Abstract While temperature is well understood as an intensive quantity in standard thermodynamics, it is less clear whether the same holds in quantum systems displaying correlations with no classical analogue. The problem lies in the fact that, under the presence of non-classical correlations, subsystems of a system in thermal equilibrium are, in general, not described by a thermal state at the same temperature as the global system and thus one cannot simply assign a local temperature to them. However, there have been identified situations in which correlations in thermal states decay sufficiently fast so that the state of their subsystems can be very well approximated by the reduced states of equilibrium systems that are only slightly bigger than the subsystems themselves, hence allowing for a valid local definition of temperature. In this work, we address the question of whether temperature is locally well defined for a bosonic system with local interactions that undergoes a phase transition at non-zero temperature. We consider a three-dimensional bosonic model in the grand canonical state and verify that a certain form of locality of temperature holds regardless of the temperature, and despite the presence of infinite-range correlations at and below the critical temperature of the phase transition.
Abstract While temperature is well understood as an intensive quantity in standard thermodynamics, it is less clear whether the same holds in quantum systems displaying correlations with no classical analogue. The problem lies in the fact that, under the presence of non-classical correlations, subsystems of a system in thermal equilibrium are, in general, not described by a thermal state at the same temperature as the global system and thus one cannot simply assign a local temperature to them. However, there have been identified situations in which correlations in thermal states decay sufficiently fast so that the state of their subsystems can be very well approximated by the reduced states of equilibrium systems that are only slightly bigger than the subsystems themselves, hence allowing for a valid local definition of temperature. In this work, we address the question of whether temperature is locally well defined for a bosonic system with local interactions that undergoes a phase transition at non-zero temperature. We consider a three-dimensional bosonic model in the grand canonical state and verify that a certain form of locality of temperature holds regardless of the temperature, and despite the presence of infinite-range correlations at and below the critical temperature of the phase transition.
Quantum Mechanics was established as the theory of the microscopic world, which allowed to understand processes in atoms and molecules. Its emergence led to a new scientific paradigm that quickly spread to different research fields. Two relevant examples are Quantum Thermodynamics and Quantum Many-Body Theory, where the former aims to characterize thermodynamic processes in quantum systems and the latter intends to understand the properties of quantum many-body systems. In this thesis, we tackle some of the questions in the overlap between these disciplines, focusing on the concepts of temperature and correlations. Specifically, it contains results on the following topics: locality of temperature, correlations in long-range interacting systems and thermometry at low temperature. The problem of locality of temperature is considered for a system at thermal equilibrium and consists in studying whether it is possible to assign a temperature to any of the subsystems of the global system such that both local and global temperatures are equal. We tackle this problem in two different settings, for generic one-dimensional spin chains and for a bosonic system with a phase transition at non-zero temperature. In the first case, we consider generic one-dimensional translation-invariant spin systems with short-range interactions and prove that it is always possible to assign a local temperature equal to the global one for any temperature, including at criticality. For the second case, we consider a three-dimensional discretized version of the Bose-Einstein model at the grand canonical ensemble for some temperature and particle density, and characterize its non-zero-temperature phase transition. Then, we show that temperature is locally well-defined at any temperature and at any particle density, including at the phase transition. Additionally, we observe a qualitative relation between correlations and locality of temperature in the system. Moving to correlations, we consider fermionic two-site long-range interacting systems at thermal equilibrium. We show that correlations between anti-commutative operators at non-zero temperature are upper bounded by a function that decays polynomially with the distance and with an exponent that is equal to the interaction exponent, which characterizes the interactions in the Hamiltonian. Moreover, we show that our bound is asymptotically tight and that the results extend to density-density correlations as well as other types of correlations for quadratic and fermionic Hamiltonians with long-range interactions. Regarding the results on thermometry, we consider a bosonic model and prove that strong coupling between the probe and the system can boost the thermal sensitivity for low temperature. Furthermore, we provide a feasible measurement scheme capable of producing optimal estimates at the considered regime.
Quantum Mechanics was established as the theory of the microscopic world, which allowed to understand processes in atoms and molecules. Its emergence led to a new scientific paradigm that quickly spread to different research fields. Two relevant examples are Quantum Thermodynamics and Quantum Many-Body Theory, where the former aims to characterize thermodynamic processes in quantum systems and the latter intends to understand the properties of quantum many-body systems. In this thesis, we tackle some of the questions in the overlap between these disciplines, focusing on the concepts of temperature and correlations. Specifically, it contains results on the following topics: locality of temperature, correlations in long-range interacting systems and thermometry at low temperature. The problem of locality of temperature is considered for a system at thermal equilibrium and consists in studying whether it is possible to assign a temperature to any of the subsystems of the global system such that both local and global temperatures are equal. We tackle this problem in two different settings, for generic one-dimensional spin chains and for a bosonic system with a phase transition at non-zero temperature. In the first case, we consider generic one-dimensional translation-invariant spin systems with short-range interactions and prove that it is always possible to assign a local temperature equal to the global one for any temperature, including at criticality. For the second case, we consider a three-dimensional discretized version of the Bose-Einstein model at the grand canonical ensemble for some temperature and particle density, and characterize its non-zero-temperature phase transition. Then, we show that temperature is locally well-defined at any temperature and at any particle density, including at the phase transition. Additionally, we observe a qualitative relation between correlations and locality of temperature in the system. Moving to correlations, we consider fermionic two-site long-range interacting systems at thermal equilibrium. We show that correlations between anti-commutative operators at non-zero temperature are upper bounded by a function that decays polynomially with the distance and with an exponent that is equal to the interaction exponent, which characterizes the interactions in the Hamiltonian. Moreover, we show that our bound is asymptotically tight and that the results extend to density-density correlations as well as other types of correlations for quadratic and fermionic Hamiltonians with long-range interactions. Regarding the results on thermometry, we consider a bosonic model and prove that strong coupling between the probe and the system can boost the thermal sensitivity for low temperature. Furthermore, we provide a feasible measurement scheme capable of producing optimal estimates at the considered regime. La Mecánica Cuántica fue establecida como la teoría del mundo microscópico, el cual permitió entender los procesos en átomos y moléculas. Su nacimiento llevo a un nuevo paradigma científico que se propagó rápidamente a otros campos de investigación. Dos ejemplos relevantes son la Termodinámica Cuántica y la Teoría Cuántica de muchos cuerpos, donde la primera pretende caracterizar los procesos termodinamicos en sistemas cuántico y la segunda intenta entender las propiedades de los sistemas cuánticos de muchos cuerpos. En esta tesis, atacamos algunas de las preguntas en la intersección entre estas disciplinas, enfocandonos en los conceptos de la temperatura y las correlaciones. Específicamente, contiene resutlados en os siguientes temas: localidad de la temperature, correlaciones en sistemas interactuantes de largo alcance y termometría a baja temperature. El problema de localidad de la temperatura es considerado para un sistema a equilibrio térmico y consiste en estudiar si es posible asignar temperature a cualquiera de los subsistemas del sistema global tal que la temperature local y global sean equivalentes. Atacamos este problemas en dos casos diferentes, for cadenas de spines genéricas y para un sistema de bosones con una transición de fase a temperature distinta a cero. En el primer caso, consideramos sistemas de espines invarantes traslacional y de una dimensión con interactions de corto alcance y provamos que siempre es posible asignar una temperature local igual a la global para cualquier temperature, incluyendo en la criticalidad. Para el segundo caso, consideramos una versión 3D y discretizada del modelo de Bose-Einstein en el estado gran canónico para alguna temperature y densidad de partículas, y caracterizamos su transición a temperatura distinta a cero. Luego, mostramos que la temperature esta localmente bien definida a cualquier temperature y cualquier densidad de partículas, incluyendo en la transición de fase. Adicionalment, observamos una relación cualitativa entre las correlaciones y la localidad de la temperature en el sistema. Moviéndonos a las correlaciones, consideramos sistemas fermiónicos de con interaction entre dos cuerpos y de largo alcance a equilibrio térmico. Mostramos que las correlations entre los operadores anti-comutativos at temperatura distinta a cero estan acotadas por arriba por una función que decae polinomiamente con la distancia y con un exponent que es igual al exponente de interacción, el cual caracteriza las interacciones en el Hamiltoniano. Además, mostrado que nuestro límite es "ajustado" asintoticamente y que los resultados se extiense a correlations entre operadores de densidad y a otros tipos de correlaciones para Hamiltonianos cuadráticos y fermiónicos con interacciones de largo alcance. Sobre los resultados en termometría, consideramos un modelo bosónico y provamos que el acoplamiento fuerte entre el termómetro y el sistema pueda incrementar la sensibilidad térmica para baja temperatura. Además, explicamos un esquema de medida accesible y capaz de producir estimación óptimas en el régimen que consideramos
In traditional thermodynamics, temperature is a local quantity: a subsystem of a large thermal system is in a thermal state at the same temperature as the original system. For strongly interacting systems, however, the locality of temperature breaks down. We study the possibility of associating an effective thermal state to subsystems of infinite chains of interacting spin particles of arbitrary finite dimension. We study the effect of correlations and criticality in the definition of this effective thermal state and discuss the possible implications for the classical simulation of thermal quantum systems.
In traditional thermodynamics, temperature is a local quantity: a subsystem of a large thermal system is in a thermal state at the same temperature as the original system.For strongly interacting systems, however, the locality of temperature breaks down.We study the possibility of associating an effective thermal state to subsystems of infinite chains of interacting spin particles of arbitrary finite dimension.We study the effect of correlations and criticality in the definition of this effective thermal state and discuss the possible implications for the classical simulation of thermal quantum systems.
We consider the concept of temperature in a setting beyond the standard thermodynamics prescriptions. Namely, rather than restricting to standard coarse-grained measurements, we consider observers able to master any possible quantum measurement —a scenario that might be relevant at nanoscopic scales. In this setting, we focus on quantum systems of coupled harmonic oscillators and study the question of whether the temperature is an intensive quantity, in the sense that a block of a thermal state can be approximated by an effective thermal state at the same temperature as the whole system. Using the quantum fidelity as figure of merit, we identify instances in which this approximation is not valid, as the block state and the reference thermal state are distinguishable for refined measurements. Actually, there are situations in which this distinguishability even increases with the block size. However, we also show that the two states do become less distinguishable with the block size for coarse-grained measurements —thus recovering the standard picture. We then go further and construct an effective thermal state which provides a good approximation of the block state for any observables and sizes. Finally, we point out the role that entanglement plays in this scenario by showing that, in general, the thermodynamic paradigm of local intensive temperature applies whenever entanglement is not present in the system.
The ultimate precision of any measurement of the temperature of a quantum system is the inverse of the local quantum thermal susceptibility [A. De Pasquale et al., Nat. Commun. 7, 12782 (2016)] of the subsystem with which the thermometer interacts. If this subsystem can be described with the canonical ensemble, such quantity reduces to the variance of the local Hamiltonian, which is proportional to the heat capacity of the subsystem. However, the canonical ensemble might not apply in the presence of interactions between the subsystem and the rest of the system. In this work, we address this problem in the framework of locally interacting quantum systems. We prove that the local quantum thermal susceptibility of any subsystem is close to the variance of its local Hamiltonian, provided the volume-to-surface ratio of the subsystem is much larger than the correlation length. This result greatly simplifies the determination of the ultimate precision of any local estimate of the temperature and rigorously determines the regime where interactions can affect this precision.