Thermalization is typical in large classical and quantum harmonic systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Cattaneo, Marco, Baldovin, Marco, Lucente, Dario, Muratore-Ginanneschi, Paolo, Vulpiani, Angelo
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Cattaneo, Marco
Baldovin, Marco
Lucente, Dario
Muratore-Ginanneschi, Paolo
Vulpiani, Angelo
author_facet Cattaneo, Marco
Baldovin, Marco
Lucente, Dario
Muratore-Ginanneschi, Paolo
Vulpiani, Angelo
contents We establish an analytical criterion for dynamical thermalization within harmonic systems, applicable to both classical and quantum models. Specifically, we prove that thermalization of various observables, such as particle energies in physically relevant random quadratic Hamiltonians, is typical for large systems ($N \gg 1$) with initial conditions drawn from the microcanonical distribution. Moreover, we show that thermalization can also arise from non-typical initial conditions, where only a finite fraction of the normal modes is excited. A different choice of initial conditions, such as all the initial energy localized in a single particle, instead leads to energy equipartition without thermalization. Since the models we consider are integrable, our findings provide a general dynamical basis for an approach to thermalization that bypasses chaos and ergodicity, focusing instead on the physical requirement that thermodynamic observables depend on a large number of normal modes, and build a bridge between the classical and quantum theories of thermalization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_06489
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Thermalization is typical in large classical and quantum harmonic systems
Cattaneo, Marco
Baldovin, Marco
Lucente, Dario
Muratore-Ginanneschi, Paolo
Vulpiani, Angelo
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
We establish an analytical criterion for dynamical thermalization within harmonic systems, applicable to both classical and quantum models. Specifically, we prove that thermalization of various observables, such as particle energies in physically relevant random quadratic Hamiltonians, is typical for large systems ($N \gg 1$) with initial conditions drawn from the microcanonical distribution. Moreover, we show that thermalization can also arise from non-typical initial conditions, where only a finite fraction of the normal modes is excited. A different choice of initial conditions, such as all the initial energy localized in a single particle, instead leads to energy equipartition without thermalization. Since the models we consider are integrable, our findings provide a general dynamical basis for an approach to thermalization that bypasses chaos and ergodicity, focusing instead on the physical requirement that thermodynamic observables depend on a large number of normal modes, and build a bridge between the classical and quantum theories of thermalization.
title Thermalization is typical in large classical and quantum harmonic systems
topic Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.06489