arXiv · quant-ph/0312214
Existence of temperature on the nanoscale
Abstract
We consider a regular chain of quantum particles with nearest neighbour interactions in a canonical state with temperature $T$. We analyse the conditions under which the state factors into a product of canonical density matrices with respect to groups of $n$ particles each and under which these groups have the same temperature $T$. In quantum mechanics the minimum group size $n_{min}$ depends on the temperature $T$, contrary to the classical case. We apply our analysis to a harmonic chain and find that $n_{min} = const.$ for temperatures above the Debye temperature and $n_{min} \propto T^{-3}$ below.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Michael Hartmann, Guenter Mahler, Ortwin Hess. 2004-09-08. Existence of temperature on the nanoscale. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.93.080402
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.