH}, which captures correlations among matrix elements involving scar states. The corresponding scaling forms and factorization properties are established using typicality arguments. Multi-time correlation functions for scar states are then organized in terms of both thermal and scar cumulants, providing a nontrivial reorganization of higher-order correlations. We numerically demonstrate the validity of this framework in the paradigmatic model of quantum scars, the PXP model. Our results pave the way for a systematic understanding of intriguing correlations in systems with quantum many-body scars.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.26389,
  title  = {Scar Full Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis},
  author = {Ning Sun and Yanting Cheng},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.26389},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

5 pages, 3 figures, + supplementary materials