Quantum relaxation after a quench in systems with boundaries

Abstract

We study the time-dependence of the magnetization profile, m_l(t), of a large finite open quantum Ising chain after a quench. We observe a cyclic variation, in which starting with an exponentially decreasing period the local magnetization arrives to a quasi-stationary regime, which is followed by an exponentially fast reconstruction period. The non-thermal behavior observed at near-surface sites turns over to thermal behavior for bulk sites. Besides the standard time- and length-scales a non-standard time-scale is identified in the reconstruction period.