Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Autocorrelation functions play a key role in the theoretical characterization of the dynamical properties of interacting many-body quantum systems. Recently, bringing together the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and hydrodynamics, it was theoretically predicted that the relaxation of autocorrelators can be described by the \textit{relaxation-overlap inequality}, which, when saturated, predicts a hierarchy of relaxation exponents for a set of operators that are easily identified and constructed. Here, we employ a trapped-ion quantum simulator to experimentally demonstrate it in the diffusive regime; to do so, we have extended the theory of the overlap-relaxation inequality to systems with multiple conservation laws. Our study thus opens the path to a thorough characterization of the relaxation to equilibrium and appearance of hydrodynamic behavior in quantum matter.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Institutions: Ningbo University, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Innsbruck, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques, Universität Innsbruck, Institut Universitaire de France
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
OpenAlex ID: W7214373930