Dynamical predictive power of the generalized Gibbs ensemble revealed in a second quench.

We show that a quenched and relaxed completely integrable system is hardly distinguishable from the corresponding generalized Gibbs ensemble in a dynamical sense. To be specific, the response of the quenched and relaxed system to a second quench can be accurately reproduced by using the generalized Gibbs ensemble as a substitute. Remarkably, as demonstrated with the transverse Ising model and the hard-core bosons in one dimension, not only the steady values but even the transient, relaxation dynamics of the physical variables can be accurately reproduced by using the generalized Gibbs ensemble as a pseudoinitial state. This result is an important complement to the previously established result that a quenched and relaxed system is hardly distinguishable from the generalized Gibbs ensemble in a static sense. The relevance of the generalized Gibbs ensemble in the nonequilibrium dynamics of completely integrable systems is then greatly strengthened.