Universal law of thermalization for one-dimensional perturbed Toda lattices

Abstract

The Toda lattice is a nonlinear but integrable system. Here we study the thermalization problem in one-dimensional, perturbed Toda lattices in the thermodynamic limit. We show that the thermalization time, $T_{eq}$, follows a universal law; i.e., $T_{eq}\sim \epsilon^{-2}$, where the perturbation strength, $\epsilon$, characterizes the nonlinear perturbations added to the Toda potential. This universal law applies generally to weak nonlinear lattices due to their equivalence to perturbed Toda systems.