Related papers: Nonresonant two-level transitions: Lessons from qu…
We investigate the relationship between ground-state (zero-temperature) quantum phase transitions in systems with variable Hamiltonian parameters and classical (temperature-driven) phase transitions in standard thermodynamics. An analogy is…
In this review the debated rapport between thermodynamics and quantum mechanics is addressed in the framework of the theory of periodically-driven/controlled quantum-thermodynamic machines. The basic model studied here is that of a…
We review the non-zero temperature relaxational dynamics of quantum systems near a zero temperature, second-order phase transition. We begin with the quantum Ising chain, for which universal and exact results for the relaxation rates can be…
Quantum energy transfer in a chain of two-level (spin) units, connected at its ends to two thermal reservoirs, is analyzed in two limits: (i) In the off-resonance regime, when the characteristic subsystem excitation energy gaps are larger…
We study an array of two-level systems arranged on a lattice and illuminated by an external plane wave which drives a dipolar transition between the two energy levels. In this set up, the two-level systems are coupled by dipolar…
The approach to equilibrium of a nondegenerate quantum system involves the damping of microscopic population oscillations, and, additionally, the bringing about of detailed balance, i.e. the achievement of the correct Boltzmann factors…
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…
A quantum system in contact with a heat bath undergoes quantum transitions between energy levels upon absorption or emission of energy quanta by the bath. These transitions remain virtual unless the energy of the system is measured…
A unified view on macroscopic thermodynamics and quantum transport is presented. Thermodynamic processes with an exchange of energy between two systems necessarily involve the flow of other balanceable quantities. These flows are first…
Navigating the intricacies of thermal management at the quantum scale is a challenge in the pursuit of advanced nanoscale technologies. To this extent, theoretical frameworks introducing minimal models mirroring the functionality of…
Electrical circuits with transient elements can be good examples of systems where non--steady irreversible processes occur, so in the same way as a steady state energy converter, we use the formal construction of the first order…
Thermal light engineering is a field of considerable interest and potential. We study quantum light-matter interactions in a one-dimensional photonic crystal with two-level atoms as the active medium, replacing classical oscillators in…
We develop an exact quantum thermodynamic description for a noninteracting nanoscale steady state that couples strongly with multiple reservoirs. It is demonstrated that there exists a steady-state extension of the thermodynamic function…
The paradigm of the two-level atom is revisited and its perturbative analysis is discussed in view of the principle of duality in perturbation theory. The models we consider are a two-level atom and an ensemble of two-level atoms both…
We consider a generalization of the spin-boson model in which two different two-level systems are coupled to an oscillator, under conditions where the oscillator energy is much less than the two-level system energies, and where the…
Resonance energy transfer has become an indispensable experimental tool for single-molecule and single-cell biophysics. Its physical underpinnings, however, are subtle: It involves a discrete jump of excitation from one molecule to another,…
We investigate the energy distribution and quantum thermodynamics in periodically driven polaritonic systems in the stationary state at room temperature. Specifically, we consider an exciton strongly coupled to a harmonic oscillator and…
Quantum systems of indistinguishable particles are commonly described using the formalism of second quantisation, which relies on the assumption that any admissible quantum state must be either symmetric or anti-symmetric under particle…
Within the rigorous axiomatic framework for the description of quantum mechanical systems with a large number of degrees of freedom, we show that the nonequilibrium steady state, constructed in the quasifree fermionic system corresponding…
We study the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of a single particle with two available energy levels, in contact with a classical (Maxwell-Boltzmann) or quantum (Bose-Einstein) heat bath. The particle can undergo transitions between the levels…