Journal article
Unified theory of local quantum many-body dynamics: eigenoperator thermalization theorems
- Abstract:
- Explaining quantum many-body dynamics is a long-held goal of physics. A rigorous operator algebraic theory of dynamics in locally interacting systems in any dimension is provided here in terms of time-dependent equilibrium (Gibbs) ensembles. The theory explains dynamics in closed, open, and time-dependent systems, provided that relevant pseudolocal quantities can be identified, and time-dependent Gibbs ensembles unify wide classes of quantum nonergodic and ergodic systems. The theory is applied to quantum many-body scars, continuous, discrete, and dissipative time crystals, Hilbert space fragmentation, lattice gauge theories, and disorder-free localization, among other cases. Novel pseudolocal classes of operators are introduced in the process: projected-local, which are local only for some states, cryptolocal, whose locality is not manifest in terms of any finite number of local densities, and transient ones, that dictate finite-time relaxation dynamics. An immediate corollary is proving saturation of the Mazur bound for the Drude weight. This proven theory is intuitively the rigorous algebraic counterpart of the weak eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and has deep implications for thermodynamics: Quantum many-body systems “out of equilibrium” are actually always in a time-dependent equilibrium state for any natural initial state. The work opens the possibility of designing novel out-of-equilibrium phases, with the newly identified scarring and fragmentation phase transitions being examples.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 2.4MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1103/PhysRevX.13.031013
Authors
+ Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
More from this funder
- Grant:
- EP/M013243/1
- EP/P009565/1
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society
- Journal:
- Physical Review X More from this journal
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 3
- Article number:
- 031013
- Publication date:
- 2023-08-02
- Acceptance date:
- 2023-07-07
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2160-3308
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Subjects:
- Pubs id:
-
1505646
- Local pid:
-
pubs:1505646
- Deposit date:
-
2023-08-08
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Buča
- Copyright date:
- 2023
- Rights statement:
- © 2023 The Author(s). Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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