{
  "abstract": "A system evolving unitarily does not dephase or thermalize by definition. Yet, if one considers a part of a unitary system, situation is different. Here we analyze an isolated set of coupled qubits taking one qubit at a time as a subsystem, and writing self-consistently a weak-coupling master equation for it. Weakly anharmonic oscillators and ideal qubits (two-level systems) demonstrate dephasing, i.e. the diagonal elements of the density matrix reach a steady-state in the long-time limit, and the off-diagonal elements of ideal qubits decay exponentially. For the linear coupling between the qubits, only the degenerate ones interact, and the system does not reach thermal distribution. However, non-linearity, in our analysis in form of three-wave mixing, ensures a thermal distribution in the long time limit, where the temperature is determined uniquely by the energy in the initial non-thermal state. Finally, we present a potential experimental scheme based on a superconducting quantum circuit.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.25336",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Jukka P. Pekola"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bayan Karimi"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ddq92nqdh2rjp.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.25336",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "ddq92nqdh2rjp",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25336",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-SA 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.mes-hall"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "quant-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3109|Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214113055",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.25336",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ddq92nqdh2rjp.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:39Z",
      "native_id": "2609.25336",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25336"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.mes-hall",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:quant-ph",
      "subfield": "quantum"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Thermalization and dephasing in an isolated system of coupled qubits",
  "title_text": "Thermalization and dephasing in an isolated system of coupled qubits",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:39Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ddq92nqdh2rjp",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}