India, Nov. 26 -- In everyday life, objects equilibrate with the environment. "A steaming cup of tea left on your desk eventually reaches room temperature, losing almost all memory of how it was heated," says Prof. Shantanav Chakraborty, Center for Quantum Science and Technology, IIITH.

He is referring to the process known as thermalization in Physics, where many-particle systems evolve towards equilibrium. "Here, only a few coarse properties, like temperature or energy, matter, and the fine details of the past are effectively forgotten".

Quantum thermalization explained

According to the professor, quantum physics can mimic thermalization but in an intriguing manner. "A large quantum system can be in a perfectly well-defined pure state...