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Prethermalization at Low Temperature: The Scent of Long-Range Order
Vincenzo Alba1,2, Maurizio Fagotti3
1International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy.
Physical Review Letters
|July 22, 2017
Summary
We discovered a new prethermalization mechanism in quantum systems. This phenomenon, driven by broken symmetries, causes slow relaxation and nonthermal plateaus during time evolution.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Quantum mechanics
- Statistical mechanics
Background:
- Isolated many-body quantum systems typically thermalize over time.
- Slow relaxation and quasistationary nonthermal plateaus are observed during this process.
- Integrable models with weak integrability breaking exhibit long-lived prethermal states.
Purpose of the Study:
- To unveil a novel mechanism of prethermalization in quantum systems.
- To investigate the role of symmetry breaking in prethermalization.
- To characterize the properties of prethermal quasistationary states.
Main Methods:
- Analytical calculation of full-time evolution for the transverse-field Ising chain.
- Numerical investigation of the anisotropic next-nearest-neighbor Ising model.
- Approximation of prethermal states using mixed states violating cluster decomposition.
Main Results:
- A new prethermalization mechanism is identified, linked to spontaneously broken symmetries.
- The time scale of prethermalization is proportional to the diverging thermal correlation length at low temperatures.
- Prethermal quasistationary states can violate the cluster decomposition property.
Conclusions:
- Symmetry breaking provides a new route to understanding prethermalization.
- The observed prethermal states exhibit unique properties distinct from thermal equilibrium.
- This mechanism offers insights into the dynamics of isolated quantum systems.
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