G. A. Weiderpass | Searcharxiv

arXiv2020

Exact Solution for the Heat Conductance in Harmonic Chains

We present an exact solution for the heat conductance along a harmonic chain connecting two reservoirs at different temperatures. In this model, the end points correspond to Brownian particles with different damping coefficients. Such analytical expression for the heat conductance covers its behavior from mesoscopic to very long one-dimensional quantum chains, and validates the ballistic nature of the heat transport in the latter example. This implies the absence of the Fourier law for classical and quantum harmonic chains. We also provide a thorough analysis of the normal modes of system which helps us to satisfactorily interpret these results.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

von Neumann entropy and the entropy production of a damped harmonic oscillator

In this paper we analyze the entropy and entropy production of a non-isolated quantum system described within the quantum Brownian motion framework. This is a very general and paradigmatic framework for describing non-isolated quantum systems and can be used in any kind of coupling regime. We start by considering the application of von Neumann entropy to an arbitrarily damped quantum system making use of its reduced density operator. We argue that this application is formally valid and develop a path integral method to evaluate that quantity analytically. We apply this technique to a harmonic oscillator in contact with a heat bath and obtain an exact form for its entropy. Then we study the entropy production of this system and enlighten important characteristics of its thermodynamical behavior on the pure quantum realm and also address their transition to the classical limit.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗