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arXiv · 1707.05771

Thermodynamic limits for optomechanical systems with conservative potentials

Stephen Ragole·Haitan Xu·John Lawall·Jacob M. Taylor
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Abstract

The mechanical force from light -- radiation pressure -- provides an intrinsic nonlinear interaction. Consequently, optomechanical systems near their steady state, such as the canonical optical spring, can display non-analytic behavior as a function of external parameters. This non-analyticity, a key feature of thermodynamic phase transitions, suggests that there could be an effective thermodynamic description of optomechanical systems. Here we explicitly define the thermodynamic limit for optomechanical systems and derive a set of sufficient constraints on the system parameters as the mechanical system grows large. As an example, we show how these constraints can be satisfied in a system with $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry and derive a free energy, allowing us to characterize this as an equilibrium phase transition.

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BibTeXRIS

Stephen Ragole, Haitan Xu, John Lawall, Jacob M. Taylor. 2017-07-18. Thermodynamic limits for optomechanical systems with conservative potentials. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.96.184106

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