Thermodynamics And Control Of Open Quantum Systems

The control of open quantum systems and their associated quantum thermodynamic properties is a topic of growing importance in modern quantum physics and quantum chemistry research. This unique and self-contained book presents a unifying perspective of such open quantum systems, first describing the fundamental theory behind these formidably complex systems, before introducing the models and techniques that are employed to control their quantum thermodynamics processes. A detailed discussion of real quantum devices is also covered, including quantum heat engines and quantum refrigerators. The theory of open quantum systems is developed pedagogically, from first principles, and the book is accessible to graduate students and researchers working in atomic physics, quantum information, condensed matter physics, and quantum chemistry.

This book explores some of the connections between dissipative and quantum effects from a theoretical point of view. It focuses on three main topics: the relation between synchronization and quantum correlations, the thermodynamical properties of fluctuations, and the performance of quantum thermal machines. Dissipation effects have a profound impact on the behavior and properties of quantum systems, and the unavoidable interaction with the surrounding environment, with which systems continuously exchange information, energy, angular momentum and matter, is ultimately responsible for decoherence phenomena and the emergence of classical behavior. However, there is a wide intermediate regime in which the interplay between dissipative and quantum effects gives rise to a plethora of rich and striking phenomena that has just started to be understood. In addition, the recent breakthrough techniques in controlling and manipulating quantum systems in the laboratory have made this phenomenology accessible in experiments and potentially applicable.

The theory of open quantum systems is developed from first principles, and a detailed discussion of real quantum devices is also covered. This unique and self-contained book is accessible to graduate students and researchers working in atomic physics, quantum information, condensed matter physics, and quantum chemistry.

This book discusses the elementary ideas and tools needed for open quantum systems in a comprehensive manner. The emphasis is given to both the traditional master equation as well as the functional (path) integral approaches. It discusses the basic paradigm of open systems, the harmonic oscillator and the two-level system in detail. The traditional topics of dissipation and tunneling, as well as the modern field of quantum information, find a prominent place in the book. Assuming a basic background of quantum and statistical mechanics, this book will help readers familiarize with the basic tools of open quantum systems. Open quantum systems is the study of quantum dynamics of the system of interest, taking into account the effects of the ambient environment. It is ubiquitous in the sense that any system could be envisaged to be surrounded by its environment which could naturally exert its influence on it. Open quantum systems allows for a systematic understanding of irreversible processes such as decoherence and dissipation, of the essence in order to have a correct understanding of realistic quantum dynamics and also for possible implementations. This would be essential for a possible development of quantum technologies.

Advanced research reference examining the closed and open quantum systems Control of Quantum Systems: Theory and Methods provides an insight into the modern approaches to control of quantum systems evolution, with a focus on both closed and open (dissipative) quantum systems. The topic is timely covering the newest research in the field, and presents and summarizes practical methods and addresses the more theoretical aspects of control, which are of high current interest, but which are not covered at this level in other text books. The quantum control theory and methods written in the book are the results of combination of macro-control theory and microscopic quantum system features. As the development of the nanotechnology progresses, the quantum control theory and methods proposed today are expected to be useful in real quantum systems within five years. The progress of the quantum control theory and methods will promote the progress and development of quantum information, quantum computing, and quantum communication. Equips readers with the potential theories and advanced methods to solve existing problems in quantum optics/information/computing, mesoscopic systems, spin systems, superconducting devices, nano-mechanical devices, precision metrology. Ideal for researchers, academics and engineers in quantum engineering, quantum computing, quantum information, quantum communication, quantum physics, and quantum chemistry, whose research interests are quantum systems control.

Over the years enormous effort was invested in proving ergodicity, but for a number of reasons, con?dence in the fruitfulness of this approach has waned. — Y. Ben-Menahem and I. Pitowsky [1] Abstract The basic motivation behind the present text is threefold: To give a new explanation for the emergence of thermodynamics, to investigate the interplay between quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, and to explore possible ext- sions of the common validity range of thermodynamics. Originally, thermodynamics has been a purely phenomenological science. Early s- entists (Galileo, Santorio, Celsius, Fahrenheit) tried to give de?nitions for quantities which were intuitively obvious to the observer, like pressure or temperature, and studied their interconnections. The idea that these phenomena might be linked to other ?elds of physics, like classical mechanics, e.g., was not common in those days. Such a connection was basically introduced when Joule calculated the heat equ- alent in 1840 showing that heat was a form of energy, just like kinetic or potential energy in the theory of mechanics. At the end of the 19th century, when the atomic theory became popular, researchers began to think of a gas as a huge amount of bouncing balls inside a box.

This monograph, "Non-linear Cooperative Effects in Open Quantum Systems: Entanglement and Second Order Coherence" is dedicated to the large auditory of specialists interested in the modern approaches in quantum open systems, cooperative phenomena between excited atoms and the field of the non-linear interaction. Special attention is dedicated to the problems of non-linear interaction with vacuum fields and thermostat with finite temperature, but quantum aspects of laser generation of light in non-linear interaction with finite numbers of cavity modes remain the center of attention. In many situations, the limit to the traditional cooperative phenomena of open quantum systems and thermodynamics are taken into consideration. As the book contains the class of non-linear effects of generations of the particle in such cooperative phenomena, the author's aim was to describe squeezed problems and affect entanglement between the generation photons and phonons in cooperative processes. The new phenomenon of cooperative emission in the single- and two-quantum processes are carefully described for large audiences of specialists in the field of quantum optics and condensed matter physics, chemistry and biology.

Major advances in the quantum theory of macroscopic systems, in combination with stunning experimental achievements, have brightened the field and brought it to the attention of the general community in natural sciences. Today, working knowledge of dissipative quantum mechanics is an essential tool for many physicists. This book OCo originally published in 1990 and republished in 1999 as an enlarged second edition OCo delves much deeper than ever before into the fundamental concepts, methods, and applications of quantum dissipative systems, including the most recent developments. In this third edition, 26 chapters from the second edition contain additional material and several chapters are completely rewritten. It deals with the phenomena and theory of decoherence, relaxation, and dissipation in quantum mechanics that arise from the interaction with the environment. In so doing, a general path integral description of equilibrium thermodynamics and nonequilibrium dynamics is developed. Sample Chapter(s). Introduction (262 KB). Contents: General Theory of Open Quantum Systems; Few Sample Applications; Quantum Statistical Decay; The Dissipative Two-State System; The Dissipative Multi-State System. Readership: Advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers in quantum-statistical and condensed matter physics, quantum/classical mechanics, quantum information and computation, and quantum optics."