Quantum Equilibration under Constraints and Transport Balance

Gernot Schaller

doi:10.1103/physreve.83.031111

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arXiv · 1010.3094

Quantum Equilibration under Constraints and Transport Balance

Gernot Schaller

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Abstract

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 inverse temperature $\beta$. We generalize this to systems where there exists a conserved quantity (e.g., the total particle number), where for a bath characterized by inverse temperature $\beta$ and chemical potential $\mu$ we find equilibration of both temperature and chemical potential. For couplings to multiple baths held at different temperatures and different chemical potentials, we identify a class of systems that equilibrates according to a single hypothetical average but in general non-thermal bath, which may be exploited to generate desired non-thermal states. Under special circumstances the stationary state may be again be described by a unique Boltzmann factor. These results are illustrated by several examples.

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BibTeX RIS

Gernot Schaller. 2010-10-15. Quantum Equilibration under Constraints and Transport Balance. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.83.031111

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