Planckian bound on the local equilibration time

Abstract

The local equilibration time $\tau_{\rm eq}$ of quantum many-body systems is conjectured to be bounded below by the Planckian time $\hbar /T$. We formalize this conjecture by defining $\tau_{\rm eq}$ as the time scale at which a hydrodynamic description emerges for conserved densities. Drawing on analytic properties of real time thermal correlators, we establish a rigorous lower bound $\tau_{\rm eq} \geq \alpha \hbar /T$ on the onset of hydrodynamic behavior in a `regulated' thermal two-point function. The dimensionless coefficient $\alpha $ depends only on dimensionality and the type of hydrodynamic or diffusive behavior that emerges, and is independent of the thermalization mechanism or other microscopic details. This bound applies universally to local quantum many-body systems, with or without a quasiparticle description, including in the presence of inelastic scattering.