The adiabatic analogue of the Margolus-Levitin theorem

In this letter we derive the minimum time needed for any state of a given quantum system to evolve adiabatically into a distinct (orthogonal) state. This problem is relevant to deriving physical limits in quantum computation and quantum information processing. Our result represents an adiabatic analogue to the Margolus-Levitin theorem (Margolus and Levitin 1998 Physica D 120, 188).