Dresden 2006 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help
DY: Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 22: Quantum Dynamics II
DY 22.6: Talk
Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 12:15–12:30, H\"UL 186
Fourier’s Law from Schrödinger Dynamics — •Mathias Michel1, Jochen Gemmer2, and Günter Mahler1 — 1Institut für Theoretische Physik I, Universität Stuttgart — 2Fachbereich Physik, Universität Osnabrück
The relationship between microscopic and macroscopic levels of description has challenged physicists for centuries and in many branches of research. In this talk we demonstrate that a class of closed quantum systems gives rise to diffusive behavior (normal heat conduction, see [1]) on a mesoscopic level while the microscopic dynamics is governed by the respective Schrödinger equation only. The key to understanding such qualitative differences is not just the mere system size but rather the complete or reduced description as dictated by observation. For example, quantum thermodynamics [2] has been able to show that a partition of a closed quantum system into a small part of interest and a large environment will typically lead to thermal equilibrium properties with respect to the small part. In the same spirit, heat conduction and Fourier’s law emerge from closed system quantum dynamics under appropriate coarse-graining in real space! Such a behavior may show up already in suprisingly small composite quantum objects.
[1] M. Michel et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 180602 (2005)
[2] J. Gemmer et al., Quantum Thermodynamics, Springer (2004)