Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 19: Quantum dynamics, decoherence and quantum information

DY 19.1: Talk

Wednesday, March 25, 2009, 17:00–17:15, ZEU 118

Thermodynamics of quantum systems: work and heat in finite systems — •Heiko Schröder and Günter Mahler — Universität Stuttgart, 1. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Germany

Through the advent and the implementation of quantum information technology over the past decade there is a growing interest in the thermodynamics of quantum systems and their parts. In order to tackle this challenge, it is necessary to identify what thermodynamic role (heat or work source) each part plays in a given system and thus how the exchanged energy may be split into heat and work. We present a definition of finite quantum mechanical work sources and illustrate the concept by means of the behavior of a system consisting only of a single spin coupled to a harmonic oscillator. In addition, we give a generalized definition of heat and work based on the previous results and the concept of a local effective measurement basis (LEMBAS [1]).

[1] H. Weimer et al., Europhys. Lett. 83 (2008), 30008