Berlin 2008 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 31: Quantum dynamics, decoherence and quantum information

DY 31.4: Talk

Friday, February 29, 2008, 11:00–11:15, MA 004

Emergence of work and heat in the quantum limit — •Heiko Schröder and Günter Mahler — Universität Stuttgart, 1. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart

The emergence of thermodynamic properties from quantum mechanics like equilibrium, irreversibility and temperature have been under investigation for quite a while ([1] and others). Here we focus on how the concept of work (as opposed to heat) emerges from quantum mechanics even in finite quantum systems. We present a necessary and sufficient condition for pure work exchange between two (finite) quantum systems and elucidate its relation to classical control of a quantum system. Whether the concept of work is as generic in quantum sytems as it is in the classical context is discussed by means of a simple model system.

[1] J. Gemmer, M. Michel and G. Mahler: Quantum Thermodynamics, Springer 2004