Applicability of the generalized Gibbs ensemble after a quench in the quantum Ising chain

We investigate the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of the one-dimensional quantum Ising model after a sudden quench in the transverse magnetic field. While for a translationally invariant system the statistical description of the asymptotic order parameter correlations after the quench can be performed in terms of the generalized Gibbs ensemble, we show that a breaking of translational invariance, e.g. by perturbing the boundary conditions, disrupts its validity. This effect, which of course vanishes in the thermodynamic limit, is shown to be very important in the presence of disorder. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd.