Modification of quantum many-body relaxation by perturbations exhibiting a banded matrix structure

Abstract

We investigate how the observable relaxation behavior of an isolated quantum many-body system is modified in response to weak-to-moderate perturbations within a nonperturbative typicality framework. A key role is played by the so-called perturbation profile, which characterizes the dependence of the perturbation matrix elements in the eigenbasis of the unperturbed Hamiltonian on the difference of the corresponding energy eigenvalues. In particular, a banded matrix structure is quantitatively captured by a perturbation profile which approaches zero for large energy differences. The temporal modification of the relaxation is linked to the perturbation profile via a nonlinear integral equation, which admits approximate analytical solutions for sufficiently weak and strong perturbations, and for which we work out a numerical solution scheme in the general case. As an example, we consider a spin lattice model with a pronounced banded matrix structure, and we find very good agreement of the numerics with our analytical predictions without any free fit parameter.