Thermalization in nature and on a quantum computer
- In this work, we show how Gibbs or thermal states appear dynamically in closed quantum many-body systems, building on the program of dynamical typicality. We introduce a novel perturbation theorem for physically relevant weak system-bath couplings that is applicable even in the thermodynamic limit. We identify conditions under which thermalization happens and discuss the underlying physics. Based on these results, we also present a fully general quantum algorithm for preparing Gibbs states on a quantum computer with a certified runtime and error bound. This complements quantum Metropolis algorithms, which are expected to be efficient but have no known runtime estimates and only work for local Hamiltonians.
| Author details: | Arnau Riera, Christian Gogolin, Jens Eisert |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.080402 |
| ISSN: | 0031-9007 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Physical review letters |
| Publisher: | American Physical Society |
| Place of publishing: | College Park |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Year of first publication: | 2012 |
| Publication year: | 2012 |
| Release date: | 2017/03/26 |
| Volume: | 108 |
| Issue: | 8 |
| Number of pages: | 5 |
| Funding institution: | EU (Qessence, Compas, Minos); EURYI |
| Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Physik und Astronomie |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
