Related papers: Information-theoretic equilibrium and observable t…
We study the entropy of small subsystems in thermalizing quantum many-body systems governed by local Hamiltonians. Assuming the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, we derive an analytical formula for the von Neumann entropy of…
A thermodynamic framework for asymptotic inference is developed in which sample size and parameter variance define a state space. Within this description, Shannon information plays the role of entropy, and an integrating factor organizes…
Eigenstate thermalization has played a prominent role as a determiner of the validity of quantum statistical mechanics since von Neumann's early works on quantum ergodicity. However, its connection to the dynamical process of quantum…
Generalization through novel interpretations of the inner logic of the century-old Gibbs' statistical thermodynamics is presented: i) Identifying $k_B\to 0$ as classical energetics, one directly derives a pair of thermodynamic variational…
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…
The question of how irreversibility can emerge as a generic phenomena when the underlying mechanical theory is reversible has been a long-standing fundamental problem for both classical and quantum mechanics. We describe a mechanism for the…
Understanding thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in the full general relativistic context is an open problem. I give tentative definitions of equilibrium state, mean values, mean geometry, entropy and temperature, which reduce to the…
Entropy is the distinguishing and most important concept of our efforts to understand and regularize our observations of a very large class of natural phenomena, and yet, it is one of the most contentious concepts of physics. In this…
The emergence of statistical mechanics from quantum dynamics is a central problem in quantum many-body physics. Deriving observables aligned with the prediction of the canonical ensemble for a quantum system relies on the presence of a bath…
'Relativistic thermodynamics' should be understood not as a generalization of a non-relativistic theory but as an application of a general thermodynamic framework, neutral as to spacetime setting and allowing arbitrary conserved quantities,…
Equilibrium statistics of Hamiltonian systems is correctly described by the microcanonical ensemble. Classically this is the manifold of all points in the N-body phase space with the given total energy. Due to Boltzmann's principle,…
We use a combination of perturbation theory and numerical techniques to study the equilibration of two interacting fields which are initially at thermal equilibrium at different temperatures. Using standard rules of quantum field theory, we…
Focusing on isolated macroscopic systems, described either in terms of a quantum mechanical or a classical model, our two key questions are: In how far does an initial ensemble (usually far from equilibrium and largely unknown in detail)…
We discuss the application of techniques of quantum estimation theory and quantum metrology to thermometry. The ultimate limit to the precision at which the temperature of a system at thermal equilibrium can be determined is related to the…
Two phenomenological approaches are currently used in the study of the vitreous state. One is based on the concept of fictive temperature introduced by Tool [Jour. Research Nat. Bur. Standards 34, 199 (1945)] and recently revisited by…
We present some novel thermodynamic ideas based on the Maupertuis principle. By considering Hamiltonians written in terms of appropriate action-angle variables we show that thermal states can be characterized by the action variables and by…
The unitary dynamics of isolated quantum systems does not allow a pure state to thermalize. Because of that, if an isolated quantum system equilibrates, it will do so to the predictions of the so-called "diagonal ensemble" $\rho_{DE}$.…
This work continues the investigation in two recent papers on the quantum thermodynamics of spacetimes, 1) placing what was studied in [1] for thermal quantum fields in the context of early universe cosmology, and 2) extending the…
The paper moves a step towards the full integration of statistical mechanics and information theory. Starting from the assumption that the thermodynamical system is composed by particles whose quantized energies can be modelled as…
Under unitary time evolution, expectation values of physically reasonable observables often evolve towards the predictions of equilibrium statistical mechanics. The eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) states that this is also true…