arXiv subjects

Massimiliano Esposito

Publications and source records attributed to Massimiliano Esposito.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Entropy production as correlation between system and reservoir

We derive an exact (classical and quantum) expression for the entropy production of a finite system placed in contact with one or several finite reservoirs each of which is initially described by a canonical equilibrium distribution. Whereas the total entropy of system plus reservoirs is conserved, we show that the system entropy production is always positive and is a direct measure of the system-reservoir correlations and/or entanglements. Using an exactly solvable quantum model, we illustrate our novel interpretation of the Second Law in a microscopically reversible finite-size setting, with strong coupling between system and reservoirs. With this model, we also explicitly show the approach of our exact formulation to the standard description of irreversibility in the limit of a large reservoir.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Reaching optimal efficiencies using nano-sized photo-electric devices

We study the thermodynamic efficiency of a nano-sized photo-electric device and show that at maximum power output, the efficiency is bounded from above by a result closely related to the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency. We find that this upper bound can be attained in nano-sized devices displaying strong coupling between the generated electron flux and the incoming photon flux from the sun.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Extracting chemical energy by growing disorder: Efficiency at maximum power

We consider the efficiency of chemical energy extraction from the environment by the growth of a copolymer made of two constituent units in the entropy-driven regime. We show that the thermodynamic nonlinearity associated with the information processing aspect is responsible for a branching of the system properties such as power, speed of growth, entropy production, and efficiency, with varying affinity. The standard linear thermodynamics argument which predicts an efficiency of 1/2 at maximum power is inappropriate because the regime of maximum power is located either outside of the linear regime or on a separate bifurcated branch, and because the usual thermodynamic force is not the natural variable for this optimization.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Pulse propagation in tapered granular chains: An analytic study

We study pulse propagation in one-dimensional tapered chains of spherical granules. Analytic results for the pulse velocity and other pulse features are obtained using a binary collision approximation. Comparisons with numerical results show that the binary collision approximation provides quantitatively accurate analytic results for these chains.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2009

Nonequilibrium fluctuations, fluctuation theorems, and counting statistics in quantum systems

Fluctuation theorems (FTs), which describe some universal properties of nonequilibrium fluctuations, are examined from a quantum perspective and derived by introducing a two-point measurement on the system. FTs for closed and open systems driven out of equilibrium by an external time-dependent force, and for open systems maintained in a nonequilibrium steady-state by nonequilibrium boundary conditions, are derived from a unified approach. Applications to fermion and boson transport in quantum junctions are discussed. Quantum master equations and Green's functions techniques for computing the energy and particle statistics are presented.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Universality of efficiency at maximum power

We investigate the efficiency of power generation by thermo-chemical engines. For strong coupling between the particle and heat flows and in the presence of a left-right symmetry in the system, we demonstrate that the efficiency at maximum power displays universality up to quadratic order in the deviation from equilibrium. A maser model is presented to illustrate our argument.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Transport in molecular states language: Generalized quantum master equation approach

A simple scheme capable of treating transport in molecular junctions in the language of many-body states is presented. An ansatz in Liouville space similar to generalized Kadanoff-Baym approximation is introduced in order to reduce exact equation-of-motion for Hubbard operator to quantum master equation (QME)-like expression. A dressing with effective Liouville space propagation similar to standard diagrammatic dressing approach is proposed. The scheme is compared to standard QME approach, and its applicability to transport calculations is discussed within numerical examples.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Thermoelectric efficiency at maximum power in a quantum dot

We identify the operational conditions for maximum power of a nanothermoelectric engine consisting of a single quantum level embedded between two leads at different temperatures and chemical potentials. The corresponding thermodynamic efficiency agrees with the Curzon-Ahlborn expression up to quadratic terms in the gradients, supporting the thesis of universality beyond linear response.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Single-electron counting spectroscopy: simulation study of porphyrin in a molecular junction

Electron counting of a single porphyrin molecule between two electrodes shows a crossover from sub- to super-Poissonian statistics as the bias voltage is scanned. This is attributed to the simultaneous activation of states with electron transfer rates spanning several orders of magnitude. Time-series analysis of consecutive single electron transfer events reveals fast and slow transport channels, which are not resolved by the average current alone.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Interference effects in the counting statistics of electron transfers through a double quantum dot

We investigate the effect of quantum interferences and Coulomb interaction on the counting statistics of electrons crossing a double quantum dot in a parallel geometry using a generating function technique based on a quantum master equation approach. The skewness and the average residence time of electrons in the dots are shown to be the quantities most sensitive to interferences and Coulomb coupling. The joint probabilities of consecutive electron transfer processes show characteristic temporal oscillations due to interference. The steady-state fluctuation theorem which predicts a universal connection between the number of forward and backward transfer events is shown to hold even in the presence of Coulomb coupling and interference.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Continuous time random walk for open systems: Fluctuation theorems and counting statistics

We consider continuous time random walks (CTRW) for open systems that exchange energy and matter with multiple reservoirs. Each waiting time distribution (WTD) for times between steps is characterized by a positive parameter a, which is set to a=1 if it decays at least as fast as t^{-2} at long times and therefore has a finite first moment. A WTD with a<1 decays as t^{-a-1}. A fluctuation theorem for the trajectory quantity R, defined as the logarithm of the ratio of the probability of a trajectory and the probability of the time reversed trajectory, holds for any CTRW. However, R can be identified as a trajectory entropy change only if the WTDs have a=1 and satisfy separability (also called "direction time independence"). For nonseparable WTDs with a=1, R can only be identified as a trajectory entropy change at long times, and a fluctuation theorem for the entropy change then only holds at long times. For WTDs with 0<a<1 no meaningful fluctuation theorem can be derived. We also show that the (experimentally accessible) n'th moments of the energy and matter transfers between the system and a given reservoir grow as t^{n a} at long times.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2007

Quantum master equation for the microcanonical ensemble

By using projection superoperators, we present a new derivation of the quantum master equation first obtained by the Authors in Phys. Rev. E {\bf 68}, 066112 (2003). We show that this equation describes the dynamics of a subsystem weakly interacting with an environment of finite heat capacity and initially described by a microcanonical distribution. After applying the rotating wave approximation to the equation, we show that the subsystem dynamics preserves the energy of the total system (subsystem plus environment) and tends towards an equilibrium state which corresponds to equipartition inside the energy shell of the total system. For infinite heat capacity environments, this equation reduces to the Redfield master equation for a subsystem interacting with a thermostat. These results should be of particular interest to describe relaxation and decoherence in nanosystems where the environment can have a finite number of degrees of freedom and the equivalence between the microcanonical and the canonical ensembles is thus not always guaranteed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2007

Entropy fluctuation theorems in driven open systems: application to electron counting statistics

The total entropy production generated by the dynamics of an externally driven systems exchanging energy and matter with multiple reservoirs and described by a master equation is expressed as the sum of three contributions, each corresponding to a distinct mechanism for bringing the system out of equilibrium: nonequilibrium initial conditions, external driving, and breaking of detailed balance. We derive three integral fluctuation theorems (FTs) for these contributions and show that they lead to the following universal inequality: an arbitrary nonequilibrium transformation always produces a change in the total entropy production greater or equal than the one produced if the transformation is done very slowly (adiabatically). Previously derived fluctuation theorems can be recovered as special cases. We show how these FTs can be experimentally tested by performing the counting statistics of the electrons crossing a single level quantum dot coupled to two reservoirs with externally varying chemical potentials. The entropy probability distributions are simulated for driving protocols ranging from the adiabatic to the sudden switching limit.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2007

Fluctuation theorem for counting-statistics in electron transport through quantum junctions

We demonstrate that the probability distribution of the net number of electrons passing through a quantum system in a junction obeys a steady-state fluctuation theorem (FT) which can be tested experimentally by the full counting statistics (FCS) of electrons crossing the lead-system interface. The FCS is calculated using a many-body quantum master equation (QME) combined with a Liouville space generating function (GF) formalism. For a model of two coupled quantum dots, we show that the FT becomes valid for long binning times and provide an estimate for the finite-time deviations. We also demonstrate that the Mandel (or Fano) parameter associated with the incoming or outgoing electron transfers show subpoissonian (antibunching) statistics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Quantum master equation for electron transport through quantum dots and single molecules

A quantum master equation (QME) is derived for the many-body density matrix of an open current-carrying system weakly coupled to two metal leads. The dynamics and the steady-state properties of the system for arbitrary bias are studied using projection operator techniques, which keep track of number of electrons in the system. We show that coherences between system states with different number of electrons, n, (Fock space coherences) do not contribute to the transport to second order in system-lead coupling. However, coherences between states with the same n may effect transport properties when the damping rate is of the order or faster then the system Bohr frequencies. For large bias, when all the system many-body states lie between the chemical potentials of the two leads, we recover previous results. In the rotating wave approximation (when the damping is slow compared to the Bohr frequencies of the system), the dynamics of populations and the coherences in the system eigenbasis are decoupled. The QME then reduces to a birth and death master equation for populations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2006

Fluctuation theorems for quantum master equations

A quantum fluctuation theorem for a driven quantum subsystem interacting with its environment is derived based solely on the assumption that its reduced density matrix obeys a closed evolution equation i.e. a quantum master equation (QME). Quantum trajectories and their associated entropy, heat and work appear naturally by transforming the QME to a time dependent Liouville space basis that diagonalizes the instantaneous reduced density matrix of the subsystem. A quantum integral fluctuation theorem, a steady state fluctuation theorem and the Jarzynski relation are derived in a similar way as for classical stochastic dynamics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2005

Overdamping by weakly coupled environments

A quantum system weakly interacting with a fast environment usually undergoes a relaxation with complex frequencies whose imaginary parts are damping rates quadratic in the coupling to the environment, in accord with Fermi's ``Golden Rule''. We show for various models (spin damped by harmonic-oscillator or random-matrix baths, quantum diffusion, quantum Brownian motion) that upon increasing the coupling up to a critical value still small enough to allow for weak-coupling Markovian master equations, a new relaxation regime can occur. In that regime, complex frequencies lose their real parts such that the process becomes overdamped. Our results call into question the standard belief that overdamping is exclusively a strong coupling feature.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Exactly solvable model of quantum diffusion

We study the transport property of diffusion in a finite translationally invariant quantum subsystem described by a tight-binding Hamiltonian with a single energy band and interacting with its environment by a coupling in terms of correlation functions which are delta-correlated in space and time. For weak coupling, the time evolution of the subsystem density matrix is ruled by a quantum master equation of Lindblad type. Thanks to the invariance under spatial translations, we can apply the Bloch theorem to the subsystem density matrix and exactly diagonalize the time evolution superoperator to obtain the complete spectrum of its eigenvalues, which fully describe the relaxation to equilibrium. Above a critical coupling which is inversely proportional to the size of the subsystem, the spectrum at given wavenumber contains an isolated eigenvalue describing diffusion. The other eigenvalues rule the decay of the populations and quantum coherences with decay rates which are proportional to the intensity of the environmental noise. On the other hand, an analytical expression is obtained for the dispersion relation of diffusion. The diffusion coefficient is proportional to the square of the width of the energy band and inversely proportional to the intensity of the environmental noise because diffusion results from the perturbation of quantum tunneling by the environmental fluctuations in this model. Diffusion disappears below the critical coupling.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗