Abstract The quantum Brownian motion model is a typical model in the study of nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics. Entropy is one of the most fundamental physical concepts in thermodynamics. In this work, by solving the quantum Langevin equation, we study the von Neumann entropy of a particle undergoing quantum Brownian motion. We obtain the analytical expression of the time evolution of the Wigner function in terms of the initial Wigner function. The result is applied to the thermodynamic equilibrium initial state, which reproduces its classical counterpart in the high temperature limit. Based on these results, for those initial states having well-defined classical counterparts, we obtain the explicit expression of the quantum corrections to the entropy in the weak coupling limit. Moreover, we find that for the thermodynamic equilibrium initial state, all terms odd in ℏ are exactly zero. Our results bring important insights to the understanding of entropy in open quantum systems.
Abstract The quantum Brownian motion model is a typical model in the study of nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics. Entropy is one of the most fundamental physical concepts in thermodynamics. In this work, by solving the quantum Langevin equation, we study the von Neumann entropy of a particle undergoing quantum Brownian motion. We obtain the analytical expression of the time evolution of the Wigner function in terms of the initial Wigner function. The result is applied to the thermodynamic equilibrium initial state, which reproduces its classical counterpart in the high temperature limit. Based on these results, for those initial states having well-defined classical counterparts, we obtain the explicit expression of the quantum corrections to the entropy in the weak coupling limit. Moreover, we find that for the thermodynamic equilibrium initial state, all terms odd in ℏ are exactly zero. Our results bring important insights to the understanding of entropy in open quantum systems.
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 ℏ 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 ℏ 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 into the understanding of quantum entropy and may have potential applications in the study of quantum heat engines.
A central open question in quantum thermodynamics is the identification of thermodynamic entropy away from equilibrium. Although thermodynamic entropy coincides with the von Neumann entropy for a Gibbs state at equilibrium, the thermodynamic role of quantum coherence generated during nonequilibrium evolution remains unclear. Here, we show that von Neumann entropy does not, in general, represent the thermodynamic entropy governing heat exchange in coherent nonequilibrium quantum systems. By integrating the resource theory of quantum coherence with thermodynamic principles, we develop a general framework for nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics. We identify thermodynamic entropy with the energy entropy derived from energy-measurement statistics and introduce a dynamical temperature extending the equilibrium concept to nonequilibrium states. Consequently, we obtain an exact entropy-balance relation separating the entropy flux associated with heat exchange from the coherence-loss contribution to entropy production, establishing an operational connection between quantum coherence, heat flow, and total entropy change. Unlike approaches relying on equilibrium reference states or stationary Gibbs ensembles, our framework uses instantaneous dynamical quantities and remains valid throughout transient nonequilibrium evolution. It provides consistent dynamical definitions of temperature, work, heat, and free energy. Applying the formalism to an exactly solvable open quantum system, we show that the first and second laws hold throughout transient evolution and that equilibrium thermodynamics emerges dynamically in the weak-coupling long-time limit. Our results establish a unified framework for coherent nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics and suggest opportunities for controlling heat dissipation through coherence engineering in quantum thermal technologies.
Recent progress in our understanding of quantum effects on the Brownian motion in an external potential is reviewed. This problem is ubiquitous in physics and chemistry, particularly in the context of decay of metastable states, for example, the reversal of the magnetization of a single domain ferromagnetic particle, kinetics of a superconducting tunnelling junction, etc. Emphasis is laid on the establishment of master equations describing the diffusion process in phase space analogous to the classical Fokker-Planck equation. In particular, it is shown how Wigner's [E. P. Wigner, Phys. Rev., 1932, 40, 749] method of obtaining quantum corrections to the classical equilibrium Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution may be extended to the dissipative non-equilibrium dynamics governing the quantum Brownian motion in an external potential V(x), yielding a master equation for the Wigner distribution function W(x,p,t) in phase space (x,p). The explicit form of the master equation so obtained contains quantum correction terms up to o(h(4)) and in the classical limit, h --> 0, reduces to the classical Klein-Kramers equation. For a quantum oscillator, the method yields an evolution equation coinciding in all respects with that of Agarwal [G. S. Agarwal, Phys. Rev. A, 1971, 4, 739]. In the high dissipation limit, the master equation reduces to a semi-classical Smoluchowski equation describing non-inertial quantum diffusion in configuration space. The Wigner function formulation of quantum Brownian motion is further illustrated by finding quantum corrections to the Kramers escape rate, which, in appropriate limits, reduce to those yielded via quantum generalizations of reaction rate theory.
In this paper we analyze the entropy and entropy production of a nonisolated quantum system described within the quantum Brownian motion framework. This is a very general and paradigmatic framework for describing nonisolated 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.
We derive the quantum thermodynamics of quantum Brownian motion from the exact solution of its reduced density matrix. We start from the total equilibrium thermal state between the Brownian particle and its reservoir, and solve analytically and exactly the reduced density matrix of the system by taking the partial trace over all the reservoir states. We find that the reduced Hamiltonian and the reduced partition function of the Brownian motion must be renormalized significantly, as shown in the general nonperturbative renormalization theory of quantum thermodynamics for open quantum systems we developed recently [Phys. Rev. Res. 4, 023141 (2022)]. The reduced Hamiltonian contains not only a frequency shift but also a squeezing pairing interaction, where a momentum-dependent potential is generated naturally from the strong coupling between the Brownian particle and the reservoir, after traced over all the reservoir states. The resulting exact reduced density matrix of the Brownian motion is given by a squeezing thermal state. Moreover, beyond the weak coupling limit, in order to obtain correctly the reduced partition function of the Brownian motion, one must take into account the non-negligible changes of the reservoir state induced by the system-reservoir coupling. Using the exact solutions of the reduced density matrix, the reduced Hamiltonian as well as the reduced partition function of the Brownian motion, we show that the controversial results obtained from the different definitions of internal energy and the issue of the negative heat capacity in the previous studies of strong-coupling quantum thermodynamics are resolved.
Abstract This review provides a brief and quick introduction to the quantum Langevin equation for an oscillator, while focusing on the steady-state thermodynamic aspects. A derivation of the quantum Langevin equation is carefully outlined based on the microscopic model of the heat bath as a collection of a large number of independent quantum oscillators, the so-called independent-oscillator model. This is followed by a discussion on the relevant ‘weak-coupling’ limit. In the steady state, we analyze the quantum counterpart of energy equipartition theorem which has generated a considerable amount of interest in recent literature. The free energy, entropy, specific heat, and third law of thermodynamics are discussed for one-dimensional quantum Brownian motion in a harmonic well. Following this, we explore some aspects of dissipative diamagnetism in the context of quantum Brownian oscillators, emphasizing upon the role of confining potentials and also upon the environment-induced classical-quantum crossover. We discuss situations where the system-bath coupling is via the momentum variables by focusing on a gauge-invariant model of momentum-momentum coupling in the presence of a vector potential; for this problem, we derive the quantum Langevin equation and discuss quantum thermodynamic functions. Finally, the topic of fluctuation theorems is discussed (albeit, briefly) in the context of classical and quantum cyclotron motion of a particle coupled to a heat bath.