Related papers: Thermalization of quantum systems by finite baths
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…
We discuss a qubit weakly coupled to a finite-size heat bath (calorimeter) from the point of view of quantum thermodynamics. The energy deposited to this environment together with the state of the qubit provides a basis to analyze the heat…
We construct a finite bath with variable temperature for quantum thermodynamic simulations in which heat flows between a system $\mathcal{S}$ and the bath environment $\mathcal{E}$ in time evolution of an initial $\mathcal{SE}$ pure state.…
An open quantum system in contact with an infinite bath approaches equilibrium, while the state of the bath remains unchanged. If the bath is finite, the open system still relaxes to equilibrium, but it induces a dynamical evolution of the…
The consistent definition of the thermodynamic functions of small open quantum systems in contact with an environment in equilibrium with a heat bath has been the subject of many debates in the quantum community. In the present work we…
There is presently considerable interest in accurately simulating the evolution of open systems for which Markovian master equations fail. Examples are systems that are time-dependent and/or strongly damped. A number of elegant methods have…
A class of autonomous quantum heat baths satisfying the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) criteria is proposed. We show that such systems are expected to cause thermal relaxation of much smaller quantum systems coupled to one of…
Non-equilibrium states of quantum systems in contact with thermal baths help telling environments with different temperatures or different statistics apart. We extend these studies to a more generic problem that consists in discriminating…
Designing cooling protocols is believed to require knowledge of the system spectrum. In contrast, cooling in nature occurs whenever the system is coupled to a cold bath. How does nature know how to cool? A natural cold bath can be mimicked…
The emergence of statistical mechanics from quantum dynamics is a central problem in quantum many-body physics. Deriving observables aligned with the prediction of the canonical ensemble for a quantum system relies on the presence of a bath…
Experiments with trapped atomic gases have opened novel possibilities for studying the evolution of nonequilibrium finite quantum systems, which revived the necessity of reconsidering and developing the theory of such processes. This review…
For open quantum systems coupled to a thermal bath at inverse temperature $\beta$, it is well known that under the Born-, Markov-, and secular approximations the system density matrix will approach the thermal Gibbs state with the bath…
The evaluation of the specific heat of an open, damped quantum system is a subtle issue. One possible route is based on the thermodynamic partition function which is the ratio of the partition functions of system plus bath and of the bath…
A model for the thermodynamics of a quantum heat bath is introduced. Under the assumption that the bath molecules have finitely many degrees of freedom and are weakly interacting, we present a general derivation of the equation of state of…
Decoherence of a quantum state coupled to an exterior environment is at the foundation of our understanding of the emergence of classical behavior from the quantum world, but how does it emerge in a finite closed quantum system? Here this…
We consider thermalization of a microscopic quantum system by interaction with a thermal bath. Our interest is the minimal size the bath can have while still being able to thermalize the system. Within a specific thermalization scheme we…
In this article we argue that thermal reservoirs (baths) are potentially useful resources in processes involving atoms interacting with quantized electromagnetic fields and their applications to quantum technologies. One may try to suppress…
We discuss the problem of heat conduction in quantum spin chain models. To investigate this problem it is necessary to consider the finite open system connected to heat baths. We describe two different procedures to couple the system with…
Two identical finite quantum systems prepared initially at different temperatures, isolated from the environment, and subsequently brought into contact are demonstrated to relax towards Gibbs-like quasi-equilibrium states with a common…
It is known that the origin of the deviations from standard thermodynamics proceed from the strong coupling to the bath. Here, it is shown that these deviations are related to the power spectrum of the bath. Specifically, it is shown that…