Quantum Chaos and the Foundations of Statistical Mechanics
Mark Srednicki (Hosted by Nussinov), University of California, Santa Barbara
I will present ideas from quantum chaos theory that can be used to understand how an isolated quantum many-body system can evolve from an initial pure state to a state that is indistinguishable from thermal equilibrium. I will also discuss how these ideas relate to the foundational work of Washington University Professor Edwin Jaynes, and how I originally learned statistical mechanics from Washington University Professor Emeritus Clifford Will.
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