Non-equilibrium dynamics of the Tavis-Cummings model

TL;DR

This paper introduces a classical Hamiltonian framework to analyze the non-equilibrium dynamics of the quantum Tavis-Cummings model, revealing how classical phase space scattering can lead to thermalization without quantum chaos.

Contribution

It proposes a novel classical description of the quantum Tavis-Cummings model's dynamics, bridging quantum and classical theories in non-equilibrium analysis.

Findings

Classical phase space scattering can induce thermalization in the quantum model.

Thermalization occurs even without quantum chaotic behavior.

Classical tools effectively analyze quantum non-equilibrium dynamics.

Abstract

In quantum many-body theory no generic microscopic principle at the origin of complex dynamics is known. Quite opposed, in classical mechanics the theory of non-linear dynamics provides a detailed framework for the distinction between near-integrable and chaotic systems. Here we propose to describe the off-equilibrium dynamics of the Tavis-Cummings model by an underlying classical Hamiltonian system, which can be analyzed using the powerful tools of classical theory of motion. We show that scattering in the classical phase space can drive the quantum model close to thermal equilibrium. Interestingly, this happens in the fully quantum regime, where physical observables do not show any dynamic chaotic behavior.