Related papers: Quantum mechanical evolution towards thermal equil…
Demonstrating how microscopic dynamics cause large systems to approach thermal equilibrium remains an elusive, longstanding, and actively-pursued goal of statistical mechanics. We identify here a dynamical mechanism for thermalization in a…
We establish an analytical criterion for dynamical thermalization within harmonic systems, applicable to both classical and quantum models. Specifically, we prove that thermalization of various observables, such as particle energies in…
Thermodynamics is a branch of science blessed by an unparalleled combination of generality of scope and formal simplicity. Based on few natural assumptions together with the four laws, it sets the boundaries between possible and impossible…
We construct a finite bath with variable temperature for quantum thermodynamic simulations in which heat flows between a system $\mathcal{S}$ and the bath environment $\mathcal{E}$ in time evolution of an initial $\mathcal{SE}$ pure state.…
We consider an arbitrary quantum system coupled non perturbatively to a large arbitrary and fully quantum environment. In [G. Ithier and F. Benaych-Georges, Phys. Rev. A 96, 012108 (2017)] the typicality of the dynamics of such an embedded…
A pure quantum state can fully describe thermal equilibrium as long as one focuses on local observables. Thermodynamic entropy can also be recovered as the entanglement entropy of small subsystems. When the size of the subsystem increases,…
We investigate the connection between recent results in quantum thermodynamics and fluctuation relations by adopting a fully quantum mechanical description of thermodynamics. By including a work system whose energy is allowed to fluctuate,…
The thermodynamics of quantum systems coupled to periodically modulated heat baths and work reservoirs is developed. By identifying affinities and fluxes, the first and second law are formulated consistently. In the linear response regime,…
The intersection of thermodynamics, quantum theory and gravity has revealed many profound insights, all the while posing new puzzles. In this article, we discuss an extension of equilibrium statistical mechanics and thermodynamics…
This paper addresses fundamental aspects of statistical mechanics such as the motivation of a classical state space with spontaneous transitions, the meaning of non-equilibrium in the context of thermalization, and the justification of…
Equilibrium theormodynamics is characterized by two fundamental ideas: thermalisation--that systems approach a late time thermal state; and phase structure--that thermal states exhibit singular changes as various parameters characterizing…
We study nonequilibrium thermodynamics in a fermionic resonant level model with arbitrary coupling strength to a fermionic bath, taking the wide-band limit. In contrast to previous theories, we consider a system where both the level energy…
Quantum decoherence is seen as an undesired source of irreversibility that destroys quantum resources. Quantum coherences seem to be a property that vanishes at thermodynamic equilibrium. Away from equilibrium, quantum coherences challenge…
Understanding relaxation processes is an important unsolved problem in many areas of physics. A key challenge in studying such non-equilibrium dynamics is the scarcity of experimental tools for characterizing their complex transient states.…
The second law of thermodynamics places a limitation into which states a system can evolve into. For systems in contact with a heat bath, it can be combined with the law of energy conservation, and it says that a system can only evolve into…
The proper definition of entropy is fundamental to the relationship between statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. It also plays a major role in the recent debate about the validity of the concept of negative temperature. In this paper,…
Results on heat current, entropy production rate and entanglement are reported for a quantum system coupled to two different temperature heat reservoirs. By applying a temperature gradient, different quantum states can be found with exactly…
Thermodynamics is based on a coarse-grained approach, from which its fundamental variables emerge, effectively erasing the complicate details of the microscopic dynamics within a macroscopic system. The strength of Thermodynamics lies in…
Underlying the classical thermodynamic principles are analogous microscopic laws, arising from the fundamental axioms of quantum mechanics. These define quantum thermodynamic variables such as quantum work and heat and characterize the…
Quantum thermodynamics seeks to extend non-equilibrium stochastic thermodynamics to small quantum systems where non-classical features are essential to its description. Such a research area has recently provided meaningful theoretical and…