Mainz 2017 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 40: Poster: Quantum Optics and Photonics II

Q 40.47: Poster

Mittwoch, 8. März 2017, 17:00–19:00, P OG2

Thermalization in an isolated quantum system - dynamics and time scales — •Govinda Clos¹, Diego Porras², Matthias Wittemer¹, Ulrich Warring¹, and Tobias Schaetz¹ — ¹Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany — ²University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

For an isolated quantum system, the dynamics is governed by the Liouville-von Neumann equation and is, thus, unitary and reversible in time. Yet, few-body observables of (possibly highly-entangled) many-body states can yield expectation values that feature equilibration and thermalization [1]. We use a trapped-ion system to study a spin coupled to a phononic environment of engineerable complexity [2]. While the total system evolves unitarily, we record the dynamics of a subsystem observable, and find the emergence of thermalization. With this time-resolved measurement, we address associated time scales of equilibration, thermalization, and the information flow between the subsystem and its environment.

[1] Eisert et al., Nat. Phys. 11, 124 (2015).

[2] Clos et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 170401 (2016).