Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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TT: Fachverband Tiefe Temperaturen

TT 45: Correlated Electrons: Poster Session

TT 45.95: Poster

Thursday, March 29, 2012, 15:00–19:00, Poster B

Two-stage thermalization of weakly interacting quantum systems — •Michael Stark and Marcus Kollar — Theoretical Physics III, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism, University of Augsburg, 86135 Augsburg

An isolated quantum many-body system, which is suddenly forced out of equilibrium, is said to thermalize if it relaxes to a new equilibrium state and if this is the thermal state predicted by statistical mechanics. Weakly interacting systems are usually first trapped in a prethermalized state and can thermalize only at a later stage [1]. The prethermalization stage can be described by a generalized Gibbs ensemble built from approximate constants of motion in the vicinity of the noninteracting point [2]. In a subsequent stage the crossover from the prethermalized to the thermal state occurs. This two-stage scenario provides an understanding of thermalization from a pure initial state to a final thermal ensemble state for not too large interaction.
M. Moeckel and S. Kehrein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 175702 (2008). [2] M. Kollar, F. A. Wolf, and M. Eckstein, Phys. Rev. B 84, 054304 (2011).