Finite quantum environments as thermostats: an analysis based on the Hilbert space average method

We consider discrete quantum systems coupled to finite environments which may possibly consist of only one particle in contrast to the standard baths which usually consist of continua of oscillators, spins, etc. We find that such finite environments may, nevertheless, act as thermostats, i.e., equilibrate the system though not necessarily in the way predicted by standard open system techniques. Thus, we apply a novel technique called the Hilbert space Average Method (HAM) and verify its results numerically.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Failure of Effective Potential Approach: Nucleus-Electron Entanglement in the He-Ion

Entanglement may be considered a resource for quantum-information processing, as the origin of robust and universal equilibrium behaviour, but also as a limit to the validity of an effective potential approach, in which the influence of certain interacting subsystems is treated as a potential. Here we show that a closed three particle (two protons, one electron) model of a He-ion featuring realistic size, interactions and energy scales of electron and nucleus, respectively, exhibits different types of dynamics depending on the initial state: For some cases the traditional approach, in which the nucleus only appears as the center of a Coulomb potential, is valid, in others this approach fails due to entanglement arising on a short time-scale. Eventually the system can even show signatures of thermodynamical behaviour, i.e. the electron may relax to a maximum local entropy state which is, to some extent, independent of the details of the initial state.Comment: Submitted to Europhysics Letter

Distribution of local entropy in the Hilbert space of bi-partite quantum systems: Origin of Jaynes' principle

For a closed bi-partite quantum system partitioned into system proper and environment we interprete the microcanonical and the canonical condition as constraints for the interaction between those two subsystems. In both cases the possible pure-state trajectories are confined to certain regions in Hilbert space. We show that in a properly defined thermodynamical limit almost all states within those accessible regions represent states of some maximum local entropy. For the microcanonical condition this dominant state still depends on the initial state; for the canonical condition it coincides with that defined by Jaynes' principle. It is these states which thermodynamical systems should generically evolve into.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review

Necessity of eigenstate thermalization for equilibration towards unique expectation values when starting from generic initial states

We investigate dynamical equilibration of expectation values in closed quantum systems for realistic non-equilibrium initial states. Thereby we find that the corresponding long time expectation values depend on the initial expectation values if eigenstate thermalization is violated. An analytical expression for the deviation from the expected ensemble value is derived for small displacements from equilibrium. Additional numerics for magnetization and energy equilibration in an asymmetric anisotropic spin-1/2-ladder demonstrate that the analytical predictions persist beyond the limits of the theory. The results suggest eigenstate thermalization as physically necessary condition for initial state independent equilibration.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Boltzmann equation approach to transport in finite modular quantum systems

We investigate the transport behavior of finite modular quantum systems. Such systems have recently been analyzed by different methods. These approaches indicate diffusive behavior even and especially for finite systems. Inspired by these results we analyze analytically and numerically if and in which sense the dynamics of those systems are in agreement with an appropriate Boltzmann equation. We find that the transport behavior of a certain type of finite modular quantum systems may indeed be described in terms of a Boltzmann equation. However, the applicability of the Boltzmann equation appears to be rather limited to a very specific type of model

Entanglement and the factorization-approximation

For a bi-partite quantum system defined in a finite dimensional Hilbert space we investigate in what sense entanglement change and interactions imply each other. For this purpose we introduce an entanglement operator, which is then shown to represent a non-conserved property for any bi-partite system and any type of interaction. This general relation does not exclude the existence of special initial product states, for which the entanglement remains small over some period of time, despite interactions. For this case we derive an approximation to the full Schroedinger equation, which allows the treatment of the composite systems in terms of product states. The induced error is estimated. In this factorization-approximation one subsystem appears as an effective potential for the other. A pertinent example is the Jaynes-Cummings model, which then reduces to the semi-classical rotating wave approximation.Comment: Accepted for publication in European Physical Journal