Equilibration of quantum systems and subsystems
Quantum Physics
2015-05-20 v1 Statistical Mechanics
Abstract
We unify two recent results concerning equilibration in quantum theory. We first generalise a proof of Reimann [PRL 101,190403 (2008)], that the expectation value of 'realistic' quantum observables will equilibrate under very general conditions, and discuss its implications for the equilibration of quantum systems. We then use this to re-derive an independent result of Linden et. al. [PRE 79, 061103 (2009)], showing that small subsystems generically evolve to an approximately static equilibrium state. Finally, we consider subspaces in which all initial states effectively equilibrate to the same state.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1012.4622,
title = {Equilibration of quantum systems and subsystems},
author = {Anthony J. Short},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1012.4622},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
5 pages