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Thermalization by a synthetic horizon

Lotte Mertens1,2,*, Ali G. Moghaddam3,4,2,†, Dmitry Chernyavsky2, Corentin Morice1,5, Jeroen van den Brink2,6, and Jasper van Wezel1

  • 1Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 2Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstr. 20, 01069 Dresden, Germany
  • 3Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan 45137-66731, Iran
  • 4Computational Physics Laboratory, Physics Unit, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, FI-33014 Tampere, Finland
  • 5Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, CNRS UMR 8502, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay Cedex, France
  • 6Institute for Theoretical Physics and Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany

  • *l.mertens@uva.nl
  • †agorbanz@iasbs.ac.ir
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Phys. Rev. Research 4, 043084 – Published 8 November, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.043084

Abstract

Synthetic horizons in models for quantum matter provide an alternative route to explore fundamental questions of modern gravitational theory. Here we apply these concepts to the problem of emergence of thermal quantum states in the presence of a horizon, by studying ground-state thermalization due to instantaneous horizon creation in a gravitational setting and its condensed matter analog. By a sudden quench to position-dependent hopping amplitudes in a one-dimensional lattice model, we establish the emergence of a thermal state accompanying the formation of a synthetic horizon. The resulting temperature for long chains is shown to be identical to the corresponding Unruh temperature, provided that the postquench Hamiltonian matches the entanglement Hamiltonian of the prequench system. Based on detailed analysis of the outgoing radiation we formulate the conditions required for the synthetic horizon to behave as a purely thermal source, paving a way to explore this interplay of quantum-mechanical and gravitational aspects experimentally.

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Phys. Rev. Research 4, 043084– Published 8 November, 2022
  • Received 10 June 2022
  • Accepted 24 October 2022
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