Thermodynamics And Synchronization In Open Quantum Systems

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 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 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.

This extended tutorial essay views thermodynamics as an incomplete description of quantum systems with many degrees of freedom. The main goal is to show that the approach to equilibrium - with equilibrium characterized by maximum ignorance about the open system of interest - neither requires that many particles nor is it a precise way of partitioning relevant for the salient features of equilibrium and equilibration. Moreover it is indeed quantum effects that are at work in bringing about universal thermodynamic behaviour of modestly sized open systems. Von Neumann`s concept of entropy thus proves to be much more widely useful than something to be feared, and far beyond truly macroscopic systems in equilibrium.

Quantum Thermodynamics is a novel research field which explores the emergence of thermodynamics from quantum theory and addresses thermodynamic phenomena which appear in finite-size, non-equilibrium and finite-time contexts. Blending together elements from open quantum systems, statistical mechanics, quantum many-body physics, and quantum information theory, it pinpoints thermodynamic advantages and barriers emerging from genuinely quantum properties such as quantum coherence and correlations. Owing to recent experimental efforts, the field is moving quickly towards practical applications, such as nano-scale heat devices, or thermodynamically optimised protocols for emergent quantum technologies. Starting from the basics, the present volume reviews some of the most recent developments, as well as some of the most important open problems in quantum thermodynamics. The self-contained chapters provide concise and topical introductions to researchers who are new to the field. Experts will find them useful as a reference for the current state-of-the-art. In six sections the book covers topics such as quantum heat engines and refrigerators, fluctuation theorems, the emergence of thermodynamic equilibrium, thermodynamics of strongly coupled systems, as well as various information theoretic approaches including Landauer's principle and thermal operations. It concludes with a section dedicated to recent quantum thermodynamics experiments and experimental prospects on a variety of platforms ranging from cold atoms to photonic systems, and NV centres.

This thesis presents several related advances in the field of nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics. The central result is an ingenious proof that the local temperature and voltage measurement in a nonequilibrium system of fermions exists and is unique, placing the concept of local temperature on a rigorous mathematical footing for the first time. As an intermediate step, a proof of the positivity of the Onsager matrix of linear response theory is given -- a statement of the second law of thermodynamics that had lacked an independent proof for 85 years. A new experimental method to measure the local temperature of an electron system using purely electrical techniques is also proposed, which could enable improvements to the spatial resolution of thermometry by several orders of magnitude. Finally, a new mathematically-exact definition for the local entropy of a quantum system in a nonequilibrium steady state is derived. Several different measures of the local entropy are discussed, relating to the thermodynamics of processes that a local observer with varying degrees of information about the microstates of the system could carry out, and it is shown that they satisfy a hierarchy of inequalities. Proofs of the third law of thermodynamics for generic open quantum systems are presented, taking into account the entropic contribution due to localized states. Appropriately normalized (per-state) local entropies are defined and are used to quantify the departure from local equilibrium.

The second volume of this book series presents a foundation for describing electron-field interactions, the basic elements involved in open quantum theory, the dissipative couplings of the active elements, the quantum injection dot electrons and coherent electromagnetic fields produced by crystal lattice vibrations. A microscopic description of the systems of interest is used to explain a number of structural models that describe electron arrangement and mechanics in such systems. The explanation of these models depends on a number of numerical parameters and calculations which have been explicitly discussed in detail. Readers will gain a better understanding of open quantum systems and energy conversion in semiconductor devices. Theoretical calculations presented in this book can also be compared with experimental data from prior experiments. The volume is also supplemented by an adequate bibliography which provides useful references. This book is a handy text on advanced quantum theory for advanced physics and electronics students and researchers.

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."