Emergence of Fermi's Golden Rule in the Probing of a Quantum Many-Body System

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Jianyi, Huang, Songtao, Ji, Yunpeng, Schumacher, Grant L., Tsidilkovski, Alan, Schuckert, Alexander, Assumpção, Gabriel G. T., Navon, Nir
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chen, Jianyi
Huang, Songtao
Ji, Yunpeng
Schumacher, Grant L.
Tsidilkovski, Alan
Schuckert, Alexander
Assumpção, Gabriel G. T.
Navon, Nir
author_facet Chen, Jianyi
Huang, Songtao
Ji, Yunpeng
Schumacher, Grant L.
Tsidilkovski, Alan
Schuckert, Alexander
Assumpção, Gabriel G. T.
Navon, Nir
contents Fermi's Golden Rule (FGR) is one of the most impactful formulas in quantum mechanics, providing a link between easy-to-measure observables - such as transition rates - and fundamental microscopic properties - such as density of states or spectral functions. Its validity relies on three key assumptions: the existence of a continuum, an appropriate time window, and a weak coupling. Understanding the regime of validity of FGR is critical for the proper interpretation of most spectroscopic experiments. While the assumptions underlying FGR are straightforward to analyze in simple models, their applicability is significantly more complex in quantum many-body systems. Here, we observe the emergence and breakdown of FGR, using a strongly interacting homogeneous spin-$1/2$ Fermi gas coupled to a radio-frequency (rf) field. Measuring the transition probability into an outcoupled internal state, we map the system's dynamical response diagram versus the rf-pulse duration $t$ and Rabi frequency $Ω_0$. For weak drives, we identify three regimes: an early-time regime where the transition probability takes off as $t^2$, an intermediate-time FGR regime, and a long-time non-perturbative regime. Beyond a threshold Rabi frequency, Rabi oscillations appear. Our results provide a blueprint for the applicability of linear response theory to the spectroscopy of quantum many-body systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_14867
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Emergence of Fermi's Golden Rule in the Probing of a Quantum Many-Body System
Chen, Jianyi
Huang, Songtao
Ji, Yunpeng
Schumacher, Grant L.
Tsidilkovski, Alan
Schuckert, Alexander
Assumpção, Gabriel G. T.
Navon, Nir
Quantum Gases
Statistical Mechanics
Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
Fermi's Golden Rule (FGR) is one of the most impactful formulas in quantum mechanics, providing a link between easy-to-measure observables - such as transition rates - and fundamental microscopic properties - such as density of states or spectral functions. Its validity relies on three key assumptions: the existence of a continuum, an appropriate time window, and a weak coupling. Understanding the regime of validity of FGR is critical for the proper interpretation of most spectroscopic experiments. While the assumptions underlying FGR are straightforward to analyze in simple models, their applicability is significantly more complex in quantum many-body systems. Here, we observe the emergence and breakdown of FGR, using a strongly interacting homogeneous spin-$1/2$ Fermi gas coupled to a radio-frequency (rf) field. Measuring the transition probability into an outcoupled internal state, we map the system's dynamical response diagram versus the rf-pulse duration $t$ and Rabi frequency $Ω_0$. For weak drives, we identify three regimes: an early-time regime where the transition probability takes off as $t^2$, an intermediate-time FGR regime, and a long-time non-perturbative regime. Beyond a threshold Rabi frequency, Rabi oscillations appear. Our results provide a blueprint for the applicability of linear response theory to the spectroscopy of quantum many-body systems.
title Emergence of Fermi's Golden Rule in the Probing of a Quantum Many-Body System
topic Quantum Gases
Statistical Mechanics
Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.14867