Abstract
We discuss a protocol based on quenching a purified quantum system that allows to capture bulk spectral features. It uses an infinite temperature initial state and an interferometric strategy to access the Loschmidt amplitude, from which the spectral features are retrieved via Fourier transform, providing coarse-grained approximation at finite times. It involves techniques available in current experimental setups for quantum simulation, at least for small systems. We illustrate possible applications in testing the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and the physics of many-body localization.