Quantum thermodynamics for a model of an expanding universe
Abstract
We investigate the thermodynamical properties of quantum fields in curved spacetime. Our approach is to consider quantum fields in curved spacetime as a quantum system undergoing an out-of-equilibrium transformation. The non-equilibrium features are studied by using a formalism which has been developed to derive fluctuation relations and emergent irreversible features beyond the linear response regime. We apply these ideas to an expanding universe scenario, therefore avoiding assumptions on the relation between entropy and quantum matter. We provide a fluctuation theorem which allows us to understand particle production due to the expansion of the universe as an entropic increase. Our results pave the way towards a different understanding of the thermodynamics of relativistic and quantum systems in our universe.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1409.5283,
title = {Quantum thermodynamics for a model of an expanding universe},
author = {Nana Liu and John Goold and Ivette Fuentes and Vlatko Vedral and Kavan Modi and David Edward Bruschi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1409.5283},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
13 pages, no figures. I. Fuentes previously published as I. Fuentes-Guridi and I. Fuentes-Schuller