DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf6725. Quantum thermalization through entanglement in an isolated many-body system

Quantum thermalization through entanglement in an isolated many-body system

10.1126/science.aaf6725

Crossref journal-article

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science (221)

Abstract

To thermalize, or not to thermalize? Intuition tells us that an isolated physical system subjected to a sudden change (i.e., quenching) will evolve in a way that maximizes its entropy. If the system is in a pure, zero-entropy quantum state, it is expected to remain so even after quenching. How do we then reconcile statistical mechanics with quantum laws? To address this question, Kaufman et al. used their quantum microscope to study strings of six rubidium atoms confined in the wells of an optical lattice (see the Perspective by Polkovnikov and Sels). When tunneling along the strings was suddenly switched on, the strings as a whole remained in a pure state, but smaller subsets of two or three atoms conformed to a thermal distribution. The force driving the thermalization was quantum entanglement. Science , this issue p. 794 ; see also p. 752

Bibliography

Kaufman, A. M., Tai, M. E., Lukin, A., Rispoli, M., Schittko, R., Preiss, P. M., & Greiner, M. (2016). Quantum thermalization through entanglement in an isolated many-body system. Science, 353(6301), 794â800.

Authors 7

Adam M. Kaufman (first)
M. Eric Tai (additional)
Alexander Lukin (additional)
Matthew Rispoli (additional)
Robert Schittko (additional)
Philipp M. Preiss (additional)
Markus Greiner (additional)

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Dates

Type	When
Created	9 years ago (Aug. 18, 2016, 2:12 p.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 15, 2024, 12:20 p.m.)
Indexed	5 days, 16 hours ago (Aug. 19, 2025, 5:54 a.m.)
Issued	9 years ago (Aug. 19, 2016)
Published	9 years ago (Aug. 19, 2016)
Published Print	9 years ago (Aug. 19, 2016)

Funders 4

NSF 10.13039/100000001 National Science Foundation
Region: Americas
gov (National government)
Labels4
1. U.S. National Science Foundation
2. NSF
3. US NSF
4. USA NSF
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation 10.13039/100000936
Region: Americas
pri (Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private))
Labels5
1. Moore Foundation
2. GORDON E. & BETTY I. MOORE FOUNDATION
3. GORDON E. AND BETTY I. MOORE FOUNDATION
4. Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation
5. GBMF
Awards1
1. GBMF3795
Air Force Office of Scientific Research 10.13039/100000181
Region: Americas
gov (National government)
Labels4
1. AF Office of Scientific Research
2. US Air Force Office of Scientific Research
3. United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research
4. AFOSR
Army Research Office 10.13039/100000183
Region: Americas
gov (National government)
Labels5
1. U.S. Army Research Office
2. United States Army Research Office
3. U.S. Army Research Laboratory's Army Research Office
4. ARL's Army Research Office
5. ARO

BibTeX

@article{Kaufman_2016, title={Quantum thermalization through entanglement in an isolated many-body system}, volume={353}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf6725}, DOI={10.1126/science.aaf6725}, number={6301}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Kaufman, Adam M. and Tai, M. Eric and Lukin, Alexander and Rispoli, Matthew and Schittko, Robert and Preiss, Philipp M. and Greiner, Markus}, year={2016}, month=aug, pages={794–800} }

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