Prethermal inverse Mpemba effect

TL;DR

This paper explores the inverse Mpemba effect in quantum systems, showing that under periodic driving, systems starting at lower temperatures can relax faster to a prethermal state, revealing a counterintuitive thermalization behavior.

Contribution

It extends the inverse Mpemba effect to prethermal states in isolated quantum systems, providing a unified theoretical framework and demonstrating the phenomenon in a simple model.

Findings

Inverse Mpemba effect occurs in quantum prethermalization.

Lower initial temperatures can lead to faster relaxation.

The effect is demonstrated under periodic driving.

Abstract

The inverse Mpemba effect is a counterintuitive phenomenon in which a system, initially in thermal equilibrium and prepared at different temperatures below that of the final equilibrium state, relaxes to the final state more rapidly when starting from a lower initial temperature. We extend this concept to the relaxation toward a prethermal state in isolated quantum systems. By examining a simple model that exhibits prethermalization, we demonstrate that this effect indeed manifests under periodic driving. We further discuss the realization of this phenomenon in a variety of systems within a unified theoretical framework.