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On Quantum Microcanonical Equilibrium

Brody, D C, Hook, D W, Lane P. Hughston

Published Dec 14, 2006• 8 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

A quantum microcanonical postulate is proposed as a basis for the equilibrium properties of small quantum systems. Expressions for the corresponding density of states are derived, and are used to establish the existence of phase transitions for finite quantum systems. A grand microcanonical ensemble is introduced, which can be used to obtain new rigorous results in quantum statistical mechanics.

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A quantum microcanonical postulate is proposed as a basis for the equilibrium properties of small quantum systems. Expressions for the corresponding density of states are derived, and are used to establish the existence of phase transitions for finite quantum systems. A grand microcanonical ensemble is introduced, which can be used to obtain new rigorous results in quantum statistical mechanics.
The basic quantity for the description of the statistical properties of physical systems is the density of states or equivalently the microcanonical entropy. Macroscopic quantities of a system in equilibrium can be computed directly from the entropy. Response functions such as the susceptibility are for example related to the curvature of the entropy surface. Interestingly, physical quantities in the microcanonical ensemble show characteristic properties of phase transitions already in finite systems. In this paper we investigate these characteristics for finite Ising systems. The singularities in microcanonical quantities which announce a continuous phase transition in the infinite system are characterised by classical critical exponents. Estimates of the non-classical exponents which emerge only in the thermodynamic limit can nevertheless be obtained by analyzing effective exponents or by applying a microcanonical finite-size scaling theory. This is explicitly demonstrated for two- and three-dimensional Ising systems.
This letter examines the consequences of a recently proposed modification of the postulate of equal a priori probability in quantum statistical mechanics. This modification, called the quantum microcanonical postulate (QMP), asserts that for a system in microcanonical equilibrium all pure quantum states having the same energy expectation value are realized with equal probability. A simple model of a quantum system that obeys the QMP and that has a nondegenerate spectrum with equally spaced energy eigenvalues is studied. This model admits a closed-form expression for the density of states in terms of the energy eigenvalues. It is shown that in the limit as the number of energy levels approaches infinity, the expression for the density of states converges to a δ function centred at the intermediate value ( E max + E min )/2 of the energy. Determining this limit requires an elaborate asymptotic study of an infinite sum whose terms alternate in sign.
A new microcanonical equilibrium state is introduced for quantum systems with finite-dimensional state spaces. Equilibrium is characterized by a uniform distribution on a level surface of the expectation value of the Hamiltonian. The distinguishing feature of the proposed equilibrium state is that the corresponding density of states is a continuous function of the energy, and hence thermodynamic functions are well defined for finite quantum systems. The density of states, however, is not in general an analytic function. It is demonstrated that generic quantum systems therefore exhibit second-order phase transitions at finite temperatures.
A new microcanonical equilibrium state is introduced for quantum systems with finite-dimensional state spaces. Equilibrium is characterised by a uniform distribution on a level surface of the expectation value of the Hamiltonian. The distinguishing feature of the proposed equilibrium state is that the corresponding density of states is a continuous function of the energy, and hence thermodynamic functions are well defined for finite quantum systems. The density of states, however, is not in general an analytic function. It is demonstrated that generic quantum systems therefore exhibit second-order (i.e. continuous) phase transitions at finite temperatures.
The basic quantity for the description of the statistical properties of physical systems is the density of states or, equivalently, the microcanonical entropy. Macroscopic quantities of a system in equilibrium can be computed directly from the entropy. Response functions such as the susceptibility are related, for example, to the curvature of the entropy surface. Interestingly, physical quantities in the microcanonical ensemble show characteristic properties of phase transitions in finite systems. In this article we investigate these characteristics for finite Ising systems. The singularities in microcanonical quantities, which signal a continuous phase transition in infinite systems, are characterized by classical critical exponents. Estimates of the non-classical exponents which emerge only in the thermodynamic limit can nevertheless be obtained by analysing effective exponents or by applying a microcanonical finite-size scaling theory. This is explicitly demonstrated for two- and three-dimensional Ising systems.