Exploring local quantum many-body relaxation by atoms in optical superlattices

TL;DR

This paper proposes using atoms in optical superlattices to experimentally observe local relaxation and thermalization in quantum many-body systems without single-site resolution, highlighting intrinsic thermalization mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup with optical superlattices to study non-equilibrium relaxation and thermalization in closed quantum systems, bypassing the need for single-site addressing.

Findings

Demonstrates how thermal states emerge from complex dynamics without environment coupling.

Provides methods to measure thermalization signatures in optical superlattice experiments.

Shows potential for studying quantum relaxation with current technology.

Abstract

We establish a setting - atoms in optical superlattices with period 2 - in which one can experimentally probe signatures of the process of local relaxation and apparent thermalization in non-equilibrium dynamics without the need of addressing single sites. This opens up a way to explore the convergence of subsystems to maximum entropy states in quenched quantum many-body systems with present technology. Remarkably, the emergence of thermal states does not follow from a coupling to an environment, but is a result of the complex non-equilibrium dynamics in closed systems. We explore ways of measuring the relevant signatures of thermalization in this analogue quantum simulation of a relaxation process, exploiting the possibilities offered by optical superlattices.