Integrable Dynamics and Thermalization in the Quantum O(n) Model at Large-n
Guido Giachetti (LPENS)
The quantum O(n) model has long served as a valuable framework for studying both equilibrium and dynamical properties of quantum many-body systems. In this talk, we investigate its non-equilibrium dynamics following a quantum quench in the large-n limit. While the model is known to be tractable in this regime, we show that it is in fact integrable – with integrals of motions stemming from that of the classical Neumann model – thus enabling a complete analytical solution of its dynamics. This integrability reveals a synchronization mechanism that gives rise to persistent oscillations, interpretable as Higgs modes localized at the edge of the spectral band. We further demonstrate that the long-time behavior is governed by a Generalized Gibbs Ensemble (GGE), in contrast to previous expectations, and we obtain exact critical exponents differing from those commonly reported. Remarkably, integrability persists even in the presence of long-range couplings, allowing us to explore the crossover between mean-field and genuinely many-body regimes in terms of parametric Floquet resonances of the microscopic degrees of freedom.