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Minimal Fokker-Planck theory for the thermalization of mesoscopic subsystems
Igor Tikhonenkov1, Amichay Vardi, James R Anglin
1Department of Chemistry, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel.
Abstract:
We explore a minimal paradigm for thermalization, consisting of two weakly coupled, low dimensional, nonintegrable subsystems. As demonstrated for Bose-Hubbard trimers, chaotic ergodicity results in a diffusive response of each subsystem, insensitive to the details of the drive exerted on it by the other. This supports the hypothesis that thermalization can be described by a Fokker-Planck equation. We also observe, however, that Levy-flight type anomalies may arise in mesoscopic systems, due to the wide range of time scales that characterize 'sticky' dynamics.
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