Work

Quantum Mpemba effect in chaotic systems with conservation laws

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Closed chaotic quantum systems relax after a quench into a Gibbs ensemble. At late times, the relaxation speed is determined by their conservation laws and hydrodynamics. As a result, there exist pairs of initial states which thermalize to the same ensemble, yet exhibit drastically different hydrodynamic relaxation. We show in two chaotic spin chains how this enables a simple and robust realization of the quantum Mpemba effect: a system initially closer to equilibrium relaxes slower than one that starts farther away, despite both approaching the same final state.

Source: Physical review. B./Physical review. B

DOI: 10.1103/8nhn-1rs1

Authors: Thomas Martin Müller, Silvia Pappalardi, Rosario Fazio

Institutions: The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), University of Naples Federico II

Language: English

Topic: Quantum many-body systems

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, European Research Council

Award: G8414321494