Quantum concentration inequalities and equivalence of the thermodynamical ensembles: an optimal mass transport approach

We prove new concentration inequalities for quantum spin systems which apply to any local observable measured on any product state or on any state with exponentially decaying correlations. Our results do not require the spins to be arranged in a regular lattice, and cover the case of observables that contain terms acting on spins at arbitrary distance. Moreover, we introduce a local W1 distance, which quantifies the distinguishability of two states with respect to local observables. We prove a transportation-cost inequality stating that the local W1 distance between a generic state and a state with exponentially decaying correlations is upper bounded by a function of their relative entropy. Finally, we apply such inequality to prove the equivalence between the canonical and microcanonical ensembles of quantum statistical mechanics and the weak eigenstate thermalization hypothesis for the Hamiltonians whose Gibbs states have exponentially decaying correlations.