Prethermalization in one-dimensional Bose gases: description by a stochastic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process

We experimentally study the relaxation dynamics of a coherently split one-dimensional Bose gas using matterwave interference. Measuring the full probability distributions of interference contrast reveals the prethermalization of the system to a non-thermal steady state. To describe the evolution of noise and correlations we develop a semiclassical effective description that allows us to model the dynamics as a stochastic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process.
Comment: Submitted to EPJ Special Topics for the special issue on "Novel Quantum Phases and Mesoscopic Physics in Quantum Gases", Lyon BEC 2012