Quantum quenches to a critical point in one dimension: some further results

Abstract

.We describe several results concerning global quantum quenches from states with short-range correlations to quantum critical points whose low-energy properties are described by a 1 + 1-dimensional conformal field theory (CFT), extending the work of Calabrese and Cardy (2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 136801): (a) for the special class of initial states discussed in that paper we show that, once a finite region falls inside the horizon, its reduced density matrix is exponentially close in L2 norm to that of a thermal Gibbs state; (b) small deformations of this initial state in general lead to a (non-Abelian) generalized Gibbs distribution with, however, the possibility of parafermionic conserved charges; (c) small deformations of the CFT, corresponding to curvature of the dispersion relation and (non-integrable) left-right scattering, lead to a dependence of the speed of propagation on the initial state, as well as diffusive broadening of the horizon.