If a magnetic polarization excess is locally injected in a crystal of interacting spins, this "excitation" would spread as consequence of spin-spin interactions. Such an apparently irreversible process is known as spin diffusion and it can lead the system back to "equilibrium". Even so, a unitary quantum dynamics would ensure a precise memory of the non-equilibrium initial condition. Then, if at certain time, say $t/2$, an experimental protocol reverses the many-body dynamics, it would drive the system back to the initial non-equilibrium state at time $t$. As a matter of fact, the reversal is always perturbed by small experimental imperfections and/or uncontrolled internal or environmental degrees of freedom. This limits the amount of signal $M(t)$ recovered locally at time $t$. The degradation of $M(t)$ accounts for these perturbations, which can also be seen as the sources of decoherence. This idea defines the Loschmidt echo (LE), which embodies the various time-reversal procedures implemented in nuclear magnetic resonance. Here, we present an invitation to the study of the LE following the pathway induced by the experiments. With such a purpose, we provide a historical and conceptual overview that briefly revisits selected phenomena that underlie the LE dynamics, ultimately leading to the discussion of irreversibility as an emergent phenomenon. In addition, we introduce the LE formalism by means of spin-spin correlation functions and we present new results that could trigger new experiments and theoretical ideas. In particular, we propose to transform an initially localized excitation into a more complex initial state, enabling a dynamically prepared LE. This induces a global definition of the LE in terms of the raw overlap between many-body wave functions. Our results show that as the complexity of the prepared state increases, it becomes more fragile towards small perturbations.
Entropy production characterizes irreversibility. This viewpoint allows us to consider the thermodynamic uncertainty relation, which states that a higher precision can be achieved at the cost of higher entropy production, as a relation between precision and irreversibility. Considering the original and perturbed dynamics, we show that the precision of an arbitrary counting observable in continuous measurement of quantum Markov processes is bounded from below by Loschmidt echo between the two dynamics, representing the irreversibility of quantum dynamics. When considering particular perturbed d…
In the long quest to identify and compensate the sources of decoherence in many-body systems far from the ground state, the varied family of Loschmidt echoes (LEs) became an invaluable tool in several experimental techniques. A LE involves a time-reversal procedure to assess the effect of perturbations in a quantum excitation dynamics. However, when addressing macroscopic systems one is repeatedly confronted with limitations that seem insurmountable. This led to formulate the \textit{central hypothesis of irreversibility} stating that the time-scale of decoherence, $T_3$, is proportional to th…
The Loschmidt echo (LE) is a measure of the sensitivity of quantum mechanics to perturbations in the evolution operator. It is defined as the overlap of two wave functions evolved from the same initial state but with slightly different Hamiltonians. Thus, it also serves as a quantification of irreversibility in quantum mechanics. In this thesis the LE is studied in systems that have a classical counterpart with dynamical instability, that is, classically chaotic. An analytical treatment that makes use of the semiclassical approximation is presented. It is shown that, under certain regime of th…
Gamow vectors have been developed in order to give a mathematical description for quantum decay phenomena. Mainly, they have been applied to radioactive phenomena, scattering and to some decoherence models. They play a crucial role in the description of quantum irreversible processes, and in the formulation of time asymmetry in quantum mechanics. In this paper, we use this formalism to describe a well-known phenomenon of irreversibility: the Loschmidt echo. The standard approach considers that the irreversibility of this phenomenon is the result of an additional term in the backward Hamiltonia…
The Loschmidt echo -- also known as fidelity -- is a very useful tool to study irreversibility in quantum mechanics due to perturbations or imperfections. Many different regimes, as a function of time and strength of the perturbation, have been identified. For chaotic systems, there is a range of perturbation strengths where the decay of the Loschmidt echo is perturbation independent, and given by the classical Lyapunov exponent. But observation of the Lyapunov decay depends strongly on the type of initial state upon which an average is done. This dependence can be removed by averaging the fid…
The analysis of dissipation and dephasing in driven mesoscopic devices requires a distinction between two notions of quantum irreversibility. One ("Loschmidt echo") is related to "time reversal", while the other is related to "driving reversal". In the latter context the time of maximum return (compensation) should substitute the inappropriate notion of "echo" time. Non-perturbative features manifest themselves in the energy spreading process. This is demonstrated for the prototype random-matrix Wigner model, where the compensation time and the system response exhibit a non-universal scaling b…
Irreversibility remains one of the least understood concepts in physics. One of the main reasons is the fact that the fundamental laws of classical and quantum physics are time symmetric, whereas macroscopic processes evolve in a preferred time direction. This long-standing conflict of ideas goes to the heart of the so-called Loschmidt's paradox. Here, we address this dichotomy from a Newtonian perspective of the dynamics of the center of mass of a many-body system, which was found to impose constraints on the time evolution. We demonstrate that despite the time symmetric behavior of the micro…
The question of how irreversibility can emerge as a generic phenomena when the underlying mechanical theory is reversible has been a long-standing fundamental problem for both classical and quantum mechanics. We describe a mechanism for the appearance of irreversibility that applies to coherent, isolated systems in a pure quantum state. This equilibration mechanism requires only an assumption of sufficiently complex internal dynamics and natural information-theoretic constraints arising from the infeasibility of collecting an astronomical amount of measurement data. Remarkably, we are able to …
Semiclassical results are usually expected to be valid in the semiclassical regime. An interesting question is, in models in which appropriate effective Planck constants can be introduced, to what extent will a semiclassical prediction stay valid when the effective Planck constant is increased? In this paper, we numerically study this problem, focusing on semiclassical predictions for the decay of the quantum Loschmidt echo in deep quantum regions. Our numerical simulations, carried out in the chaotic regime in the sawtooth model and in the kicked rotator model and also in the critical region …
Is it possible to readily distinguish a system made by an Avogadro's number of identical elements and one with a single additional one? Usually, the answer to this question is negative but, in this work, we show that in antiferromagnetic quantum spin rings a simple out-of-equilibrium experiment can do so, yielding two qualitatively and quantitatively different outcomes depending on whether the system includes an even or an odd number of elements. We consider a local quantum-quench setup and calculate a generating function of the work done, namely, the Loschmidt echo, showing that it displays d…
Evaluating the role of perturbations versus the intrinsic coherent dynamics in driving to equilibrium is of fundamental interest to understand quantum many-body thermalization, in the quest to build ever complex quantum devices. Here we introduce a protocol that scales down the coupling strength in a quantum simulator based on a solid-state nuclear spin system, leading to a longer decay time T2, while keeping perturbations associated to control error constant. We can monitor quantum information scrambling by measuring two powerful metrics, out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOCs) and Loschmidt …
Dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) are criticalities in the time evolution of quantum systems and their existence has been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed. However, how the system behaves in the vicinity of DQPT and its connection to physical observables remains an open question. In this work, we introduce the concept of the Loschmidt amplitude spectrum (LAS), which extends the Loscmidt amplitude - the detector of the transition - by considering the overlap of the initial state to all the eigenstates of the prequench Hamiltonian. By analysing the LAS in the integra…
We study the possibility to undo the quantum mechanical evolution in a time reversal experiment. The naive expectation, as reflected in the common terminology ("Loschmidt echo"), is that maximum compensation results if the reversed dynamics extends to the same time as the forward evolution. We challenge this belief, and demonstrate that the time $t_r$ for maximum return probability is in general shorter. We find that $t_r$ depends on $lambda = eps_evol/eps_prep$, being the ratio of the error in setting the parameters (fields) for the time reversed evolution to the perturbation which is involve…
We study the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of two interacting atoms in a one-dimensional harmonic trap after a quench by a tightly pinned impurity atom. We make use of an approximate variational calculation called the Lagrange-mesh method to solve the Schrödinger equation as a function of inter-particle interaction and impurity quench strength. We investigate the out-of-equilibrium dynamics by calculating the Loschmidt echo which quantifies the irreversibility of the system following the quench, while its probability distribution after long times can be used to identify distinct dynamical regime…
The fundamental time-reversal invariance of dynamical systems can be broken in various ways. One way is based on the presence of resonances and their interactions giving rise to unstable dynamical systems, leading to well-defined time arrows. Associated with these time arrows are semigroups bearing time orientations. Usually, when time symmetry is broken, two time-oriented semigroups result, one directed toward the future and one directed toward the past. If time-reversed states and evolutions are excluded due to resonances, then the status of these states and their associated backwards-in-tim…
This review summarizes and amplifies on recent investigations of coupled quantum dynamical systems in the short wavelength limit. We formulate and attempt to answer three fundamental questions: (i) What drives a dynamical quantum system to behave classically ? (ii) What determines the rate at which two coupled quantum--mechanical systems become entangled ? (iii) How does irreversibility occur in quantum systems with few degrees of freedom ? We embed these three questions in the broader context of the quantum--classical correspondence, which motivates the use of short--wavelength approximations…
We address the question on how weak perturbations, that are quite ineffective in small many-body systems, can lead to decoherence and hence to irreversibility when they proliferate as the system size increases. This question is at the heart of solid state NMR. There, an initially local polarization spreads all over due to spin-spin interactions that conserve the total spin projection, leading to an equilibration of the polarization. In principle, this quantum dynamics can be reversed by changing the sign of the Hamiltonian. However, the reversal is usually perturbed by non reversible interacti…
A major challenge to the control of infinite dimensional quantum systems is the irreversibility which is often present in the system dynamics. Here we consider systems with discrete-spectrum Hamiltonians operating over a Schwartz space domain, and show that by utilizing the implications of the Quantum Recurrence Theorem this irreversibility may be overcome, in the case of individual states more generally, but also in certain specified cases over larger subsets of the Hilbert space. We discuss briefly the possibility of using these results in the control of infinite dimensional coupled harmonic…
A legend tells that once Loschmidt asked Boltzmann on what happens to his statistical theory if one inverts the velocities of all particles, so that, due to the reversibility of Newton's equations, they return from the equilibrium to a nonequilibrium initial state. Boltzmann only replied ``then go and invert them''. This problem of the relationship between the microscopic and macroscopic descriptions of the physical world and time-reversibility has been hotly debated from the XIXth century up to nowadays. At present, no modern computer is able to perform Boltzmann's demand for a macroscopic nu…
Irreversibility, despite being a necessary condition for thermalization, still lacks a sound understanding in the context of isolated quantum many-body systems. In this work we approach this question by studying the behavior of generic many-body systems under imperfect effective time reversal, where the imperfection is introduced as a perturbation of the many-body state at the point of time reversal. Based on numerical simulations of the full quantum dynamics we demonstrate that observable echos occurring in this setting decay exponentially with a rate that is independent of the perturbation; …
A profound quest of statistical mechanics is the origin of irreversibility - the arrow of time. New stimulants have been provided, thanks to unprecedented degree of control reached in experiments with isolated quantum systems and rapid theoretical developments of manybody localization in disordered interacting systems. The proposal of (many-body) eigenstate thermalization (ET) for these systems reinforces the common belief that either interaction or extrinsic randomness is required for thermalization. Here, we unveil a quantum thermalization mechanism challenging this belief. We find that, pro…
The novelty of the Jean Pierre Badiali last scientific works stems to a quantum approach based on both (i) a return to the notion of trajectories (Feynman paths) and (ii) an irreversibility of the quantum transitions. These iconoclastic choices find again the Hilbertian and the von Neumann algebraic point of view by dealing statistics over loops. This approach confers an external thermodynamic origin to the notion of a quantum unit of time (Rovelli Connes' thermal time). This notion, basis for quantization, appears herein as a mere criterion of parting between the quantum regime and the thermo…
