The long-time dynamics of quantum systems, typically, but not always, results in a thermal steady state. The microscopic processes that lead to or circumvent this fate are of interest, since everyday experience tells us that not all spatial regions of a system heat up or cool down uniformly. This motivates the question: Under what conditions can one slow down or completely arrest thermalization locally? Is it possible to construct realistic Hamiltonians and initial states such that a local region is effectively insulated from the rest, or acts as a barrier between two or more regions? We answer this in the affirmative by outlining the conditions that govern the flow of energy and entropy between subsystems. Using these ideas we provide a representative example for how simple quantum few-body states can be used to engineer a “thermal switch” between interacting regions.

中文翻译：

---

局部控制的阻滞热化

量子系统的长期动态通常但并非总是导致热稳态。导致或规避这种命运的微观过程很有趣，因为日常经验告诉我们，并非系统的所有空间区域都会均匀加热或冷却。这就引发了一个问题：在什么条件下可以减缓或完全阻止局部热化？是否有可能构建现实的哈密顿量和初始状态，使局部区域有效地与其他区域隔离，或者充当两个或多个区域之间的屏障？我们通过概述控制子系统之间能量和熵流动的条件来回答这个问题。利用这些想法，我们提供了一个代表性示例，说明如何使用简单的量子少体态来设计相互作用区域之间的“热开关”。