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THU: Thursday Contributed Sessions

THU 12: Quantum Thermalization: Contributed Session to Symposium

THU 12.1: Talk

Thursday, September 11, 2025, 14:15–14:30, ZHG105

A minimal model of relaxation in isolated quantum systems — •Uwe Holm, Morgan Berkane, Anja Kuhnhold, and Andreas Buchleitner — Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, Germany

In classical thermodynamics, heat flow is commonly introduced by a thought experiment that employs two gas-filled boxes separated by a fixed wall and initially prepared with different internal energies. Subsequently, the subsystems exchange energy irreversibly, and the internal energies of both boxes equilibrate.

We introduce an analogue microscopic model consisting of two quantum particles contained in two 2D-boxes separated by a fixed wall, and isolated against the outside world. Thermal contact is realized via long-range interactions between the particles in the adjacent boxes. We numerically simulate the resulting, non-integrable two-body dynamics, with specific focus on the questions of whether and how relaxation can be witnessed already in this very minimalist setting, and whether heat, entropy and temperature can be defined consistently.

Keywords: Eigenstate thermalization hypothesis; Quantum chaos; Quantum thermodynamics