Related papers: Most energetic passive states
We show that states of macroscopic systems with purported absolute negative temperatures are not stable under small, yet arbitrary, perturbations. We prove the previous statement using the fact that, in equilibrium, the entropy takes its…
Entropy is one of the key thermodynamic variables reflecting changes in the state of matter. Unlike other thermodynamic variables, it is well-defined also for nonequilibrium steady states through its relation to information. Applying this…
From a new rigorous formulation of the general axiomatic foundations of thermodynamics we derive an operational definition of entropy that responds to the emergent need in many technological frameworks to understand and deploy thermodynamic…
We find the minimum and the maximum value for the local energy of an arbitrary finite bipartite system for any given amount of entanglement, also identifying families of states reaching these bounds and sharing formal analogies with thermal…
The long-time dynamics of quantum systems, typically, but not always, results in a thermal steady state. The microscopic processes that lead to or circumvent this fate are of interest, since everyday experience tells us that not all spatial…
We search for steady states in a class of fluctuating and driven physical systems that exhibit sustained currents. We find that the physical concept of a steady state, well known for systems at equilibrium, must be generalised to describe…
The assumption that quantum systems relax to a stationary state in the long-time limit underpins statistical physics and much of our intuitive understanding of scientific phenomena. For isolated systems this follows from the eigenstate…
Entanglement entropy is one of the most prominent measures in quantum physics. We show that it has an interesting ergotropic interpretation in terms of unitarily extracted work. It determines how much energy one can extract from a source of…
We define a thermostatic system to be a convex space of states together with a concave function sending each state to its entropy, which is an extended real number. This definition applies to classical thermodynamics, classical statistical…
In recent years a fashion has grown up to ascribe great importance to ``quantum critical points'' at T=0, at the boundary between the basins of attraction to the stable fixed points of ordered ground states. I argue that more physical…
A pair of two-level systems initially prepared in different thermal states and coupled to an external reversible work source, do not in general reach a common temperature at the end of a unitary work extraction process. We define an…
We examine the maximum negative energy density which can be attained in various quantum states of a massless scalar field. We consider states in which either one or two modes are excited, and show that the energy density can be given in…
Equilibrium thermodynamics describes the energy exchange of a body with its environment. Here, we describe the global energy exchange of an ideal gas in the Coutte flow in a thermodynamic-like manner. We derive a fundamental relation…
An exact stochastic model for the thermalisation of quantum states is proposed. The model has various physically appealing properties. The dynamics are characterised by an underlying Schrodinger evolution, together with a nonlinear term…
The second law of thermodynamics states that work cannot be extracted from thermal equilibrium, whose quantum formulation is known as complete passivity; A state is called completely passive if work cannot be extracted from any number of…
The extension of thermodynamic principles to active matter remains a challenge due to the non-equilibrium nature inherent to active systems. In this study, we introduce a framework to assess entropy in our minimal macroscopic experiment…
The minimal set of thermodynamic control parameters consists of a statistical (thermal) and a mechanical one. These suffice to introduce all the pertinent thermodynamic variables; thermodynamic processes can then be defined as paths on this…
We study continuity, and lack thereof, of thermodynamical properties for one-dimensional dynamical systems. Under quite general hypotheses, the free energy is shown to be almost upper-semicontinuous: some normalised component of a limit…
Stability is a fundamental concept that refers to a system's ability to return close to its original state after disturbances. The minimal conditions for stability when system parameters vary in time, though common in physics, have been…
In the framework of Lindblad theory for open quantum systems, we calculate the entropy of a damped quantum harmonic oscillator which is initially in a quasi-free state. The maximally predictable states are identified as those states…