Thermal Equilibrium from the Hu-Paz-Zhang Master Equation
High Energy Physics - Theory
2007-05-23 v1 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Abstract
The exact master equation for a harmonic oscillator coupled to a heat bath, derived recently by Hu, Paz and Zhang, is simplified by taking the weak-coupling, late-time limit. The unique time-independent solution to this simplified master equation is the canonical ensemble at the temperature of the bath. The frequency of the oscillator is effectively lowered by the interaction with the bath.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.hep-th/9210034,
title = {Thermal Equilibrium from the Hu-Paz-Zhang Master Equation},
author = {J. R. Anglin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-th/9210034},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
10 pages, McGill/92--46