Onsager's regression hypothesis adjusted to quantum systems

Peter Reimann, Christian Eidecker-Dunkel

Published 2024-07-16Version 1

Onsager's regression hypothesis connects the temporal relaxation of close-to-equilibrium systems with their dynamical correlation functions at thermal equilibrium. While the hypothesis is provably correct in classical systems, it is known to fail in the quantum regime. Here, we derive a suitably adjusted quantum version of Onsager's original hypothesis. Rigorous analytical results are complemented by a variety of numerical examples.