Related papers: The second law and beyond in microscopic quantum s…
In this article the Gordan theorem is applied to the thermodynamics of a chemical reaction network at steady state. From a theoretical viewpoint it is equivalent to the Clausius formulation of the second law for the out of equilibrium…
Quantum thermodynamics supplies a consistent description of quantum heat engines and refrigerators up to the level of a single few level system coupled to the environment. Once the environment is split into three;a hot, cold and work…
We generalize the second law of thermodynamics in its maximum work formulation for a nonequilibrium initial distribution. It is found that in an isothermal process, the Boltzmann relative entropy (H-function) is not just a Lyapunov function…
Equilibrium thermodynamics is combined with Jarzynski's irreversible work theorem to quantify the excess entropy produced by irreversible processes. The resulting rectified form of the second law parallels the first law, in the sense that…
Even after over 150 years of discussion, the interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics continues to be a source of confusion and controversy in physics. This confusion has been accentuated by recent challenges to the second law and…
Many fruitful analogies have emerged between the theories of quantum entanglement and thermodynamics, motivating the pursuit of an axiomatic description of entanglement akin to the laws of thermodynamics. A long-standing open problem has…
The recent discovery of inverse current in coupled transport (ICC) in classical systems~\textcolor{blue}{[\textbf{Phys. Rev. Lett.} \textbf{124}, 110607 (2020)]} -- where an induced current flows opposite to two mutually parallel…
We consider a situation where an $N$-level system (NLS) is coupled to a heat bath without being necessarily thermalized. For this situation we derive general Jarzinski-type equations and conclude that heat and entropy is flowing from the…
We consider a quantum linear oscillator coupled at an arbitrary strength to a bath at an arbitrary temperature. We find an exact closed expression for the oscillator density operator. This state is non-canonical but can be shown to be…
At the dawn of thermodynamics, Carnot's constraint on efficiency of heat engines stimulated the formulation of one of the most universal physical principles, the second law of thermodynamics. In recent years, the field of heat engines…
Non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics is an intensively developing field with many existing applications. We study the dynamics of temperatures and chemical potentials of fermionic reservoirs coupled to an open quantum system. We show that…
A microscopic definition of the thermodynamic entropy in an isolated quantum system must satisfy (i) additivity, (ii) extensivity and (iii) the second law of thermodynamics. We show that the diagonal entropy, which is the Shannon entropy in…
We consider a Bianchi type $I$ model in which anisotropic dark energy is interacting with dark matter and anisotropic radiation. With this scenario, we investigate the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics. It is…
It was first suggested by David Z. Albert that the existence of a real, physical non-unitary process (i.e., "collapse") at the quantum level would yield a complete explanation for the Second Law of Thermodynamics (i.e., the increase in…
Similarity between quantum mechanics and thermodynamics is discussed. It is found that if the Clausius equality is imposed on the Shannon entropy and the analogue of the heat quantity, then the value of the Shannon entropy comes to formally…
There are both practical and foundational motivations to consider the thermodynamics of quantum systems at small scales. Here we address the issue of autonomous quantum thermal machines that are tailored to achieve some specific…
The Clausius inequality for closed systems was deduced from the Riemann integration of closed Carnot cycle loops for irreversible transitions. The corresponding inequalities for the recently developed open system Carnot cycles are derived…
According to the second law, the efficiency of cyclic heat engines is limited by the Carnot bound that is attained by engines that operate between two thermal baths under the reversibility condition whereby the total entropy does not…
One of the fundamental questions in the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics is the role played by coherence in energetic processes that occur at the quantum level. Here, we address this issue by investigating two different quantum…
We take the perspective of open quantum systems and examine from their nonequilibrium dynamics the conditions when the physical quantities, their relations and the laws of thermodynamics become well defined and viable for quantum many body…