Quantum Fisher Information for Different States and Processes in Quantum Chaotic Systems

Abstract: The quantum Fisher information (QFI) associated with a particular process applied to a many-body quantum system has been suggested as a diagnostic for the nature of the system's quantum state, e.g., a thermal density matrix vs. a pure state in a system that obeys the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH). We compute the QFI for both an energy eigenstate and a thermal density matrix for a variety of processes in a system obeying ETH, including a change in the hamiltonian that is either sudden (a quench), slow (adiabatic), or followed by contact with a heat bath. We compare our results with earlier results for a local unitary transformation.