Nonequilibrium dynamics of closed interacting quantum systems

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding the nonequilibrium dynamics of isolated quantum systems, focusing on quantum quenches, thermalization, and experimental cold atom studies.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of theoretical and experimental progress in quantum quenches, thermalization, and dynamics near quantum phase transitions.

Findings

Universal behavior in gapless systems near quantum critical points

Progress in understanding thermalization via eigenstate thermalization hypothesis

Experimental insights from cold atom systems

Abstract

This colloquium gives an overview of recent theoretical and experimental progress in the area of nonequilibrium dynamics of isolated quantum systems. We particularly focus on quantum quenches: the temporal evolution following a sudden or slow change of the coupling constants of the system Hamiltonian. We discuss several aspects of the slow dynamics in driven systems and emphasize the universality of such dynamics in gapless systems with specific focus on dynamics near continuous quantum phase transitions. We also review recent progress on understanding thermalization in closed systems through the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and discuss relaxation in integrable systems. Finally we overview key experiments probing quantum dynamics in cold atom systems and put them in the context of our current theoretical understanding.