Related papers: Emergent quantum mechanics as a thermal ensemble
We present an explicit correspondence between quantum mechanics and the classical theory of irreversible thermodynamics as developed by Onsager, Prigogine et al. Our correspondence maps irreversible Gaussian Markov processes into the…
We elaborate on the existing notion that quantum mechanics is an emergent phenomenon, by presenting a thermodynamical theory that is dual to quantum mechanics. This dual theory is that of classical irreversible thermodynamics. The linear…
The wide-spread opinion is that original quantum mechanics is a reversible theory, but this statement is only true for undecomposed systems, that are those systems which sub-systems are out of consideration. Taking sub-systems into account,…
The emergence of irreversibility in physical processes, despite the fundamentally reversible nature of quantum mechanics, remains an open question in physics. This thesis explores the intricate relationship between quantum mechanics and…
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…
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…
We derive a generalization of Ehrenfest theorem valid for open quantum systems. From this result, we identify three contributions to the evolution of expected values: i) the explicit time dependence of the observable, ii) the…
For a quantum state undergoing unitary Schr\"odinger time evolution, the von Neumann entropy is constant. Yet the second law of thermodynamics, and our experience, show that entropy increases with time. Ingarden introduced the quantum…
Incorporating time into thermodynamics allows addressing the tradeoff between efficiency and power. A qubit engine serves as a toy model to study this tradeoff from first principles, based on the quantum theory of open systems. We study the…
We introduce an ergotropy-based formulation of quantum thermodynamics, which provides a strong connection between average heat and von Neumann entropy. By adopting this formulation, we can reinterpret the infinitesimal average heat in terms…
We discuss the thermodynamics of closed quantum systems driven out of equilibrium by a change in a control parameter and undergoing a unitary process. We compare the work actually done on the system with the one that would be performed…
The classical thermostatics of equilibrium processes is shown to possess a quantum-mechanical dual theory with a finite-dimensional Hilbert space of quantum states. Specifically, the kernel of a certain Hamiltonian operator becomes the…
The entropy production rate is a key quantity in non-equilibrium thermodynamics of both classical and quantum processes. No universal theory of entropy production is available to date, which hinders progress towards its full grasping. By…
Classically, one could imagine a completely static space, thus without time. As is known, this picture is unconceivable in quantum physics due to vacuum fluctuations. The fundamental difference between the two frameworks is that classical…
Irreversibility is a fundamental concept with important implications at many levels. It pinpoints the fundamental difference between the intrinsically reversible microscopic equations of motion and the unidirectional arrow of time that…
We investigate temporal evolution of von Neumann's entropy in exemplary quantum mechanical systems and show that it grows in systems evolving with incrementally increasing decoherence during scattering processes. We demonstrate that the…
A generalization of the Gibbs-von Neumann relative entropy is proposed based on the quantum BBGKY [Bogolyubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon] hierarchy as the nonequilibrium entropy for an N-body system. By using a generalization of the…
Exploiting the relative entropy of coherence, we isolate the coherent contribution in the energetics of a driven non-equilibrium quantum system. We prove that a division of the irreversible work can be made into a coherent and incoherent…
The variational method is very important in mathematical and theoretical physics because it allows us to describe the natural systems by physical quantities independently from the frame of reference used. A global and statistical approach…
The thermodynamics of quantum systems driven out of equilibrium has attracted increasing attention in last the decade, in connection with quantum information and statistical physics, and with a focus on non-classical signatures. While a…