Comment on "Quenches in quantum many-body systems: One-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model reexamined" [arXiv:0810.3720]

In a recent paper Roux [Phys. Rev. A 79, 021608(R) (2009), arXiv:0810.3720] argued that thermalization in a Bose-Hubbard system, after a quench, follows from the approximate Boltzmann distribution of the overlap between the initial state and the eigenstates of the final Hamiltonian. We show here that the distribution of the overlaps is in general not related to the canonical (or microcanonical) distribution and, hence, it cannot explain why thermalization occurs in quantum systems.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, as publishe

Breakdown of thermalization in finite one-dimensional systems

We use quantum quenches to study the dynamics and thermalization of hardcore bosons in finite one-dimensional lattices. We perform exact diagonalizations and find that, far away from integrability, few-body observables thermalize. We then study the breakdown of thermalization as one approaches an integrable point. This is found to be a smooth process in which the predictions of standard statistical mechanics continuously worsen as the system moves toward integrability. We establish a direct connection between the presence or absence of thermalization and the validity or failure of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, respectively.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures, as publishe

Effect of particle statistics in strongly correlated two-dimensional Hubbard models

We study the onset of particle statistics effects as the temperature is lowered in strongly correlated two-dimensional Hubbard models. We utilize numerical linked-cluster expansions and focus on the properties of interacting lattice fermions and two-component hard-core bosons. In the weak-coupling regime, where the ground state of the bosonic system is a superfluid, the thermodynamic properties of the two systems at half filling exhibit very large differences even at high temperatures. In the strong-coupling regime, where the low-temperature behavior is governed by a Mott insulator for either particle statistics, the agreement between the thermodynamic properties of both systems extends to regions where the antiferromagnetic (iso)spin correlations are exponentially large. We analyze how particle statistics affects adiabatic cooling in those systems.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure