Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1305.4640 · Physical Review E

Time fluctuations in isolated quantum systems of interacting particles

Pablo R. Zangara, Axel D. Dente, Eduardo Jonathan Torres-Herrera, Horacio M. Pastawski, Anı́bal Iucci, Léa Ferreira dos Santos

Published Sep 23, 2013• 76 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Numerically, we study the time fluctuations of few-body observables after relaxation in isolated dynamical quantum systems of interacting particles. Our results suggest that they decay exponentially with system size in both regimes, integrable and chaotic. The integrable systems considered are solvable with the Bethe ansatz and have a highly nondegenerate spectrum. This is in contrast with integrable Hamiltonians mappable to noninteracting ones. We show that the coefficient of the exponential decay depends on the level of delocalization of the initial state with respect to the energy shell.

DOI
10.1103/physreve.88.032913

Related papers

Temporal fluctuations of correlators in integrable and chaotic quantum systems

Talía L. M. Lezama, Yevgeny Bar Lev, Léa Ferreira dos Santos

We provide bounds on temporal fluctuations around the infinite-time average of out-of-time-ordered and time-ordered correlators of many-body quantum systems without energy gap degeneracies. For physical initial states, our bounds predict the exponential decay of the temporal fluctuations as a function of the system size. We numerically verify this prediction for chaotic and interacting integrable spin-1/2 chains, which satisfy the assumption of our bounds. On the other hand, we show analytically and numerically that for the XX model, which is a noninteracting system with gap degeneracies, the temporal fluctuations decay polynomially with system size for operators that are local in the fermion representation and decrease exponentially in the system size for non-local operators. Our results demonstrate that the decay of the long-time temporal fluctuations of correlators cannot be used as a reliable metric of chaos or lack thereof.

arXiv:2307.08440•SciPost Physics•Dec 18, 2023•6 citations

Onset of chaos and relaxation in isolated systems of interacting spins: Energy shell approach

Léa Ferreira dos Santos, F. Borgonovi, Felix M. Izrailev

We study the onset of chaos and statistical relaxation in two isolated dynamical quantum systems of interacting spins 1/2, one of which is integrable and the other chaotic. Our approach to identifying the emergence of chaos is based on the level of delocalization of the eigenstates with respect to the energy shell, the latter being determined by the interaction strength between particles or quasiparticles. We also discuss how the onset of chaos may be anticipated by a careful analysis of the Hamiltonian matrices, even before diagonalization. We find that despite differences between the two models, their relaxation processes following a quench are very similar and can be described analytically with a theory previously developed for systems with two-body random interactions. Our results imply that global features of statistical relaxation depend on the degree of spread of the eigenstates within the energy shell and may happen to both integrable and nonintegrable systems.

arXiv:1201.0186•Physical Review E•Mar 20, 2012•131 citations

Chaos and Statistical Relaxation in Quantum Systems of Interacting Particles

Léa Ferreira dos Santos, F. Borgonovi, Felix M. Izrailev

We study the transition to chaos and the emergence of statistical relaxation in isolated dynamical quantum systems of interacting particles. Our approach is based on the concept of delocalization of the eigenstates in the energy shell, controlled by the Gaussian form of the strength function. We show that, although the fluctuations of the energy levels in integrable and nonintegrable systems are different, the global properties of the eigenstates are quite similar, provided the interaction between particles exceeds some critical value. In this case, the statistical relaxation of the systems is comparable, irrespective of whether or not they are integrable. The numerical data for the quench dynamics manifest excellent agreement with analytical predictions of the theory developed for systems of two-body interactions with a completely random character.

arXiv:1110.4663•Physical Review Letters•Mar 1, 2012•123 citations

Relaxation and thermalization of isolated many-body quantum systems

Eduardo Jonathan Torres-Herrera, Davida Kollmar, Léa Ferreira dos Santos

We provide an overview of our numerical and analytical studies of isolated interacting quantum systems that are abruptly quenched out of equilibrium instantaneously. We describe the relaxation process to a new equilibrium and obtain lower bounds for the relaxation time of full random matrices and realistic systems with two-body interactions. We show that the size of the time fluctuations after relaxation decays exponentially with system size for systems without too many degeneracies. We also discuss the conditions for thermalization and demonstrate that it can happen after local and global quenches in space. The analyses are developed for systems, initial states, and few-body observables accessible to experiments with optical lattices.

arXiv:1403.6481•Physica Scripta•Oct 1, 2015•50 citations

Effects of the interplay between initial state and Hamiltonian on the thermalization of isolated quantum many-body systems

Eduardo Jonathan Torres-Herrera, Léa Ferreira dos Santos

We explore the role of the initial state on the onset of thermalization in isolated quantum many-body systems after a quench. The initial state is an eigenstate of an initial Hamiltonian ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{I}$ and it evolves according to a different final Hamiltonian ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{F}$. If the initial state has a chaotic structure with respect to ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{F}$, i.e., if it fills the energy shell ergodically, thermalization is certain to occur. This happens when ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{I}$ is a full random matrix, because its states projected onto ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{F}$ are fully delocalized. The results for the observables then agree with those obtained with thermal states at infinite temperature. However, finite real systems with few-body interactions, as the ones considered here, are deprived of fully extended eigenstates, even when described by a nonintegrable Hamiltonian. We examine how the initial state delocalizes as it gets closer to the middle of the spectrum of ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{F}$, causing the observables to approach thermal averages, be the models integrable or chaotic. Our numerical studies are based on initial states with energies that cover the entire lower half of the spectrum of one-dimensional Heisenberg spin-1/2 systems.

arXiv:1305.6937•Physical Review E•Oct 11, 2013•49 citations

Role of the Initial State in the Nonequilibrium Quantum Dynamics of Many-Body Systems

Eduardo Jonathan Torres-Herrera, Léa Ferreira dos Santos

We study isolated many-body quantum systems after a quench and show that their dynamics depends on the interplay between the initial state and the Hamiltonian dictating the evolution. The systems are in the nonperturbative regime. The relaxation process is controlled by the width of the energy distribution of the initial state and may be very similar for both chaotic and integrable Hamiltonians. We derive an analytical expression for the fidelity decay, which displays excellent agreement with our numerical results. This decay is Gaussian and may persist until saturation. Analytical expressions that describe very well the initial evolution of the Shannon entropy and of few-body observables are also provided. The analyses are developed for deterministic one-dimensional systems and initial states of interest to current experiments with cold atoms in optical lattices.

•Oct 18, 2013•2 citations
Numerically, we study the time fluctuations of few-body observables after relaxation in isolated dynamical quantum systems of interacting particles. Our results suggest that they decay exponentially with system size in both regimes, integrable and chaotic. The integrable systems considered are solvable with the Bethe ansatz and have a highly nondegenerate spectrum. This is in contrast with integrable Hamiltonians mappable to noninteracting ones. We show that the coefficient of the exponential decay depends on the level of delocalization of the initial state with respect to the energy shell.
We provide bounds on temporal fluctuations around the infinite-time average of out-of-time-ordered and time-ordered correlators of many-body quantum systems without energy gap degeneracies. For physical initial states, our bounds predict the exponential decay of the temporal fluctuations as a function of the system size. We numerically verify this prediction for chaotic and interacting integrable spin-1/2 chains, which satisfy the assumption of our bounds. On the other hand, we show analytically and numerically that for the XX model, which is a noninteracting system with gap degeneracies, the temporal fluctuations decay polynomially with system size for operators that are local in the fermion representation and decrease exponentially in the system size for non-local operators. Our results demonstrate that the decay of the long-time temporal fluctuations of correlators cannot be used as a reliable metric of chaos or lack thereof.
We study the onset of chaos and statistical relaxation in two isolated dynamical quantum systems of interacting spins 1/2, one of which is integrable and the other chaotic. Our approach to identifying the emergence of chaos is based on the level of delocalization of the eigenstates with respect to the energy shell, the latter being determined by the interaction strength between particles or quasiparticles. We also discuss how the onset of chaos may be anticipated by a careful analysis of the Hamiltonian matrices, even before diagonalization. We find that despite differences between the two models, their relaxation processes following a quench are very similar and can be described analytically with a theory previously developed for systems with two-body random interactions. Our results imply that global features of statistical relaxation depend on the degree of spread of the eigenstates within the energy shell and may happen to both integrable and nonintegrable systems.
We study the transition to chaos and the emergence of statistical relaxation in isolated dynamical quantum systems of interacting particles. Our approach is based on the concept of delocalization of the eigenstates in the energy shell, controlled by the Gaussian form of the strength function. We show that, although the fluctuations of the energy levels in integrable and nonintegrable systems are different, the global properties of the eigenstates are quite similar, provided the interaction between particles exceeds some critical value. In this case, the statistical relaxation of the systems is comparable, irrespective of whether or not they are integrable. The numerical data for the quench dynamics manifest excellent agreement with analytical predictions of the theory developed for systems of two-body interactions with a completely random character.
We provide an overview of our numerical and analytical studies of isolated interacting quantum systems that are abruptly quenched out of equilibrium instantaneously. We describe the relaxation process to a new equilibrium and obtain lower bounds for the relaxation time of full random matrices and realistic systems with two-body interactions. We show that the size of the time fluctuations after relaxation decays exponentially with system size for systems without too many degeneracies. We also discuss the conditions for thermalization and demonstrate that it can happen after local and global quenches in space. The analyses are developed for systems, initial states, and few-body observables accessible to experiments with optical lattices.
We explore the role of the initial state on the onset of thermalization in isolated quantum many-body systems after a quench. The initial state is an eigenstate of an initial Hamiltonian ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{I}$ and it evolves according to a different final Hamiltonian ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{F}$. If the initial state has a chaotic structure with respect to ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{F}$, i.e., if it fills the energy shell ergodically, thermalization is certain to occur. This happens when ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{I}$ is a full random matrix, because its states projected onto ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{F}$ are fully delocalized. The results for the observables then agree with those obtained with thermal states at infinite temperature. However, finite real systems with few-body interactions, as the ones considered here, are deprived of fully extended eigenstates, even when described by a nonintegrable Hamiltonian. We examine how the initial state delocalizes as it gets closer to the middle of the spectrum of ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{H}}_{F}$, causing the observables to approach thermal averages, be the models integrable or chaotic. Our numerical studies are based on initial states with energies that cover the entire lower half of the spectrum of one-dimensional Heisenberg spin-1/2 systems.
We study isolated many-body quantum systems after a quench and show that their dynamics depends on the interplay between the initial state and the Hamiltonian dictating the evolution. The systems are in the nonperturbative regime. The relaxation process is controlled by the width of the energy distribution of the initial state and may be very similar for both chaotic and integrable Hamiltonians. We derive an analytical expression for the fidelity decay, which displays excellent agreement with our numerical results. This decay is Gaussian and may persist until saturation. Analytical expressions that describe very well the initial evolution of the Shannon entropy and of few-body observables are also provided. The analyses are developed for deterministic one-dimensional systems and initial states of interest to current experiments with cold atoms in optical lattices.