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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Approach to Equilibrium in a Simple Model

Charles Radin

Published Oct 1, 1970• 41 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The time evolution of a class of generalized quantum Ising models (with various long-range interactions, including Dyson's 1/rα) has been studied from the C*-algebraic point of view. We establish that: (1) All 〈A〉t are weakly almost periodic in time; (2) there exists a unique averaging procedure over time; (3) the time evolution in the thermodynamical limit can be locally implemented by effective Hamiltonians in the algebra of quasilocal observables; (4) there exists a specific connection between the spectral properties of the time evolution of the initial state and the approach to equilibrium; (5) there are examples in which the time evolution is not G-Abelian.

DOI
10.1063/1.1665079

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The time evolution of a class of generalized quantum Ising models (with various long-range interactions, including Dyson's 1/rα) has been studied from the C*-algebraic point of view. We establish that: (1) All 〈A〉t are weakly almost periodic in time; (2) there exists a unique averaging procedure over time; (3) the time evolution in the thermodynamical limit can be locally implemented by effective Hamiltonians in the algebra of quasilocal observables; (4) there exists a specific connection between the spectral properties of the time evolution of the initial state and the approach to equilibrium; (5) there are examples in which the time evolution is not G-Abelian.
The approach to equilibrium is studied for long-range quantum Ising models where the interaction strength decays like r(-α) at large distances r with an exponent α not exceeding the lattice dimension. For a large class of observables and initial states, the time evolution of expectation values can be calculated. We prove analytically that, at a given instant of time t and for sufficiently large system size N, the expectation value of some observable (t) will practically be unchanged from its initial value (0). This finding implies that, for large enough N, equilibration effectively occurs on a time scale beyond the experimentally accessible one and will not be observed in practice.
In this thesis we study three examples of interacting many-body systems undergoing a non equilibrium time evolution. Firstly we consider the time evolution in an integrable system: the sine-Gordon field theory in the repulsive regime. We will focus on the one point function of the semi-local vertex operator eiβφ(x)/2 on a specific class of initial states. By analytical means we show that the expectation value considered decays exponentially to zero at late times and we determine the decay time. The method employed is based on a form-factor expansion and uses the "Representative Eigenstate Approach" of Ref. [73] (a.k.a. "Quench Action"). In a second example we study the time evolution in models close to "special" integrable points characterised by hidden symmetries generating infinitely many local conservation laws that do not commute with one another, in addition to the infinite commuting family implied by integrability. We observe that both in the case where the perturbation breaks the integrability and when it breaks only the additional symmetries maintaining integrability, the local observables show a crossover behaviour from an initial to a final quasi stationary plateau. We investigate a weak coupling limit, identify a time window in which the effects of the perturbations become significant and solve the time evolution through a mean-field mapping. As an explicit example we study the XYZ spin-1/2 chain with additional perturbations that break integrability. Finally, we study the effects of integrability breaking perturbations on the non-equilibrium evolution of more general many-particle quantum systems, where the unperturbed integrable model is generic. We focus on a class of spinless fermion models with weak interactions. We employ equation of motion techniques that can be viewed as generalisations of quantum Boltzmann equations. We benchmark our method against time dependent density matrix renormalisation group computations and find it to be very accurate as long as interactions are weak. For small integrability breaking, we observe robust prethermalisation plateaux for local observables on all accessible time scales. Increasing the strength of the integrability breaking term induces a "drift" away from the prethermalisation plateaux towards thermal behaviour. We identify a time scale characterising this crossover.
Abstract We rigorously examine, in generality, the ergodic properties of quantum lattice models with short range interactions, in the C∗C^*C∗ C ∗ algebra formulation of statistical mechanics. Ergodicity results, in the context of group actions on C∗C^*C∗ C ∗ algebras, assume that the algebra is asymptotically abelian, which is not generically the case for time evolution. The Lieb-Robinson bound tells us that, in a precise sense, the spatial extent of any time-evolved local operator grows linearly with time. This means that the algebra of observables is asymptotically abelian in a space-like region, and implies a form of ergodicity outside the light-cone. But what happens within it? We show that the long-time limit of the n-th moment of a ray-averaged observable, along space-time rays of almost every speed, converges to the n-th power of its expectation in the state (i.e. its ensemble average). Thus ray averages do not fluctuate in the long time limit. This is a statement of ergodicity, and holds in any state that is invariant under space-time translations and that satisfies weak clustering properties in space. The ray averages can be performed in a way that accounts for oscillations, showing that ray-averaged observables cannot sustainably oscillate in the long time limit. We also show that in the GNS representation of the algebra of observables, for any KMS state with the above properties, the long-time limit of the ray average of any observable converges (in the strong operator topology) to the ensemble average times the identity, again along space-time rays of almost every speed. This is a strong version of ergodicity, and indicates that, as operators, observables get “thinner” almost everywhere within the light-cone. A similar statement holds under oscillatory averaging.
Abstract Investigations of general properties of time evolution of both classical and quantum systems show that the evolution (on a microscopic level) is reversible, and, if there is an approach to equilibrium, it exists only in the sense of weak convergence and necessarily in both directions of time. In this connection attempts to derive irreversibility and the approach to equilibrium in the sense of strong convergence and without any loss of information (using the so‐called Lyapunov converters) are discussed. After demonstrating their drawbacks, an alternative approach is proposed based on the spectral properties of the generator of the group. The relevant spectral criteria for the approach of both classical and quantum ensembles to equilibrium are given, and the decisive role of loss of information in obtaining stronger variants of convergence is emphasized. The asymmetry between initial and any other state —consisting of different levels of information needed to prepare the states—is proposed as an adequate explanation of irreversibility. The importance of the method of complex scaling in this context is discussed, and its application in proving some spectral properties in the quantal Hamiltonian formulation is stressed.
Systems with long-range interactions, while relaxing towards equilibrium, sometimes get trapped in long-lived non-Boltzmann quasistationary states (QSS) which have lifetimes that grow algebraically with the system size. Such states have been observed in models of globally coupled particles that move under Hamiltonian dynamics either on a unit circle or on a unit spherical surface. Here, we address the ubiquity of QSS in long-range systems by considering a different dynamical setting. Thus, we consider an anisotropic Heisenberg model consisting of classical Heisenberg spins with mean-field interactions and evolving under classical spin dynamics. Our analysis of the corresponding Vlasov equation for time evolution of the phase space distribution shows that in a certain energy interval, relaxation of a class of initial states occurs over a timescale which grows algebraically with the system size. We support these findings by extensive numerical simulations. This work further supports the generality of occurrence of QSS in long-range systems evolving under Hamiltonian dynamics.
The effective, or Floquet, Hamiltonian for a periodically time-dependent many-body system plays a role analogous to the energy of a conservative system and can therefore be used to describe the equilibrium state. Restrictions on this analogy and the necessity of a series approximation of the effective Hamiltonian complicate the interpretation of the long-time evolution. Analysis of the effective Hamiltonian for the examples of a dipolar coupled spin system in a weak nonresonant field and for the pulsed spin-locking problem shows it to be characteristically the sum of two (or more) commuting observables plus small off-diagonal terms. This implies that the system evolves to a quasistationary state comprised of two or more independent thermodynamic baths. The properties of this state and its subsequent decay to equilibrium are discussed in detail and compared to the results of magnetic resonance experiments. This analysis overcomes the difficulties, noted in the past as the ``Magnus paradox,'' with the use of time-independent model Hamiltonians to describe approximately the true evolution of the system.