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arXiv:hep-ph/9907533 · Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields

Time evolution of correlation functions and thermalization

Gian Franco Bonini, CHRISTOF WETTERICH

Published Oct 25, 1999• 29 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the time evolution of a classical ensemble of isolated periodic chains of $O(N)$-symmetric anharmonic oscillators. Our method is based on an exact evolution equation for the time dependence of correlation functions. We discuss its solutions in an approximation which retains all contributions in next-to-leading order in a $1/N$ expansion and preserves time reflection symmetry. We observe effective irreversibility and approximate thermalization. At large time the system approaches stationary solutions in the vicinity of, but not identical to, thermal equilibrium. The ensemble therefore retains some memory of the initial condition beyond the conserved total energy. Such behavior with incomplete thermalization is referred to as ``mesoscopic dynamics.'' It is expected for systems in a small volume. Surprisingly, we find that the nonthermal asymptotic stationary solutions do not change for large volume. This raises questions on Boltzmann's conjecture that macroscopic isolated systems thermalize.

DOI
10.1103/physrevd.60.105026

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We investigate the time evolution of a classical ensemble of isolated periodic chains of O(N)O(N)O(N)-symmetric anharmonic oscillators. Our method is based on an exact evolution equation for the time dependence of correlation functions. We discuss its solutions in an approximation which retains all contributions in next-to-leading order in a 1/N1/N1/N expansion and preserves time reflection symmetry. We observe effective irreversibility and approximate thermalization. At large time the system approaches stationary solutions in the vicinity of, but not identical to, thermal equilibrium. The ensemble therefore retains some memory of the initial condition beyond the conserved total energy. Such behavior with incomplete thermalization is referred to as ``mesoscopic dynamics.'' It is expected for systems in a small volume. Surprisingly, we find that the nonthermal asymptotic stationary solutions do not change for large volume. This raises questions on Boltzmann's conjecture that macroscopic isolated systems thermalize.
The time evolution of the correlation functions of an ensemble of anharmonic N-component oscillators with O(N) symmetry is described by a flow equation, exact up to corrections of order 1/N21/N^21/N2. We find effective irreversibility. Nevertheless, analytical and numerical investigation reveals that the system does not reach thermal equilibrium for large times, even when N→∞N\to \inftyN→∞. Depending on the initial distribution, the dynamics is asymptotically stable or it exhibits growing modes which break the conditions for the validity of the 1/N expansion for large time. We investigate both classical and quantum systems, the latter being the limit of an O(N) symmetric scalar quantum field theory in zero spatial dimensions.
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Time evolution of a perturbed thermal state is studied in a quantum-mechanical system with O(N) symmetry. In the limit of large N, time dependence of O(N)-singlet expectation values can be described by classical equations of motion in a one-dimensional potential well. Time dependence of the perturbation is then described by a linear differential equation with time-dependent periodic coefficient. This equation, depending on the parameters, admits either exponentially growing/decaying or periodically oscillating solutions. It is demonstrated that only the latter possibility is actually realized, thus in such a system there is no redistribution of initial perturbation over all N degrees of freedom.
Nonperturbative dynamics of quantum fields out of equilibrium is often described by the time evolution of a hierarchy of correlation functions, using approximation methods such as Hartree, large Nf,{N}_{f},Nf​, and nPIn\mathrm{PI}nPI-effective action techniques. These truncation schemes can be implemented equally well in a classical statistical system, where results can be tested by comparison with the complete nonlinear evolution obtained by numerical methods. For a (1+1)(1+1)(1+1)-dimensional scalar field we find that the early-time behavior is reproduced qualitatively by the Hartree dynamics. The inclusion of direct scattering improves this to the quantitative level. We show that the emergence of nonthermal temperature profiles at intermediate times can be understood in terms of the fixed points of the evolution equations in the Hartree approximation. The form of the profile depends explicitly on the initial ensemble. While the truncated evolution equations do not seem to be able to get away from the fixed point, the full nonlinear evolution shows thermalization with a (surprisingly) slow relaxation.
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.