title: Thermal equilibration between two quantum systems.
abstract: Two identical finite quantum systems prepared initially at different temperatures, isolated from the environment, and subsequently brought into contact are demonstrated to relax towards Gibbs-like quasiequilibrium states with a common temperature and small fluctuations around the time-averaged expectation values of generic observables. The temporal thermalization process proceeds via a chain of intermediate Gibbs-like states. We specify the conditions under which this scenario occurs and corroborate the quantum equilibration with two different models.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, University of Augsburg, Universitätstrasse 1, D-86159 Augsburg, Germany.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Ponomarev
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Denisov
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hänggi