王骄子  副教授学术报告

Title: Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis: Basic Concepts and Beyond

Speaker: Jiaozi Wang (王骄子)

Affiliation: Ningbo University（宁波大学）

Time: 14:00-15:00, Tuesday, 2nd June, 2026 (UTC+8, Beijing Time)

Venue: Room 1502, Shing-Tung Yau Center, Sipailou Campus of Southeast University（东南大学四牌楼校区丘成桐中心1502室）

Inviter: Yunfeng Jiang（江云峰）

Abstract

Whether and how isolated quantum many-body systems reach thermal equilibrium has been a long-standing question. Motivated by quantum chaos and random-matrix theory, the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH)[1–4], a milestone in this line of research, explains eventual thermalization by postulating a particular structure for the matrix elements of few-body observables in the eigenbasis of a generic non-integrable Hamiltonian. In this talk, I will first review the basic concept of ETH, including its formalism and its relevance to equilibration in closed systems. I will then turn to several recent developments [5, 6] that extend the conventional framework of ETH, highlighting new insights in the field, with particular emphasis on the work we have done over the past few years[7–10].

References

[1] M. Srednicki, Chaos and quantum thermalization, Phys. Rev. E 50, 888–901 (1994). 

[2] J. M. Deutsch, Quantum statistical mechanics in a closed system, Phys. Rev. A 43, 2046–2049 (1991).

[3] M. Rigol, V. Dunjko, and M. Olshanii, Thermalization and its mechanism for generic isolated quantum systems, Nature 452, 854–858 (2008).

[4] L. D’Alessio, Y. Kafri, A. Polkovnikov, and M. Rigol, From quantum chaos and eigenstate thermalization to statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, Advances in Physics 65, 239–362 (2016).

[5] L. Foini and J. Kurchan, Eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and out of time order correlators, Phys. Rev. E 99, 042139 (2019).

[6] S. Pappalardi, L. Foini, and J. Kurchan, Eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and free probability, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 170603 (2022).

[7] J. Wang, M. H. Lamann, J. Richter, R. Steinigeweg, A. Dymarsky, and J. Gemmer, Eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and its deviations from random-matrix theory beyond the thermalization time, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 180601 (2022).

[8] J. Wang, J. Richter, M. H. Lamann, R. Steinigeweg, J. Gemmer, and A. Dymarsky, Emergence of unitary symmetry of microcanonically truncated operators in chaotic quantum systems, Phys. Rev. E 110, L032203 (2024).

[9] L. Capizzi, J. Wang, X. Xu, L. Mazza, and D. Poletti, Hydrodynamics and the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, Phys. Rev. X 15, 011059 (2025).

[10] J. Wang, R. Mishra, T.-H. Yang, L. V. Delacr´etaz, and S. Pappalardi, Eigenstate thermalization hypothesis correlations via nonlinear hydrodynamics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 130402 (2026).

Speaker

Jiaozi Wang received his B.Sc. degree and Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the Department of Modern Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China. After completing his doctorate, he continued his postdoctoral research at the University of Science and Technology of China, and later moved to the University of Osnabrück in Germany for further postdoctoral research. Since March 2026, he has been working at the Institute of Fundamental Physics and Quantum Technology, Ningbo University.

He has long been engaged in research on nonequilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems. His research interests include quantum chaos, quantum thermalization, quantum statistical mechanics, transport theory, quantum many-body systems, and open quantum systems. His work focuses on thermalization and transport phenomena in complex quantum many-body systems, aiming to understand the dynamical mechanisms and universal properties of quantum systems under nonequilibrium conditions.