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arXiv:1708.05113 · Physical Review Letters

Path Integral Approach to Quantum Thermodynamics

Ken Funo, H. T. Quan

Published Jul 26, 2018• 75 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Work belongs to the most basic notions in thermodynamics but it is not well understood in quantum systems, especially in open quantum systems. By introducing a novel concept of the work functional along an individual Feynman path, we invent a new approach to study thermodynamics in the quantum regime. Using the work functional, we derive a path integral expression for the work statistics. By performing the ℏ expansion, we analytically prove the quantum-classical correspondence of the work statistics. In addition, we obtain the quantum correction to the classical fluctuating work. We can also apply this approach to an open quantum system in the strong coupling regime described by the quantum Brownian motion model. This approach provides an effective way to calculate the work in open quantum systems by utilizing various path integral techniques. As an example, we calculate the work statistics for a dragged harmonic oscillator in both isolated and open quantum systems.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.121.040602

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Work belongs to the most basic notions in thermodynamics but it is not well understood in quantum systems, especially in open quantum systems. By introducing a novel concept of the work functional along an individual Feynman path, we invent a new approach to study thermodynamics in the quantum regime. Using the work functional, we derive a path integral expression for the work statistics. By performing the ℏ expansion, we analytically prove the quantum-classical correspondence of the work statistics. In addition, we obtain the quantum correction to the classical fluctuating work. We can also apply this approach to an open quantum system in the strong coupling regime described by the quantum Brownian motion model. This approach provides an effective way to calculate the work in open quantum systems by utilizing various path integral techniques. As an example, we calculate the work statistics for a dragged harmonic oscillator in both isolated and open quantum systems.
By introducing novel concepts of work and heat functionals along individual pathpathpath, we reformulate quantum Jarzynski equality based on the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics. When applied to an open quantum system described by the quantum Brownian motion model, we establish a consistent framework of quantum thermodynamics in the strong coupling regime. Using the work and heat functionals, we derive a path-integral expression for the work and heat statistics. This formalism provides an effective way to calculate the work and heat in open quantum systems by utilizing various path integral techniques. By performing the ℏ\hbarℏ expansion, we analytically prove the quantum-classical correspondence of the work and heat statistics. In addition, we obtain the nnn-th order quantum correction to the classical work.
We study the heat statistics of a quantum Brownian motion described by the Caldeira-Leggett model. By using the path integral approach, we introduce a concept of the quantum heat functional along every pair of Feynman paths. This approach has the advantage of improving our understanding about heat in quantum systems. First, we demonstrate the microscopic reversibility of the system by connecting the heat functional to the forward and time-reversed probabilities. Second, we analytically prove the quantum-classical correspondence of the heat functional and their statistics, which allows us to obtain better intuitions about the difference between classical and quantum heat.
Work statistics characterizes important features of a nonequilibrium thermodynamic process, but the calculation of the work statistics in an arbitrary nonequilibrium 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 for 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.
Abstract This chapter presents a short review of path integrals in quantum mechanics. This is followed by a detailed discussion of the evaluation of the semi-classical propagator, involving quadratic expansions of the action and the calculation of determinants. The concept of functionals is introduced for multi-dimensional cases, using a system linearly coupled to many oscillators as an example. The use of path integrals in statistical mechanics is described and quantum corrections to the classical limit are obtained. The connection with Green functions and level density is presented, with an excursion to periodic orbit theory and to the Gutzwiller formula for the oscillating part of the single particle level density. Many-body systems with separable interactions are treated by the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation. For quantum corrections to the partition function, the static- and perturbed static path approximations are developed. The breakdown for unstable modes is discussed and a possible extension to damped motion is sketched.
We illustrate recent results concerning the validity of the work fluctuation theorem in open quantum systems (Campisi et al 2009 Phys.Rev. Lett.102 210401), by applying them to a solvable model of an open quantum system.The central role played by the thermodynamic partition function of the open quantum system, a two-level fluctuator with a strong quantum nondemolition coupling to a harmonic oscillator, is elucidated.The corresponding quantum Hamiltonian of mean force is evaluated explicitly.We study the thermodynamic entropy and the corresponding specific heat of this open system as a function of temperature and coupling strength and show that both may assume negative values at nonzero low temperatures.
We illustrate recent results concerning the validity of the work fluctuation theorem in open quantum systems [M. Campisi, P. Talkner, and P. Hänggi, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 102}, 210401 (2009)], by applying them to a solvable model of an open quantum system. The central role played by the thermodynamic partition function of the open quantum system, -- a two level fluctuator with a strong quantum nondemolition coupling to a harmonic oscillator --, is elucidated. The corresponding quantum Hamiltonian of mean force is evaluated explicitly. We study the thermodynamic entropy and the corresponding specific heat of this open system as a function of temperature and coupling strength and show that both may assume negative values at nonzero low temperatures.