The generalized Gibbs ensemble for Heisenberg spin chains

We consider the generalized Gibbs ensemble (GGE) in the context of global quantum quenches in XXZ Heisenberg spin chains. Embedding the GGE into the quantum transfer matrix formalism, we develop an iterative procedure to fix the Lagrange multipliers and to calculate predictions for the long-time limit of short-range correlators. The main idea is to consider truncated GGEs with only a finite number of charges and to investigate the convergence of the numerical results as the truncation level is increased. As an example we consider a quantum quench situation where the system is initially prepared in the Neel state and then evolves with an XXZ Hamiltonian with anisotropy Delta > 1. We provide predictions for short-range correlators and gather numerical evidence that the iterative procedure indeed converges. The results show that the system retains memory of the initial condition, and there are clear differences between the numerical values of the correlators as calculated from the purely thermal and generalized Gibbs ensembles.