Kinetic energy equipartition: a tool to characterize quantum thermalization

TL;DR

This paper introduces the concept of kinetic energy equipartition as a new signature of quantum thermalization, linking hidden-variable components to measurable weak values, and demonstrates its potential for experimental verification.

Contribution

It reveals that kinetic energy equipartition occurs during quantum thermalization, connecting hidden-variable velocities to observable weak values, providing a novel experimental tool.

Findings

Expectation values of current and osmotic velocities approach the same stationary value after thermalization.

Bohmian kinetic energy and quantum potential energy each approach half of the Orthodox kinetic energy.

Numerical simulations illustrate the nonequilibrium dynamics and the applicability of the protocol.

Abstract

The Orthodox kinetic energy has, in fact, two hidden-variable components: one linked to the current (or Bohmian) velocity, and another linked to the osmotic velocity (or quantum potential), and which are respectively identified with phase and amplitude of the wavefunction. Inspired by Bohmian and Stochastic quantum mechanics, we address what happens to each of these two velocity components when the Orthodox kinetic energy thermalizes in closed systems, and how the pertinent weak values yield experimental information about them. We show that, after thermalization, the expectation values of both the (squared) current and osmotic velocities approach the same stationary value, that is, each of the Bohmian kinetic and quantum potential energies approaches half of the Orthodox kinetic energy. Such a `kinetic energy equipartition' is a novel signature of quantum thermalization that can empirically be tested in the laboratory, following a well-defined operational protocol as given by the expectation values of (squared) real and imaginary parts of the local-in-position weak value of the momentum, which are respectively related to the current and osmotic velocities. Thus, the kinetic energy equipartion presented here is independent on any ontological status given to these hidden variables, and it could be used as a novel element to characterize quantum thermalization in the laboratory, beyond the traditional use of expectation values linked to Hermitian operators. Numerical results for the nonequilibrium dynamics of a few-particle harmonic trap under random disorder are presented as illustration. And the advantages in using the center-of-mass frame of reference for dealing with systems with many indistinguishable particles are also discussed.