Floquet Prethermalization

High-frequency drive → prethermal plateau before eventual heating to infinite temperature
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Floquet theorem: periodic drive H(t+T)=H(t) → stroboscopic dynamics via Floquet operator U_F. At high frequency Ω≫J, Floquet-Magnus expansion gives effective Hamiltonian H_eff = H₀ + [V,H₀]/(2Ω) + ... The system first relaxes to prethermal state (energy of H_eff) on timescale τ_pre ~ e^{Ω/J}, then heats to infinite temperature at τ_heat. Shown: energy per cycle and running temperature estimate.