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arXiv · 0805.0798

Exploring local quantum many-body relaxation by atoms in optical superlattices

M. Cramer·A. Flesch·I. P. McCulloch·U. Schollwoeck·J. Eisert
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Abstract

We establish a setting - atoms in optical superlattices with period 2 - in which one can experimentally probe signatures of the process of local relaxation and apparent thermalization in non-equilibrium dynamics without the need of addressing single sites. This opens up a way to explore the convergence of subsystems to maximum entropy states in quenched quantum many-body systems with present technology. Remarkably, the emergence of thermal states does not follow from a coupling to an environment, but is a result of the complex non-equilibrium dynamics in closed systems. We explore ways of measuring the relevant signatures of thermalization in this analogue quantum simulation of a relaxation process, exploiting the possibilities offered by optical superlattices.

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M. Cramer, A. Flesch, I. P. McCulloch, U. Schollwoeck, J. Eisert. 2008-07-08. Exploring local quantum many-body relaxation by atoms in optical superlattices. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.101.063001

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