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Quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium

Nature Physics volume 11, pages 124–130 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

How do closed quantum many-body systems driven out of equilibrium eventually achieve equilibration? And how do these systems thermalize, given that they comprise so many degrees of freedom? Progress in answering these—and related—questions has accelerated in recent years—a trend that can be partially attributed to success with experiments performing quantum simulations using ultracold atoms and trapped ions. Here we provide an overview of this progress, specifically in studies probing dynamical equilibration and thermalization of systems driven out of equilibrium by quenches, ramps and periodic driving. In doing so, we also address topics such as the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, typicality, transport, many-body localization and universality near phase transitions, as well as future prospects for quantum simulation.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank many colleagues for numerous discussions over the years, as well as E. Bergholtz, E. T. Campbell, A. del Campo, G. Carleo, J-S. Caux, F. Essler, T. Farrelly, M. Giuseppe, U. R. Fischer, M. Rigol, L. F. Santos, G. Takacs, R. Moessner and V. I. Yukalov for comments on the manuscript, and the EU (RAQUEL, SIQS, COST, AQuS), the ERC, the BMBF and the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes for support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany

    J. Eisert, M. Friesdorf & C. Gogolin

  2. ICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain

    C. Gogolin

  3. Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Str. 1 85748 Garching, Germany,

    C. Gogolin

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  1. J. Eisert
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  2. M. Friesdorf
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Correspondence to J. Eisert.

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Eisert, J., Friesdorf, M. & Gogolin, C. Quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium. Nature Phys 11, 124–130 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3215

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