<i>Colloquium</i>: Nonequilibrium dynamics of closed interacting quantum systems

TLDR

Quantum quenches, the evolution after sudden or slow changes in system Hamiltonian couplings, are a central focus. The Colloquium reviews recent theoretical and experimental advances in nonequilibrium dynamics of isolated quantum systems. It examines slow dynamics in driven systems, universality near continuous quantum phase transitions, eigenstate thermalization and integrable relaxation, and key cold‑atom experiments.

Abstract

This Colloquium gives an overview of recent theoretical and experimental progress in the area of nonequilibrium dynamics of isolated quantum systems. There is particularly a focus on quantum quenches: the temporal evolution following a sudden or slow change of the coupling constants of the system Hamiltonian. Several aspects of the slow dynamics in driven systems are discussed and the universality of such dynamics in gapless systems with specific focus on dynamics near continuous quantum phase transitions is emphasized. Recent progress on understanding thermalization in closed systems through the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis is also reviewed and relaxation in integrable systems is discussed. Finally key experiments probing quantum dynamics in cold atom systems are overviewed and put into the context of our current theoretical understanding.