Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Cooling an Optically Trapped Ultracold Fermi Gas by Periodical Driving
Published on: March 30, 2017
Thermalization of strongly coupled field theories
V Balasubramanian1, A Bernamonti, J de Boer
1David Rittenhouse Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Abstract:
Using the holographic mapping to a gravity dual, we calculate 2-point functions, Wilson loops, and entanglement entropy in strongly coupled field theories in d=2, 3, and 4 to probe the scale dependence of thermalization following a sudden injection of energy. For homogeneous initial conditions, the entanglement entropy thermalizes slowest and sets a time scale for equilibration that saturates a causality bound. The growth rate of entanglement entropy density is nearly volume-independent for small volumes but slows for larger volumes. In this setting, the UV thermalizes first.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II
Phase Transitions: Vaporization and Condensation
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I
Thermodynamic Background
Thermodynamic Systems
Consider an example of tea boiling in a kettle. The tea and...
The Thermodynamics of Mixing
