Related papers: Thermalization in open many-body systems based on …
We show that a bounded, isolated quantum system of many particles in a specific initial state will approach thermal equilibrium if the energy eigenfunctions which are superposed to form that state obey {\it Berry's conjecture}. Berry's…
It is often incorrectly assumed that the number of microstates \Omega (E,V,N,...) available to an isolated system can have arbitrary dependence on the extensive variables E,V,N, .... However, this is not the case for natural systems which…
Eigenstate thermalization is widely accepted as the mechanism behind thermalization in generic isolated quantum systems. Using the example of a single magnetic defect embedded in the integrable spin-1/2 $XXZ$ chain, we show that locally…
This work aims at understanding the interplay between the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH), initial state independent equilibration and quantum chaos in systems that do not have a direct classical counterpart. It is based on…
To understand under which conditions thermodynamics emerges from the microscopic dynamics is the ultimate goal of statistical mechanics. Despite the fact that the theory is more than 100 years old, we are still discussing its foundations…
We study probability distribution of a steady state of a periodically driven system coupled to a thermal bath by using a quantum master equation in the weak coupling limit. It is proved that, even when the external field is strong, the…
Quantum systems typically reach thermal equilibrium rather quickly when coupled to a thermal environment. The usual way of bounding the speed of this process is by estimating the spectral gap of the dissipative generator. However the gap,…
In this work we investigate the late-time stationary states of open quantum systems coupled to a thermal reservoir in the strong coupling regime. In general such systems do not necessarily relax to a Boltzmann distribution if the coupling…
Despite the unitary evolution of closed quantum systems, long-time expectation of local observables are well described by thermal ensembles, providing the foundation of quantum statistical mechanics. A promising route to understanding this…
The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) is foundational to modern discussions of thermalization in closed quantum systems. In this work, we expand on traditional explanations for the prevalence of ETH by emphasizing the role of…
We discuss how the thermalization of an elementary quantum system is modified when the system is placed in an environment out of thermal equilibrium. To this aim we provide a detailed investigation of the dynamics of an atomic system placed…
We present rigorous bounds on the thermalization time of the family of quantum mechanical spin systems known as stabilizer Hamiltonians. The thermalizing dynamics are modeled by a Davies master equation that arises from a weak local…
Explaining quantum many-body dynamics is a long-held goal of physics. A rigorous operator algebraic theory of dynamics in locally interacting systems in any dimension is provided here in terms of time-dependent equilibrium (Gibbs)…
Many phases of matter, including superconductors, fractional quantum Hall fluids and spin liquids, are described by gauge theories with constrained Hilbert spaces. However, thermalization and the applicability of quantum statistical…
Understanding how macroscopic systems exhibit irreversible thermal behavior has been a long-standing challenge, first brought to prominence by Boltzmann. Recent advances have established rigorous conditions for isolated quantum systems to…
Quantum thermalization is well understood via the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH). The general form of ETH, describing all the relevant correlations of matrix elements, may be derived on the basis of a `typicality' argument of…
We investigate the onset of thermalization and quantum chaos in finite one-dimensional gapped systems of hard-core bosons. Integrability in these systems is broken by next-nearest-neighbor repulsive interactions, which also generate a…
We show how the macroscopic state variables pressure, entropy and temperature of equilibrium thermodynamics can be consistently derived from the (quantum) chaotic spectral structure of one or two particles in two-dimensional domains. This…
Starting from a microscopic description of weak system-bath interactions, we derive from first principles a quantum master equation that does not rely on the well-known rotating wave approximation. This includes generic many-body systems,…
In the present note, we discuss a simple example of a macroscopic quantum many-body system in which the approach to thermal equilibrium from an arbitrary initial state in the microcanonical energy shell is proved without relying on any…