arXiv subjects

Zhaoyu Fei

Publications and source records attributed to Zhaoyu Fei.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Boundary Time Crystals Beyond Mean-Field Theory: A Stroboscopic Rotating-Wave Approximation

Boundary time crystals are a class of exotic dissipative quantum phases that spontaneously break continuous time-translation symmetry in the thermodynamic limit of open quantum systems. In finite-size systems, the long-time evolution of boundary time crystals exhibits decaying oscillations that cannot be captured by widely used mean-field theory. To address this issue, we develop an effective approach called the stroboscopic rotating wave approximation, which provides a well-approximated state for the long-time evolution of boundary time crystals in the strongly driven regime. In this approach, the order parameter exhibits both a long-time decaying envelope governed by an effective Lindblad superoperator and short-time oscillations dominated by a reduced quantum dynamical semigroup. Our results reveal that the competition among dephasing processes along three directions induces persistent oscillations, marking the emergence of the boundary-time-crystal phase. We obtain the analytical expressions for the steady-state density operator, the oscillation period, and the decay rate of the order parameter when the coherent energy splitting exceeds the dissipation rate. Our work provides a beyond-mean-field tool for studying the dynamics of periodically driven open quantum systems and understanding the formation of time crystals.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Universal Scaling of the Minimum Error Probability in Qualification of Quantum States

Qualification of quantum states judges which of two sets of quantum states an unknown state lies in, where the two sets are labeled by two distinct parameter regions. We formulate this problem as a composite quantum hypothesis test and uncover universal scaling laws for the minimum error probability for $N$ copies. Taking polarization-direction qualification and purity qualification as examples, we show that the $N$-copy permutation symmetry and the geometric symmetries of the parameter regions identify the optimal measurements and the "worst pairwise states". The minimum error probability scales as $N^{-3/2}\exp(-Nξ)$ for disjoint regions and as $(NF)^{-1/2}$ for adjacent regions, where $ξ$ and $F$ are the quantum Chernoff divergence and quantum Fisher information associated with the "worst pairwise states", respectively. With the minimum error probability serving as an order parameter, the transition between the scaling behaviors becomes a second-order phase transition as $N\to\infty$. Our approach determines whether a quantum state belongs to a given set without full state tomography, thereby enabling qualification of large ensembles using finite samples.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Berry-Phase-Induced Chirality in Thermodynamics

Geometric phases are foundational to isolated quantum systems, yet their thermodynamic role in open systems remains unrevealed Developing a dissipative adiabatic perturbation expansion, we discover a Berry-phase-induced chiral work difference that survives decoherence. This chirality evolves from an interferometric thermodynamic Aharonov-Bohm effect in the unitary regime to a fringe-free signal in the dissipative regime. We illustrate this framework in a two-level system and assess its experimental feasibility. Our findings clarify the role of quantum geometry in the geometric formulation of thermodynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Optimal Estimation of Temperature in Finite-sized System

Temperature of a finite-sized system fluctuates due to the thermal fluctuations. However, a systematic mathematical framework for measuring or estimating the temperature is still underdeveloped. Here, we incorporate the estimation theory in statistical inference to estimate the temperature of a finite-sized system and propose optimal estimation based on the uniform minimum variance unbiased estimation. Treating the finite-sized system as a thermometer measuring the temperature of a heat reservoir, we demonstrate that different optimal estimation of parameters yield different formulas of entropy, e.g., optimal estimation of inverse temperature (or temperature) aligns with the Boltzmann entropy (or Gibbs entropy). The optimal estimation leads to a achievable energy-temperature uncertainty relation and exhibits sample-size dependence, coinciding with their counterparts in nanothermodynamics. The achievable bound and the non-Gaussian distribution of temperature enable experimental testing in finite-sized systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Quantum stochastic thermodynamics: A semiclassical theory in phase space

A formalism for quantum many-body systems is proposed through a semiclassical treatment in phase space, allowing us to establish a stochastic thermodynamics incorporating quantum statistics. Specifically, we utilize a stochastic Fokker-Planck equation as the dynamics at the mesoscopic level. Here, the noise term characterizing the fluctuation of the flux density accounts for the finite-$N$ effects of random collisions between the system and the reservoir. Accordingly, the stationary solution is a quasi-equilibrium state in a canonical system. We define stochastic thermodynamic quantities based on the trajectories of the phase-space distribution. The conservation law of energy, $H$ theorem and fluctuation theorems are therefore obtained. Our work sets an alternative formalism of quantum stochastic thermodynamics that is independent of the two-point measurement scheme. The numerous projective measurements of quantum systems are replaced by the sampling of the phase-space distribution, offering hope for experimental verifications in the future.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Temperature fluctuations in mesoscopic systems

We study temperature fluctuations in mesoscopic $N$-body systems undergoing non-equilibrium processes from the perspective of stochastic thermodynamics. By introducing a stochastic differential equation, we describe the evolution of the system's temperature during an isothermal process, with the noise term accounting for finite-size effects arising from random energy transfer between the system and the reservoir. Our analysis reveals that these fluctuations make the extensive quantities (in the thermodynamic limit) deviate from being extensive for consistency with the theory of equilibrium fluctuation. Moreover, we derive finite-size corrections to the Jarzynski equality, providing insights into how heat capacity influences such corrections. Also, our results indicate a possible violation of the principle of maximum work by an amount proportional to $N^{-1}$. Additionally, we examine the impact of temperature fluctuations in a finite-size quasi-static Carnot engine. We show that irreversible entropy production resulting from the temperature fluctuations of the working substance diminishes the average efficiency of the cycle as $η_{\rm{C}}-\left\langle η\right\rangle \sim N^{-1}$, highlighting the unattainability of the Carnot efficiency $η_{\rm{C}}$ for mesoscopic-scale heat engines even under the quasi-static limit

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

A Hydrodynamical Description of Bose Liquid with Fractional Exclusion Statistics

Hydrodynamical systems are usually taken as chaotic systems with fast relaxations. It is counter intuitive for "ideal" gas to have a hydrodynamical description. We find that a hydrodynamical model of one-dimensional $|Φ|^6$ theory shares the same ground state density profile, density-wave excitation, as well as the similar dynamical and statistical properties with the Calogero-Sutherland model in thermodynamic limit when their interaction strengths matches each other. The interaction strength g0 in the $|Φ|^6$theory is then the index of fractional statistics. Although the model is interacting in Bose liquid sense, but it shows integrability with periodical coherent evolution. We also discussed the fractional statistics emerges from the $|Φ|^6$ theory.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Many-body systems with SU(1,1) dynamical symmetry: from dynamics to thermodynamics based on the trace formula

For a quantum (many-body) system with dynamical symmetry described by a given Lie group, we study the trace of exponential operators with complex coefficients in one of the irreducible subspaces in terms of the boson realization. By using this approach, for compact groups, we obtain the result of the trace that is consistent with the well-known Weyl character formula. For non-compact groups (with SU(1,1) as an application), convergent condition of the trace is also obtained. This approach may be a powerful tool to study the thermodynamics of quantum (many-body) systems in equilibrium state or nonequilibrium processes.

math-ph↗

arXiv2021

A microscopic theory of Curzon-Ahlborn heat engine

Abstract The Curzon-Ahlborn (CA) efficiency, as the efficiency at the maximum power (EMP) of the endoreversible Carnot engine, has a significant impact on finite-time thermodynamics. However, the CA engine model is based on many assumptions. In the past few decades, although a lot of efforts have been made, a microscopic theory of the CA engine is still lacking. By adopting the method of the stochastic differential equation of energy, we formulate a microscopic theory of the CA engine realized with an underdamped Brownian particle in a class of non-harmonic potentials. This theory gives microscopic interpretation of all assumptions made by Curzon and Ahlborn, and thus puts the results about CA engine on a solid foundation. Also, based on this theory, we obtain analytical expressions of the power and the efficiency statistics for the Brownian CA engine. Our research brings new perspectives to experimental studies of finite-time microscopic heat engines featured with fluctuations.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Universal scaling of work statistics for quantum quenches

In this paper, we systematically study the work statistics for quantum phase transition. For a quantum system approached by an anisotropic conformal field theory near the critical point, the driving protocols is divided into three different regimes for different quench rates, which reflects the competition between the frozen time and the quench time scale. In each regime, we find universal scaling behaviors in work statistics (after renormalization). It is shown that the critical exponents are determined by the space-time dimension $d$, the dynamical critical exponent $z$, the correlation-length exponent $ν$, and the power-law protocols. These universal scalings in nonequilibrium process may be found in quantum phase transition by measuring the Loschmidt echo or the Ramsey interferometry.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Nonequilibrium Green's function's approach to the calculation of work statistics

The calculation of work distributions in a quantum many-body system is of significant importance and also of formidable difficulty in the field of nonequilibrium quantum statistical mechanics. To solve this problem, inspired by Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, we propose the contour-integral formulation of the work statistics. Based on this contour integral, we show how to do the perturbation expansion of the characteristic function of work (CFW) and obtain the approximate expression of the CFW to the second order of the work parameter for an arbitrary system under a perturbative protocol. We also demonstrate the validity of fluctuation theorems by utilizing the Kubo-Martin-Schwinger condition. Finally, we use noninteracting identical particles in a forced harmonic potential as an example to demonstrate the powerfulness of our approach.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Work statistics across a quantum phase transition

We investigate the statistics of the work performed during a quench across a quantum phase transition using the adiabatic perturbation theory. It is shown that all the cumulants of work exhibit universal scaling behavior analogous to the Kibble-Zurek scaling for the average density of defects. Two kinds of transformations are considered: quenches between two gapped phases in which a critical point is traversed, and quenches that end near the critical point. In contrast to the scaling behavior of the density of defects, the scaling behavior of the work cumulants are shown to be qualitatively different for these two kinds of quenches. However, in both cases the corresponding exponents are fully determined by the dimension of the system and the critical exponents of the transition, as in the traditional Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM). Thus, our study deepens our understanding about the nonequilibrium dynamics of a quantum phase transition by revealing the imprint of the KZM on the work statistics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Quantum corrections to the entropy and its application in the study of quantum Carnot engines

Entropy is one of the most basic concepts in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. The most widely used definition of statistical mechanical entropy for a quantum system is introduced by von Neumann. While in classical systems, the statistical mechanical entropy is defined by Gibbs. The relation between these two definitions of entropy is still not fully explored. In this work, we study this problem by employing the phase-space formulation of quantum mechanics. For those quantum states having well-defined classical counterparts, we study the quantum-classical correspondence and quantum corrections of the entropy. We expand the von Neumann entropy in powers of ${\hbar}$ by using the phase-space formulation, and the zeroth order term reproduces the Gibbs entropy. We also obtain the explicit expression of the quantum corrections of the entropy. Moreover, we find that for the thermodynamic equilibrium state, all terms odd in ${\hbar}$ are exactly zero. As an application, we derive quantum corrections for the net work extraction during a quantum Carnot cycle. Our results bring important insights to the understanding of quantum entropy and may have potential applications in the study of quantum heat engines.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Group-theoretical approach to the calculation of quantum work distribution

Usually the calculation of work distributions in an arbitrary nonequilibrium process in a quantum system, especially in a quantum many-body system is extremely cumbersome. For all quantum systems described by quadratic Hamiltonians, we invent a universal method for solving the work distribution of quantum systems in an arbitrary driving process by utilizing the group-representation theory. This method enables us to efficiently calculate work distributions where previous methods fail. In some specific models, such as the time-dependent harmonic oscillator, the dynamical Casimir effect, and the transverse XY model, the exact and analytical solutions of work distributions in an arbitrary nonequilibrium process are obtained. Our work initiates the study of quantum stochastic thermodynamics based on group-representation theory.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Path integral approach to the calculation of the characteristic function of work

Work statistics characterizes important features of a non-equilibrium thermodynamic process. But the calculation of the work statistics in an arbitrary non-equilibrium process is usually a cumbersome task. In this work, we study the work statistics in quantum systems by employing Feynman's path-integral approach. We derive the analytical work distributions of two prototype quantum systems. The results are proved to be equivalent to the results obtained based on Schrödinger's formalism. We also calculate the work distributions in their classical counterparts by employing the path-integral approach. Our study demonstrates the effectiveness of the path-integral approach to the calculation of work statistics in both quantum and classical thermodynamics, and brings important insights to the understanding of the trajectory work in quantum systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Quantum-classical correspondence of work distributions for initial states with quantum coherence

The standard definition of quantum fluctuating work is based on the two-projective energy measurement, which however does not apply to systems with initial quantum coherence because the first projective energy measurement destroys the initial coherence, and affects the subsequent evolution of the system. To address this issue, several alternative definitions, such as those based on the full counting statistics and the Margenau-Hill distribution, have been proposed recently. These definitions seem ad hoc because justifications for them are still lacking. In the current study, by utilizing the quantum Feynman-Kac formula and the phase space formulation of quantum mechanics, we prove that the leading order of work distributions is equal to the classical work distribution. Thus we prove the validity of the quantum-classical correspondence of work distributions for initial states with quantum coherence, and provide some justification for those definitions of work. We use an exactly solvable model of the linearly dragged harmonic oscillator to demonstrate our main results.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Quantum work distributions associated with the dynamical Casimir effect

We study the joint probability distribution function of the work and the change of photon number of the nonequilibrium process of driving the electromagnetic (EM) field in a three-dimensional cavity with an oscillating boundary. The system is initially prepared in a grand canonical equilibrium state and we obtain the analytical expressions of the characteristic functions of work distributions in the single-resonance and multiple-resonance conditions. Our study demonstrates the validity of the fluctuation theorems of the grand canonical ensemble in nonequilibrium processes with particle creation and annihilation. In addition, our work illustrates that in the high temperature limit, the work done on the quantized EM field approaches its classical counterpart; while in the low temperature limit, similar to Casimir effect, it differs significantly from its classical counterpart.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Quantifying the validity and breakdown of the overdamped approximation in stochastic thermodynamics: Theory and experiment

Stochastic thermodynamics provides an important framework to explore small physical systems where thermal fluctuations are inevitable. In the studies of stochastic thermodynamics, some thermodynamic quantities, such as the trajectory work, associated with the complete Langevin equation (the Kramers equation) are often assumed to converge to those associated with the overdamped Langevin equation (the Smoluchowski equation) in the overdamped limit under the overdamped approximation. Nevertheless, a rigorous mathematical proof of the convergence of the work distributions to our knowledge has not been reported so far. Here we study the convergence of the work distributions explicitly. In the overdamped limit, we rigorously prove the convergence of the extended Fokker-Planck equations including work using a multiple timescale expansion approach. By taking the linearly dragged harmonic oscillator as an exactly solvable example, we analytically calculate the work distribution associated with the Kramers equation, and verify its convergence to that associated with the Smoluchowski equation in the overdamped limit. We quantify the accuracy of the overdamped approximation as a function of the damping coefficient. In addition, we experimentally demonstrate that the data of the work distribution of a levitated silica nanosphere agrees with the overdamped approximation in the overdamped limit, but deviates from the overdamped approximation in the low-damping case. Our work fills a gap between the stochastic thermodynamics based on the complete Langevin equation (the Kramers equation) and the overdamped Langevin equation (the Smoluchowski equation), and deepens our understanding of the overdamped approximation in stochastic thermodynamics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗