We investigate theoretically the emergence of classical statistical physics in a finite quantum system that is either totally isolated or otherwise subjected to a quantum measurement process. We show via a random matrix theory approach to nonintegrable quantum systems that the set of outcomes of the measurement of a macroscopic observable evolve in time like stochastic variables, whose variance satisfies the celebrated Einstein relation for Brownian diffusion. Our results show how to extend the framework of eigenstate thermalization to the prediction of properties of quantum measurements on an otherwise closed quantum system. We show numerically the validity of the random matrix approach in quantum chain models.
We investigate theoretically the emergence of classical statistical physics in a finite quantum system that is either totally isolated or otherwise subjected to a quantum measurement process. We show via a random matrix theory approach to nonintegrable quantum systems that the set of outcomes of the measurement of a macroscopic observable evolve in time like stochastic variables, whose variance satisfies the celebrated Einstein relation for Brownian diffusion. Our results show how to extend the framework of eigenstate thermalization to the prediction of properties of quantum measurements on an otherwise closed quantum system. We show numerically the validity of the random matrix approach in quantum chain models.
The question of how statistical physics can be seen to emerge from unitary quantum dynamics goes back to Schrödinger and von Neumann, however has been reaffirmed as a topic of importance due to recent advances in experimental capabilities, allowing the observation of the unitary evolution of many-particle systems over long periods of time. Understanding why such a system evolves to the specific thermal equilibrium state, effectively described by a relevant thermodynamic ensemble, has thus seen significantly more interest in recent years. Furthermore, observations of the dynamics of such systems open questions on the route to equilibrium, and subsequent fluctuations. In this thesis I will develop an approach to this problem, taking as a starting point the non-integrability of the system under study, which leads to a generic model in terms of random matrix theory (RMT), and more generally, chaotic wavefunctions. In the formulation of these methods, special attention is paid to the form of local observables of quantum systems, and an approach to their description is developed in terms of correlation functions of chaotic wavefunctions. From this approach a key conjecture in the understanding of thermalization, the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH), is derived in full, and the dynamical behaviour of such observables is obtained analytically. Further, I will show that emergent classical behaviour can be observed in the form of a fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) of Brownian processes. This is exploited to develop an experimental proposal to measure the ‘complexity’ of a quantum device, by experimentally obtaining its effective Hilbert space dimension in terms of a fully connected system. Finally, quantum jump trajectories, describing stroboscopic projective measurements of local observables are studied, and shown to display classical Brownian dynamics in the form of a Markov process. Throughout this thesis, exact diagonalization calculations of realistic quantum spin systems are used to confirm analytical results.
The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis explains the emergence of the thermodynamic equilibrium in isolated quantum many-body systems by assuming a particular structure of the observable's matrix elements in the energy eigenbasis. Schematically, it postulates that off-diagonal matrix elements are random numbers and the observables can be described by random matrix theory (RMT). To what extent a RMT description applies, more precisely at which energy scale matrix elements of physical operators become truly uncorrelated, is, however, not fully understood. We study this issue by introducing a novel numerical approach to probe correlations between matrix elements for Hilbert-space dimensions beyond those accessible by exact diagonalization. Our analysis is based on the evaluation of higher moments of operator submatrices, defined within energy windows of varying width. Considering nonintegrable quantum spin chains, we observe that matrix elements remain correlated even for narrow energy windows corresponding to timescales of the order of thermalization time of the respective observables. We also demonstrate that such residual correlations between matrix elements are reflected in the dynamics of out-of-time-ordered correlation functions.
We analytically describe the decay to equilibrium of generic observables of a nonintegrable system after a perturbation in the form of a random matrix. We further obtain an analytic form for the time-averaged fluctuations of an observable in terms of the rate of decay to equilibrium. Our result shows the emergence of a fluctuation-dissipation theorem corresponding to a classical Brownian process, specifically, the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Our predictions can be tested in quantum simulation experiments, thus helping to bridge the gap between theoretical and experimental research in quantum thermalization. We test our analytic results by exact numerical experiments in a spin chain. We argue that our fluctuation-dissipation relation can be used to measure the density of states involved in the nonequilibrium dynamics of an isolated quantum system.
The last decade has witnessed remarkable progress in our understanding of thermalization in isolated quantum systems. Combining the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis with quantum measurement theory, we extend the framework of quantum thermalization to open many-body systems. A generic many-body system subject to continuous observation is shown to thermalize at a single trajectory level. We show that the nonunitary nature of quantum measurement causes several unique thermalization mechanisms that are unseen in isolated systems. We present numerical evidence for our findings by applying our theory to specific models that can be experimentally realized in atom-cavity systems and with quantum gas microscopy. Our theory provides a general method to determine an effective temperature of quantum many-body systems subject to the Lindblad master equation and thus should be applicable to noisy dynamics or dissipative systems coupled to nonthermal Markovian environments as well as continuously monitored systems. Our work provides yet another insight into why thermodynamics emerges so universally.
Abstract The deterministic and time-reversal symmetric dynamics of isolated quantum systems is at odds with irreversible equilibration observed in generic thermodynamic systems. Standard approaches at a reconciliation employ subjective restrictions on the space of observables or states and do not explain how a single macroscopic quantum system achieves equilibrium dynamically. We instead argue that quantum theory is an effective theory and requires corrections to accurately describe systems approaching the thermodynamic limit. We construct a stochastic extension of quantum theory which is practically identical to quantum mechanics for microscopic systems, yet allows individual macroscopic and isolated systems to objectively thermalize, generically. A fluctuation–dissipation relation guarantees physical consistency including norm preservation, energy conservation, no superluminal signalling and the emergence of microcanonical equilibrium. We further discuss the inclusion of objective collapse, thereby realizing a falsifiable theory of spontaneous universal irreversibility which describes the quantum-to-classical crossover dynamics of macroscopic quantum systems. The dynamics of the model describe spontaneous symmetry breaking, quantum state reduction and objective quantum thermalization for individual systems, while realizing emergent hybrid statistics for ensembles that integrate Born’s rule and microcanonical equilibrium.
Statistical mechanics relies on the maximization of entropy in a system at thermal equilibrium. However, an isolated quantum many-body system initialized in a pure state remains pure during Schrödinger evolution, and in this sense it has static, zero entropy. We experimentally studied the emergence of statistical mechanics in a quantum state and observed the fundamental role of quantum entanglement in facilitating this emergence. Microscopy of an evolving quantum system indicates that the full quantum state remains pure, whereas thermalization occurs on a local scale. We directly measured entanglement entropy, which assumes the role of the thermal entropy in thermalization. The entanglement creates local entropy that validates the use of statistical physics for local observables. Our measurements are consistent with the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis.