Related papers: The irreversible quantum
We introduce the notion of time reversal in open quantum systems as represented by linear quantum operations, and a related generalization of classical entropy production in the environment. This functional is the ratio of the probability…
This paper reviews the histories approach to quantum mechanics. This discussion is then applied to theories of quantum gravity. It is argued that some of the quantum histories must approximate (in a suitable sense) to classical histories,…
Predictions for measurement outcomes in physical theories are usually computed by combining two distinct notions: a state, describing the physical system, and an observable, describing the measurement which is performed. In quantum theory,…
Building on parallels between geometric quantum mechanics and classical mechanics, we explore an alternative basis for quantum thermodynamics that exploits the differential geometry of the underlying state space. We develop both…
By considering (non-relativistic) quantum mechanics as it is done in practice in particular in condensed-matter physics, it is argued that a deterministic, unitary time evolution within a chosen Hilbert space always has a limited scope,…
We present the arguments suggesting that time is emergent in quantum gravity and discuss extensively, but without any technical detail, the many aspects that can be involved in such emergence. We refer to both the physical issues that need…
Advances in our understanding of the physical universe have impacted dramatically on how we view ourselves. Right at the core of all modern thinking about the universe is the assumption that dynamics is an elemental feature that exists…
"Ever since the advent of modern quantum mechanics in the late 1920's, the idea has been prevalent that the classical laws of probability cease, in some sense, to be valid in the new theory. [...] The primary object of this presentation is…
The relationship between thermodynamics and statistical physics is valid in the thermodynamic limit - when the number of particles becomes very large. Here, we study thermodynamics in the opposite regime - at both the nano scale, and when…
Quantum mechanics has many counter-intuitive consequences which contradict our intuition which is based on classical physics. Here we discuss a special aspect of quantum mechanics, namely the possibility of entanglement between two or more…
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…
We consider a quantum system of non-interacting fermions at temperature T, in the framework of linear response theory. We show that semiclassical theory is an appropriate framework to describe some of their thermodynamic properties, in…
We discuss the emergence of time in quantum gravity, and ask whether time is always "something that flows"'. We first recall that this is indeed the case in both relativity and quantum mechanics, although in very different manners: time…
An interesting cosmological history was proposed by Prigogine {\it et al.} who considered the Universe as a thermodynamically open system. This scenario is characterized by a process of matter creation, which corresponds to an irreversible…
The first law of thermodynamics imposes not just a constraint on the energy-content of systems in extreme quantum regimes, but also symmetry-constraints related to the thermodynamic processing of quantum coherence. We show that this…
The concepts of the perfect system and degeneracy are introduced. A special symmetry is found which is related to the entropy invariant. The inversion relation of system is obtained which is used to give the oppsite direction of time to…
Incompatibility between conjugate variables and complementary pictures comes in two kinds, exclusive of one another. The first kind is unconditional, and the second conditional on quantum's indivisibility. We employ this distinction to…
In the statistical description of dynamical systems, an indication of the irreversibility of a given state change is given geometrically by means of a (pre-)ordering of state pairs. Reversible state changes of classical and quantum systems…
Entropy production characterizes irreversibility. This viewpoint allows us to consider the thermodynamic uncertainty relation, which states that a higher precision can be achieved at the cost of higher entropy production, as a relation…
It is a common view in philosophy of physics that thermodynamics is a non-fundamental theory. This is motivated in particular by the fact that thermodynamics is considered to be a paradigmatic example for a theory that can be reduced to…