English

Non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics of a particle trapped in a controllable time-varying potential

Quantum Physics 2023-03-16 v2

Abstract

Non-equilibrium thermodynamics can provide strong advantages when compared to more standard equilibrium situations. Here, we present a general framework to study its application to concrete problems, which is valid also beyond the assumption of a Gaussian dynamics. We consider two different problems: 1) the dynamics of a levitated nanoparticle undergoing the transition from an harmonic to a double-well potential; 2) the transfer of a quantum state across a double-well potential through classical and quantum protocols. In both cases, we assume that the system undergoes to decoherence and thermalisation. In case 1), we construct a numerical approach to the problem and study the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of the system. In case 2), we introduce a new figure of merit to quantify the efficiency of a state-transfer protocol and apply it to quantum and classical versions of such protocols.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2303.05289,
  title  = {Non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics of a particle trapped in a controllable time-varying potential},
  author = {Qiongyuan Wu and Matteo Carlesso},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.05289},
  year   = {2023}
}