Characterizing irreversibility in open quantum systems
Abstract
Irreversibility is a fundamental concept with important implications at many levels. It pinpoints the fundamental difference between the intrinsically reversible microscopic equations of motion and the unidirectional arrow of time that emerges at the macroscopic level. More pragmatically, a full quantification of the degree of irreversibility of a given process can help in the characterisation of the performance of thermo-machines operating at the quantum level. Here, we review the concept of entropy production, which is commonly intended as {\it the} measure of thermodynamic irreversibility of a process, pinpointing the features and shortcomings of its current formulation.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1806.08441,
title = {Characterizing irreversibility in open quantum systems},
author = {T. B. Batalhao and S. Gherardini and J. P. Santos and G. T. Landi and M. Paternostro},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1806.08441},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
8 pages, no figure, RevTeX4-1. To appear as a chapter of "Thermodynamics in the quantum regime - Recent Progress and Outlook", F. Binder, L. A. Correa, C. Gogolin, J. Anders, and G. Adesso eds., Springer International Publishing