Thermodynamic length for far-from-equilibrium quantum systems

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PhysRevE.87.022143.pdf (267.31 KB)

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https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.87.022143

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https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.87.022143
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/19408

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UMBC Physics Department
UMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET)

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2013-02-28

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journal articles
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Sebastian Deffner and Eric Lutz, Thermodynamic length for far-from-equilibrium quantum systems, Phys. Rev. E 87, 022143 (2013), DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.87.022143

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©2013 American Physical Society

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Abstract

We consider a closed quantum system initially at thermal equilibrium and driven by arbitrary external parameters. We derive a lower bound on the entropy production which we express in terms of the Bures angle between the nonequilibrium and the corresponding equilibrium state of the system. The Bures angle is an angle between mixed quantum states and defines a thermodynamic length valid arbitrarily far from equilibrium. As an illustration, we treat the case of a time-dependent harmonic oscillator for which we obtain analytic expressions for generic driving protocols.