title: Dynamics of thermalization and decoherence of a nanoscale system.
abstract: We study the decoherence and thermalization dynamics of a nanoscale system coupled nonperturbatively to a fully quantum-mechanical bath. The system is prepared out of equilibrium in a pure state of the complete system. We propose a random matrix model and show analytically that there are two robust temporal regimes in the approach of the system to equilibrium-an initial Gaussian decay followed by an exponential tail, consistent with numerical results on small interacting lattices [S. Genway, A. F. Ho, and D. K. K. Lee, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 260402 (2010)]. Furthermore, the system decays towards a Gibbs ensemble in accordance with the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Genway
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: D K K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Lee