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New Journal of Physics

Scattering approach to the thermodynamics of quantum transport

Pierre Gaspard

Published Apr 2, 2015• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The thermodynamic entropy production for the scattering processes of noninteracting bosons and fermions in mesoscopic systems is shown to be related to the difference between the Connes–Narnhofer–Thirring entropy per unit time, characterizing temporal disorder in the motion of quantum particles, and the associated time-reversed coentropy per unit time. Under nonequilibrium conditions, the positivity of thermodynamic entropy production can thus be interpreted as a time-reversal symmetry breaking in the temporal disorder of the quantum transport process. Moreover, the full counting statistics of both fermionic and bosonic quantum transport is formulated in relation with the energy and particle currents producing thermodynamic entropy in nonequilibrium steady states.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/17/4/045001

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The thermodynamic entropy production for the scattering processes of noninteracting bosons and fermions in mesoscopic systems is shown to be related to the difference between the Connes–Narnhofer–Thirring entropy per unit time, characterizing temporal disorder in the motion of quantum particles, and the associated time-reversed coentropy per unit time. Under nonequilibrium conditions, the positivity of thermodynamic entropy production can thus be interpreted as a time-reversal symmetry breaking in the temporal disorder of the quantum transport process. Moreover, the full counting statistics of both fermionic and bosonic quantum transport is formulated in relation with the energy and particle currents producing thermodynamic entropy in nonequilibrium steady states.
Scattering theory is complemented by recent results on full counting statistics, the multivariate fluctuation relation for currents, and time asymmetry in temporal disorder characterized by the Connes‐Narnhofer‐Thirring entropy per unit time, in order to establish relationships with the thermodynamics of quantum transport. Fluctuations in the bosonic or fermionic currents flowing across an open system in contact with particle reservoirs are described by their cumulant generating function, which obeys the multivariate fluctuation relation as the consequence of microreversibility. Time asymmetry in temporal disorder is shown to manifest itself out of equilibrium in the difference between a time‐reversed coentropy and the Connes‐Narnhofer‐Thirring entropy per unit time. This difference is shown to be equal to the thermodynamic entropy production for ideal quantum gases of bosons and fermions. The results are illustrated for a two‐terminal circuit. image
The multivariate fluctuation relation is established for the full counting statistics of the energy and particle fluxes across an open quantum system in contact with several reservoirs on the basis of microreversibility The quantum version of the nonequilibrium work fluctuation relation is recovered in the presence of a single reservoir. In the long-time limit, the time-reversal symmetry relation is expressed in terms of the cumulative generating function for the full counting statistics. In systems with independent particles, the symmetry relation can be obtained in the scattering approach for the transport of bosons and fermions. The temporal disorder and its time asymmetry can be characterized by the quantum version of the entropy and coentropy per unit time. Their difference gives the thermodynamic entropy production rate. Furthermore, the stochastic approach is also considered for electron transport in quantum dots, quantum point contacts, and single-electron transistors.
The microscopic features of bosonic quantum transport in a nonequilibrium steady state, which breaks time reversal invariance spontaneously, are investigated. The analysis is based on the probability distributions, generated by the correlation functions of the particle current and the entropy production operator. The general approach is applied to an exactly solvable model with a point-like interaction driving the system away from equilibrium. The quantum fluctuations of the particle current and the entropy production are explicitly evaluated in the zero frequency limit. It is shown that all moments of the entropy production distribution are non-negative, which provides a microscopic version of the second law of thermodynamics. On this basis a concept of efficiency, taking into account all quantum fluctuations, is proposed and analyzed. The role of the quantum statistics in this context is also discussed.
Abstract The microscopic features of bosonic quantum transport in a nonequilibrium steady state, which breaks time reversal invariance spontaneously, are investigated. The analysis is based on the probability distributions, generated by the correlation functions of the particle current and the entropy production operator. The general approach is applied to an exactly solvable model with a point‐like interaction driving the system away from equilibrium. The quantum fluctuations of the particle current and the entropy production are explicitly evaluated in the zero frequency limit. It is shown that all moments of the entropy production distribution are non‐negative, which provides a microscopic version of the second law of thermodynamics. On this basis a concept of efficiency, taking into account all quantum fluctuations, is proposed and analyzed. The role of the quantum statistics in this context is also discussed.
We formulate a stochastic description of entropy production in scattering theory for coherent transport. We distinguish between the information entropy change due to partial knowledge of the leads' state and the thermodynamic entropy change due to the equilibration of each lead with its bath. By employing a two-point measurement scheme, we access the stochastic entropy production at these different stages of the process, as well as the statistics of generic transport quantities. When restricted to particle or energy transport, our approach reproduces the Landauer-Büttiker formulas. The possibility to consider more general quantities such as the entropy currents and their fluctuations, provides a systematic connection between stochastic thermodynamics and coherent transport.