title: Rapid spatial equilibration of a particle in a box.
abstract: We study the equilibration behavior of a quantum particle in a one-dimensional box, with respect to a coarse-grained position measurement (whether it lies in a certain spatial window or not). We show that equilibration in this context indeed takes place and does so very rapidly, in a time comparable to the time for the initial wave packet to reach the edges of the box. We also show that, for this situation, the equilibration behavior is relatively insensitive to the precise choice of position measurements or initial condition.
authors.affiliation: H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TL, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Artur S L
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Malabarba
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TW, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Noah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Linden
authors.affiliation: H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TL, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Short