Quantum Thermalization: Emerging Paradigms and open challenges in Nonequilibrium Physics

29 Jun 2026, 14:00 → 1 Jul 2026, 14:00 Europe/Berlin

Convention Centre by the Observatory

Fabian Heidrich-Meisner (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen), Frank Pollmann (GNOI)

Quantum Thermalization: Emerging Paradigms and Open Challenges in Nonequilibrium Physics

Topics

• Thermalization in closed quantum systems

• Quantum simulation of nonequilibrium dynamics with ultracold atoms

• Anomalous transport

• Nonequilibrium dynamics in lattice gauge theories

• Constrained dynamics

• Many-body localization

• Dynamics on Quantum Circuits

Confirmed Invited Speaker

• Monika Aidelsburger, LMU Munich
• Alexander Altland, University of Cologne
• Jeanne Colbois, Institut Néel, CNRS
• Sarang Gopalakrishnan, Princeton University
• Miroslav Hopjan, Wrocław University of Science and Technology
• Cheryne Jonay, University of Ljubljana
• Marko Ljubotina, Technical University of Munich
• Sara Murciano, French National Centre for Scientific Research and Université Paris-Saclay
• Marcos Rigol, The Pennsylvania State University
• Uli Schneider, University of Cambridge
• Robin Steinigeweg, Osnabrück University
• Federica Maria Surace, Trinity College Dublin
• Lev Vidmar, Jožef Stefan Institute and University of Ljubljana
• Lenart Zadnik, University of Ljubljana

Organizers

• Fabian Heidrich-Meisner, Universität Göttingen
• Frank Pollmann, Technical University of Munich

Contact

• Fabian Heidrich-Meisner: fabian.heidrich-meisner@uni-goettingen.de
• Anke Oude-Aost: anke.oude-aost@theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de

 

This Event is organized by DFG Research Unit FOR 5522.

 

Monday 29 June

14:00 → 14:05 Welcome

14:05 → 15:35 Scientific Talks

14:05 Onset of Quantum Chaos and Ergodicity in Spin Systems with Highly Degenerate Hilbert Spaces

Speaker: Marcos Rigol (Penn State University)

14:40 Signatures of ergodicity breaking transition from wavefunction snapshots

Speaker: Miroslav Hopjan (Wrocław University of Science and Technology)

15:15 Fading Ergodicity

Speaker: Rafał Świętek (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)

15:35 → 16:25 Coffee Break

16:25 → 17:35 Scientific Talks

16:25 Kubo, Lindblad, and Transport

Speaker: Robin Steinigeweg (University of Osnabrück)

17:00 Out-of-equilibrium dynamics in large-scale neutral-atom quantum simulators

Lattice-based neutral-atom quantum simulators combine thousands of highly coherent atoms with single-site resolution and microscopic control, enabling new approaches to studying non-equilibrium dynamics in strongly correlated quantum matter. In this talk, I will highlight recent advances in developing novel state-preparation and readout protocols for studying quantum many-body systems, including quasi-local subsystem return probabilities that provide a quantitative measure of the effectively accessible Hilbert space, and time-reversal protocols that provide access to out-of-time-order correlators.

In the second part, I will discuss recent results on disorder-driven phase transitions in Floquet topological systems and the first signatures of anomalous Floquet Anderson insulators - an out-of-equilibrium phase in which a fully localized bulk coexists with extended topological edge modes. This is enabled by combining expansion measurements in the bulk with observations of topological edge modes at an interface.

Speaker: Monika Aidelsburger (MPQ/LMU)

17:35 → 17:45 Break

17:45 → 18:20 Scientific Talks

17:45 Charge Transport Capacity as a Probe of Resonances in Models of Many- Body Localization

Speaker: Federica Surace (University of Innsbruck)

Tuesday 30 June

09:00 → 10:10 Scientific Talks

09:00 Ergodicity in Bose glasses

Speaker: Ulrich Schneider (University of Cambridge)

09:35 Long-range resonances in quasiperiodic many-body localization

Speaker: Jeanne Colbois (CNRS)

10:10 → 10:50 Coffee Break

10:50 → 12:20 Scientific Talks

10:50 Graph theory measures capture weak ergodicity breaking on large quantum systems

Speaker: Heiko Georg Menzler (Universität Göttingen)

11:10 Nested hierarchies of frozen states and slow dynamics in KCMs

Speaker: Lenart Zadnik (University of Ljubljana)

11:45 Entanglement dynamics in chaotic systems from Ruelle-Pollicoit resonance

Speaker: Yahui Li (Technische Universität München)

12:20 → 14:15 Lunch (self organized)

14:15 → 15:25 Scientific Talks

14:15 Field Theory in Circuit Dynamics

Speaker: Alexander Altland (University of Cologne)

14:50 Bias-Driven Entanglement and Sign Phase Transition in Random Tensor Networks

Speaker: Cheryne Jonay (University of Ljubljana)

15:25 → 16:00 Coffee Break

16:00 → 16:40 Scientific Talks

16:00 Probing the classical complexity of quantum experiments

Speaker: Andreas Elben (Paul Scherrer Institute)

16:20 Novel apparatus for the creation of a double degenerate mixture of 166Er and 6Li

Speaker: Florian Kiesel (Universität Tübingen)

16:40 → 18:30 Poster Session

19:30 → 21:30 Workshop Dinner

Wednesday 1 July

09:00 → 10:10 Scientific Talks

09:00 tba

Speaker: Sarang Gopalakrishnan (Princeton University)

09:35 From projected to observable-projected ensembles

Speaker: Sara Murciano (CNRS Université Paris-Saclay)

10:10 → 10:50 Coffee Break

10:50 → 12:20 Scientific Talks

10:50 Weakly Entangled Quantum Scars and Solitons in Rydberg Atom Arrays

Speaker: Marko Ljubotina (TU Munich)

11:25 From Classical Stochastic to Monitored Quantum Dynamics: Dynamical Phase Coexistence in East Circuit Models

Speaker: Marcel Cech

11:45 Trapped ergodicity

Speaker: Lev Vidmar (Jozef Stefan Institute and University of Ljubljana)

12:20 → 12:30 Final Remarks