Related papers: Fourier's Law: insight from a simple derivation

An experimentally inspired model is constructed and rigorously solved from the Hamiltonian level where a dc circular spontaneous flow exists in absence of a magnetic field, irrespective of presence of dissipation causing otherwise proper…

We consider a single harmonic oscillator coupled to a bath at zero temperature. As is well known, the oscillator then has a higher average energy than that given by its ground state. Here we show analytically that for a damping model with…

The quantum potential is shown to result from the presence of a subtle thermal vacuum energy distributed across the whole domain of an experimental setup. Explicitly, its form is demonstrated to be exactly identical to the heat distribution…

Using a generalized Langevin equation of motion, quantum ballistic thermal transport is obtained from classical molecular dynamics. This is possible because the heat baths are represented by random noises obeying quantum Bose-Einstein…

Dimensionality is a fundamental concept in physics, which plays a hidden but crucial role in various domains, including condensed matter physics, relativity and string theory, statistical physics, etc. In quantum physics, reducing…

Simulations are performed of a small quantum system interacting with a quantum environment. The system consists of various initial states of two harmonic oscillators coupled to give normal modes. The environment is "designed" by its level…

A quantum system in contact with a heat bath undergoes quantum transitions between energy levels upon absorption or emission of energy quanta by the bath. These transitions remain virtual unless the energy of the system is measured…

Decoherence of a quantum state coupled to an exterior environment is at the foundation of our understanding of the emergence of classical behavior from the quantum world, but how does it emerge in a finite closed quantum system? Here this…

By modelling quantum systems as emerging from a (classical) sub-quantum thermodynamics, the quantum mechanical "decay of the wave packet" is shown to simply result from sub-quantum diffusion with a specific diffusion coefficient varying in…

In classical physics the joint probability of a number of individually rare independent events is given by the Poisson distribution. It describes, for example, unidirectional transfer of population between the densely and sparsely populated…

Isolated quantum many-body systems which thermalize under their own dynamics are expected to act as their own thermal baths, thereby bringing their local subsystems to thermal equilibrium. Here we show that the infinite-dimensional limit of…

Thermodynamics is usually developed starting from entropy and the maximum entropy principle. We investigate here to what extent one can replace entropy with relative entropy which has several advantages, for example in the context of local…

We consider the wide class of few-particle systems that have some analog of the thermodynamic laws. These systems are characterized by the distributions that are determined by the Hamiltonian and satisfy the Liouville equation. Few-particle…

A quantum system can undergo a continuous phase transition at the absolute zero of temperature as some parameter entering its Hamiltonian is varied. These transitions are particularly interesting for, in contrast to their classical finite…

The existence of two stationary solutions of the nonlinear Boltzmann equation for inelastic hard spheres or disks is investigated. They are restricted neither to weak dissipation nor to small gradients. The one-particle distribution…

Feynman's laws of quantum dynamics are concisely stated, discussed in comparison with other formulations of quantum mechanics and applied to selected problems in the physical optics of photons and massive particles as well as flavour…

The example provided in the comment [arXiv:0803.2241] concerns a situation where the system is initially at negative temperature. It is known that in such cases the Law of Entropy Decrease holds. Nevertheless, this does not challenge the…

Any evolving system can change of state via thermal mechanisms (hopping a barrier) or via quantum tunneling. Most of the time, efficient classical mechanisms dominate at high temperatures. This is why an increase of the temperature can…

Quantum coherence, the ability of a quantum system to be in a superposition of orthogonal quantum states, is a distinct feature of the quantum mechanics, thus marking a deviation from classical physics. Coherence finds its applications in…

The second law of thermodynamics tells us which state transformations are so statistically unlikely that they are effectively forbidden. Its original formulation, due to Clausius, states that "Heat can never pass from a colder to a warmer…