Quantum quench in interacting field theory: a self-consistent approximation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the effects of a composite quantum quench in an interacting ^4 model, revealing that interactions effectively modify the mass and lead to stationary, thermal-like behavior even in cases previously exceptional, like the 2d massless scenario.

Contribution

The study introduces a self-consistent approximation to analyze a composite quantum quench in an interacting ^4 model, showing interactions effectively alter the mass and induce stationary behavior.

Findings

Interactions effectively change the mass in the model.

Stationary, thermal-like behavior occurs after the quench.

Massless 2d case also exhibits stationary behavior due to interactions.

Abstract

We study a composite quantum quench of the energy gap and the interactions in the interacting \phi^4 model using a self-consistent approximation. Firstly we review the results for free theories where a quantum quench of the energy gap or mass leads for long times to stationary behaviour with thermal characteristics. An exception to this rule is the 2d case with zero mass after the quench. In the composite quench however we find that the effect of the interactions in our approximation is simply to effectively change the value of the mass. This means on the one hand that the interacting model also exhibits the same stationary behaviour and on the other hand that this is now true even for the massless 2d case.