Non-thermal statistics in isolated quantum spin clusters after a series of perturbations

Abstract

We show numerically that a finite isolated cluster of interacting spins 1/2 exhibits a surprising non-thermal statistics when subjected to a series of small non-adiabatic perturbations by external magnetic field. The resulting occupations of energy eigenstates are significantly higher than the thermal ones on both the low and the high ends of the energy spectra. This behavior semi-quantitatively agrees with the statistics predicted for the so-called "quantum micro-canonical" (QMC) ensemble, which includes all possible quantum superpositions with a given energy expectation value. Our findings also indicate that the eigenstates of the perturbation operators are generically localized in the energy basis of the unperturbed Hamiltonian. This kind of localization possibly protects the thermal behavior in the macroscopic limit.

version as accepted to PRL. Main article: 4 pages, 4 figures. Supplement: 5 pages, 10 figures

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