Thermalization and possible quantum relaxation times in "classical" fluids: theory and experiment

Abstract

Quantum effects in material systems are often pronounced at low energies and become insignificant at high temperatures. We find that, perhaps counterintuitively, certain quantum effects may follow the opposite route and become sharp when extrapolated to high temperature within a "classical" liquid phase. In the current work, we suggest basic quantum bounds on relaxation (and thermalization) times, examine kinetic theory by taking into account such possible fundamental quantum time scales, find new general equalities connecting semi-classical dynamics and thermodynamics to Planck's constant, and compute current correlation functions. Our analysis suggests that, on average, the extrapolated high temperature dynamical viscosity of general liquids may tend to a value set by the product of the particle number density ${\sf n}$ and Planck's constant $h$. We compare this theoretical result with experimental measurements of an ensemble of 23 metallic fluids where this seems to indeed be the case. The extrapolated high temperature viscosity of each of these liquids $η$ divided (for each respective fluid by its value of ${\sf n} h$) veers towards a Gaussian with an ensemble average value that is close to unity up to an error of size $0.6 \%$. Inspired by the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis, we suggest a relation between the lowest equilibration temperature to the melting or liquidus temperature and discuss a possible corollary concerning the absence of finite temperature "ideal glass" transitions. We suggest a general quantum mechanical derivation for the viscosity of glasses at general temperatures. We invoke similar ideas to discuss other transport properties and demonstrate how simple behaviors including resistivity saturation and linear $T$ resistivity may appear very naturally. Our approach suggests that minimal time lags may be present in fluid dynamics.