Fluctuation-dissipation relations and critical quenches in the transverse field Ising chain

Abstract

Dynamic correlation and response functions of classical and quantum systems in thermal equilibrium are connected by fluctuation-dissipation theorems, which allow an alternative definition of their (unique) temperature. Motivated by this fundamental property, we revisit the issue of thermalization of closed many-body quantum systems long after a sudden quench, focusing on the nonequilibrium dynamics of the Ising chain in a critical transverse field. We show the emergence of distinct observable-dependent effective temperatures, which rule out Gibbs thermalization in a strict sense but might still have a thermodynamic meaning.