Extremely quick thermalization in a macroscopic quantum system for a typical nonequilibrium subspace
نویسندگان
چکیده
The fact that macroscopic systems approach thermal equilibrium may seem puzzling, for example, because it may seem to conflict with the time-reversibility of the microscopic dynamics. We here prove that in a macroscopic quantum system for a typical choice of “nonequilibrium subspace”, any initial state indeed thermalizes, and in fact does so very quickly, on the order of the Boltzmann time τB := h/(kBT ). Therefore what needs to be explained is, not that macroscopic systems approach equilibrium, but that they do so slowly.
منابع مشابه
The approach to equilibrium in a macroscopic quantum system for a typical nonequilibrium subspace
We study the problem of the approach to equilibrium in a macroscopic quantum system in an abstract setting. We prove that, for a typical choice of “nonequilibrium subspace”, any initial state (from the energy shell) thermalizes, and in fact does so very quickly, on the order of the Boltzmann time τB := h/(kBT ). This apparently unrealistic, but mathematically rigorous, conclusion has the import...
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