Related papers: Work Sum Rule for Open Quantum Systems

We consider discrete quantum systems coupled to finite environments which may possibly consist of only one particle in contrast to the standard baths which usually consist of continua of oscillators, spins, etc. We find that such finite…

Statistical mechanics is founded on the assumption that all accessible configurations of a system are equally likely. This requires dynamics that explore all states over time, known as ergodic dynamics. In isolated quantum systems, however,…

The minimal-coupling quantum heat engine is a thermal machine consisting of an explicit energy storage system, heat baths, and a working body, which alternatively couples to subsystems through discrete strokes -- energy-conserving two-body…

We introduce an alternative way to understand the decomposition of a quantum system into interacting parts and show that it is natural in several physical models. This enables us to define a reduced density operator for a working system…

Open quantum systems are studied from the thermodynamical point of view unifying the principle of maximum informational entropy and the hypothesis of relaxation times hierarchy. The result of the unification is a non-Markovian and local in…

A quantum engine fueled by quantum measurement is proposed. Under the finite-time adiabatic driving regime, the conversion of heat to work is realized without the compression and expansion of the resonance frequency. The work output,…

We report model calculations of the time-dependent internal energy and entropy for a single quasi-free massive quantum particle at a constant temperature. We show that the whole process started from a fully coherent quantum state to…

This paper considers work extraction from a quantum system to a work storage system (or weight) following reference [1]. An alternative approach is here developed that relies on the comparison of subspace dimensions without a need to…

Understanding thermodynamics far from equilibrium at the quantum scale remains a fundamental challenge, particularly in the presence of quantum coherence. Here we develop a first-principles framework for nonequilibrium quantum…

With the development of quantum thermodynamics it has been shown that relaxation to thermal equilibrium and with it the concept of heat flux may emerge directly from quantum mechanics. This happens for a large class of quantum systems if…

We present a quantum algorithm to prepare the thermal Gibbs state of interacting quantum systems. This algorithm sets a universal upper bound D^alpha on the thermalization time of a quantum system, where D is the system's Hilbert space…

We propose a novel approach to define and measure the statistics of work, internal energy and dissipated heat in a driven quantum system. In our framework the presence of a physical detector arises naturally and work and its statistics can…

An interesting class of physical systems, including those associated with life, demonstrates the ability to hold thermalization at bay and perpetuate states of high free-energy compared to a local environment. In this work, we study quantum…

We consider continuously monitored quantum systems and introduce definitions of work and heat along individual quantum trajectories that are valid for coherent superpositions of energy eigenstates. We use these quantities to extend the…

A microscopic understanding of the thermodynamic entropy in quantum systems has been a mystery ever since the invention of quantum mechanics. In classical physics, this entropy is believed to be the logarithm of the volume of phase space…

We derive a systematic approach to the thermodynamics of quantum systems based on the underlying symmetry groups. We show that the entropy of a system can be described in terms of group-theoretical quantities that are largely independent of…

Schr\"odinger suggested that thermodynamical functions cannot be based on the gratuitous allegation that quantum-mechanical levels (typically the orthogonal eigenstates of the Hamiltonian operator) are the only allowed states for a quantum…

Using a central limit theorem for arrays of interacting quantum systems, we give analytical expressions for the density of states and the partition function at finite temperature of such a system, which are valid in the limit of infinite…

An explicit expression for the temperature of an open two-level quantum system is obtained as a function of local properties, under the hypothesis of weak interaction with the environment. This temperature is defined for both equilibrium…

We provide a characterization of energy in the form of exchanged heat and work between two interacting constituents of a closed, bipartite, correlated quantum system. By defining a binding energy we derive a consistent quantum formulation…