Long-time dynamics in quantum spin lattices: ergodicity and hydrodynamic projections at all frequencies and wavelengths

Abstract

Obtaining rigorous and general results about the non-equilibrium dynamics of extended many-body systems is a difficult task. In quantum lattice models with short-range interactions, the Lieb-Robinson bound tells us that the spatial extent of operators grows at most linearly in time. But what happens within this light-cone? We discuss rigorous results on ergodicity and the emergence of the hydrodynamic scale, which establish fundamental principles at the root of non-equilibrium physics. One key idea of the present work is that general structures of hydrodynamics at the Euler scale follow independently from the details of the microscopic dynamics, and in particular do not necessitate chaos; they are consequences of "extensivity". Another crucial observation is that these apply at arbitrary frequencies and wavelengths. That is, long-time oscillatory behaviours can be reproduced from a natural extension of standard hydrodynamic notions, thus enlarging the hydrodynamic paradigm beyond the zero-frequency / infinite-wavelength point that it traditionally addresses.