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We illustrate recent results concerning the validity of the work fluctuation theorem in open quantum systems [M. Campisi, P. Talkner, and P. H\"{a}nggi, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 102}, 210401 (2009)], by applying them to a solvable model of an…
The use of statistical methods to model gravitational systems is crucial to physics practice, but the extent to which thermodynamics and statistical mechanics genuinely apply to these systems is a contentious issue. This paper provides new…
Non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics is essential to describe new devices that operate far from the regime where the usual thermodynamical laws are obeyed. When quantum fluctuations dominate, defining and measuring work and heat, two…
We study the classical non-equilibrium statistical mechanics of scalar field theory on the lattice. Steady states are analyzed near and far from equilibrium. The bulk thermal conductivity is computed, including its temperature dependence.…
Quantum criticality provides an important route to revealing universal non-equilibrium behaviour. A canonical example of a quantum critical point is the Bose-Hubbard model, which we study under the application of an electric field. A…
Various quantum systems are considered as the working substance for the analysis of quantum heat cycles and quantum refrigerators. The ongoing technological challenge is how efficiently can a heat engine convert thermal energy to mechanical…
Quantum simulation has become a promising avenue of research that allows one to simulate and gain insight into the models of High Energy Physics whose experimental realizations are either complicated or inaccessible with current technology.…
In the classical world, temperature is a measure of how hot or cold a physical object is. We never find a physical system which can be both hot and cold at the same time. Here, we show that for a quantum system, it is possible to have…
Absolute temperature, the fundamental temperature scale in thermodynamics, is usually bound to be positive. Under special conditions, however, negative temperatures - where high-energy states are more occupied than low-energy states - are…
In this work, we study the pairing Hamiltonian with four particles at finite temperatures on a quantum simulator and a superconducting quantum computer. The excited states are obtained by the variational quantum deflation (VQD). The…
Quantum thermalization describes how closed quantum systems can effectively reach thermal equilibrium, resolving the apparent incongruity between the reversibility of Schr\"odinger's equation and the second law of thermodynamics. Despite…
Quantum systems are by their very nature fragile. The fundamental backaction on a state due to quantum measurement notwithstanding, there is also in practice often a destruction of the system itself due to the means of measurement. This…
Lack of knowledge about the detailed many-particle motion on the microscopic scale is a key issue in any theoretical description of a macroscopic experiment. For systems at or close to thermal equilibrium, statistical mechanics provides a…
A quantum analog of friction (understood as a completely positive, Markovian, translation-invariant and phenomenological model of dissipation) is known to be in odds with the detailed balance in the thermodynamic limit. We show that this is…
A central feature of quantum mechanics is the non-commutativity of operators used to describe physical observables. In this article, we present a critical analysis on the role of non-commutativity in quantum theory, focusing on its…
We discuss a simple toy model which allows, in a natural way, for deriving central facts from thermodynamics such as its fundamental laws, including Carnot's version of the second principle. Our viewpoint represents thermodynamic systems as…
Phase transitions are fundamental in nature. A small parameter change near a critical point leads to a qualitative change in system properties. Across a regular phase transition, the system remains in thermal equilibrium and, therefore,…
We discuss and motivate the form of the generator of a nonlinear quantum dynamical group 'designed' so as to accomplish a unification of quantum mechanics (QM) and thermodynamics. We call this nonrelativistic theory Quantum Thermodynamics…
A pair of two-level systems initially prepared in different thermal states and coupled to an external reversible work source, do not in general reach a common temperature at the end of a unitary work extraction process. We define an…
The unavoidable irreversible losses of power in a heat engine are found to be of quantum origin. Following thermodynamic tradition a model quantum heat engine operating by the Otto cycle is analyzed. The working medium of the model is…