Mechanism of slow equilibration of isolated quantum systems

Abstract

We discuss the approach toward equilibrium of an isolated quantum system. For a wide class of systems we argue that the time-averaged expectation value of a local operator in any initial state is bounded by the so-called deviation function, which characterizes maximal deviation from the equilibrium for all states with a given value of energy fluctuations. We provide numerical evidence that the bound is approximately saturated by the initial configurations with spatial inhomogeneities at macroscopic level. In this way the deviation function establishes an explicit connection between the macroscopically observed timescales associated with transport and properties of microscopic matrix elements. The form of the deviation function indicates that among the slowest states which saturate the bound there are also those with arbitrarily long equilibration times.

8 pages

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