Quantum Counterpart of Equipartition Theorem in Quadratic Systems

Abstract

The equipartition theorem is a fundamental law of classical statistical physics, which states that every degree of freedom contributes $k_{B}T/2$ to the energy, where $T$ is the temperature and $k_{B}$ is the Boltzmann constant. Recent studies have revealed the existence of a quantum version of the equipartition theorem. In the present work,we focus on how to obtain the quantum counterpart of the generalized equipartition theorem for arbitrary quadratic systems in which the multimode Brownian ocillators interact with multiple reservoirs at the same temperature. An alternative method of deriving the energy of the system is also discussed and compared with the result of the the quantum version of the equipartition theorem, after which we conclude that the latter is more reasonable. Our results can be viewed as an indispensable generalization of rencent works on a quantum version of the equipartition theorem.