Related papers: Friction as a consistent quantum-mechanical concep…
The theory of quantum thermodynamics investigates how the concepts of heat, work, and temperature can be carried over to the quantum realm, where fluctuations and randomness are fundamentally unavoidable. These lecture notes provide an…
We consider a linear Boltzmann equation that arises in a model for quantum friction. It describes a particle that is slowed down by the emission of bosons. We study the stochastic process generated by this Boltzmann equation and we show…
A sweep through a quantum phase transition by means of a time-dependent external parameter (e.g., pressure) entails non-equilibrium phenomena associated with a break-down of adiabaticity: At the critical point, the energy gap vanishes and…
The principle of microscopic reversibility is a fundamental element in the formulation of fluctuation relations and the Onsager reciprocal relations. As such, a clear description of whether and how this principle is adapted to the quantum…
Boundary effects in quantum mechanics are examined by considering a partition wall inserted at the centre of a harmonic oscillator system. We put an equal number of particles on both sides of the impenetrable wall keeping the system under…
Of indisputable relevance for non-equilibrium thermodynamics, fluctuations theorems have been generalized to the framework of quantum thermodynamics, with the notion of work playing a key role in such contexts. The typical approach consists…
The deterministic and time-reversal symmetric dynamics of isolated quantum systems is at odds with irreversible equilibration observed in generic thermodynamic systems. Standard approaches at a reconciliation employ subjective restrictions…
We present and discuss a master equation blueprint for a generic class of quantum measurement feedback based models of friction. A desired velocity-dependent friction force is realized on average by random repeated applications of unsharp…
The theory of open quantum systems plays a fundamental role in several scientific and technological disciplines, from quantum computing and information science to molecular electronics and quantum thermodynamics. Despite its widespread…
Quantum thermodynamics allows for the interconversion of quantum coherence and mechanical work. Quantum coherence is thus a potential physical resource for quantum machines. However, formulating a general nonequilibrium thermodynamics of…
It is known that temperature estimates of macroscopic systems in equilibrium are most precise when their energy fluctuations are large. However, for nanoscale systems deviations from standard thermodynamics arise due to their interactions…
We consider two spin-1/2 particles with isotropic Heisenberg interaction, as the working substance of a quantum heat engine. We observe a frictional effect on the adiabatic branches of the heat cycle, which arises due to an inhomogeneous…
The Casimir friction problem for a pair of dielectric particles in relative motion is analyzed, utilizing a microscopic model in which we start from statistical mechanics for harmonically oscillating particles at finite temperature moving…
Dissipative forces are ubiquitous and thus constitute an essential part of realistic physical theories. However, quantization of dissipation has remained an open challenge for nearly a century. We construct a quantum counterpart of…
Using the quantum Hamiltonian for a gravitational system with boundary, we find the partition function and derive the resulting thermodynamics. The Hamiltonian is the boundary term required by functional differentiability of the action for…
For a quantum system coupled to a heat bath environment the strong friction limit is studied starting from the exact path integral formulation. Generalizing the classical Smoluchowski limit to low temperatures a time evolution equation for…
An attempt toward the operational formulation of quantum thermodynamics is made by employing the recently proposed operations forming positive operator-valued measures for generating thermodynamic processes. The quantity of heat as well as…
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…
Friction in atomistic systems is usually described by the classical Prandtl-Tomlinson model suitable for capturing the dragging force of a nanoparticle in a periodic potential. Here we consider the quantum mechanical version of this model…
A new microcanonical equilibrium state is introduced for quantum systems with finite-dimensional state spaces. Equilibrium is characterised by a uniform distribution on a level surface of the expectation value of the Hamiltonian. The…