On the difference between thermalization in open and isolated quantum systems: a case study

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Purkayastha, Archak, Guarnieri, Giacomo, Anders, Janet, Merkli, Marco
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Purkayastha, Archak
Guarnieri, Giacomo
Anders, Janet
Merkli, Marco
author_facet Purkayastha, Archak
Guarnieri, Giacomo
Anders, Janet
Merkli, Marco
contents Thermalization of isolated and open quantum systems has been studied extensively. However, being the subject of investigation by different scientific communities and being analysed using different mathematical tools, the connection between the isolated (IQS) and open (OQS) approaches to thermalization has remained opaque. Here we demonstrate that the fundamental difference between the two paradigms is the order in which the long time and the thermodynamic limits are taken. This difference implies that they describe physics on widely different time and length scales. Our analysis is carried out numerically for the case of a double quantum dot (DQD) coupled to a fermionic lead, also known as the interacting resonant level model in quantum impurity physics. We show how both OQS and IQS thermalization can be explored in this model on equal footing, allowing a fair comparison between the two. We find that while the quadratically coupled (free) DQD experiences no isolated thermalization, it of course does experience open thermalization. For the non-linearly interacting DQD coupled to a fermionic lead, the many-body interaction in the DQD breaks the integrability of the whole system. We find that this system shows strong evidence of both OQS and IQS thermalization in the same dynamics, but at widely different time scales, consistent with reversing the order of the long time and the thermodynamic limits.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_11932
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the difference between thermalization in open and isolated quantum systems: a case study
Purkayastha, Archak
Guarnieri, Giacomo
Anders, Janet
Merkli, Marco
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
Thermalization of isolated and open quantum systems has been studied extensively. However, being the subject of investigation by different scientific communities and being analysed using different mathematical tools, the connection between the isolated (IQS) and open (OQS) approaches to thermalization has remained opaque. Here we demonstrate that the fundamental difference between the two paradigms is the order in which the long time and the thermodynamic limits are taken. This difference implies that they describe physics on widely different time and length scales. Our analysis is carried out numerically for the case of a double quantum dot (DQD) coupled to a fermionic lead, also known as the interacting resonant level model in quantum impurity physics. We show how both OQS and IQS thermalization can be explored in this model on equal footing, allowing a fair comparison between the two. We find that while the quadratically coupled (free) DQD experiences no isolated thermalization, it of course does experience open thermalization. For the non-linearly interacting DQD coupled to a fermionic lead, the many-body interaction in the DQD breaks the integrability of the whole system. We find that this system shows strong evidence of both OQS and IQS thermalization in the same dynamics, but at widely different time scales, consistent with reversing the order of the long time and the thermodynamic limits.
title On the difference between thermalization in open and isolated quantum systems: a case study
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.11932