How can we derive Fourier's Law from quantum mechanics? Exact master equation analysis
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
2015-05-13 v1 Statistical Mechanics
Abstract
We derive the macroscopic Fourier's Law of heat conduction from the exact gain-loss time convolutionless quantum master equation under three assumptions for the interaction kernel. To second order in the interaction, we show that the first two assumptions are natural results of the long time limit. The third assumption can be satisfied by a family of interactions consisting an exchange effect. The pure exchange model directly leads to energy diffusion in a weakly coupled spin-1/2 chain.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0711.4599,
title = {How can we derive Fourier's Law from quantum mechanics? Exact master equation analysis},
author = {Lian-Ao Wu and Dvira Segal},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0711.4599},
year = {2015}
}