Equilibration of quasi-isolated quantum systems

Richard J. Fitzgerald

Quntao Zhuang, Biao Wu

Vyacheslav I. Yukalov

Experiments with trapped atomic gases have opened novel possibilities for studying the evolution of nonequilibrium finite quantum systems, which revived the necessity of reconsidering and developing the theory of such processes. This review analyzes the basic approaches to describing the phenomena of equilibration, thermalization, and decoherence in finite quantum systems. Isolated, nonisolated, and quasi-isolated quantum systems are considered. The relations between equilibration, decoherence, and the existence of time arrow are emphasized. The possibility for the occurrence of rare events, preventing complete equilibration, are mentioned.

Gershon Kurizki, Abraham G. Kofman

Dhruvil Doshi

Understanding the equilibration of isolated quantum systems under unitary dynamics is an interesting topic. In this paper, we look at the early time behaviour of periodically and quasi-periodically driven Transverse field Ising chains when and their corresponding dynamical free energies. We study the system under different frequencies and observe how the system evolves with changes in the field amplitudes in both types of oscillations.

A. V. Ponomarev, S. Denisov, Peter Hänggi A

Two identical finite quantum systems prepared initially at different temperatures, isolated from the environment, and subsequently brought into contact are demonstrated to relax towards Gibbs-like quasi-equilibrium states with a common temperature and small fluctuations around the time-averaged expectation values of generic observables. The temporal thermalization process proceeds via a chain of intermediate Gibbs-like states. We specify the conditions under which this scenario occurs and corroborate the quantum equilibration with two different models.