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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 11: Focus Session: Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics of Small Systems
DY 11.5: Invited Talk
Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 12:15–12:45, HÜL 186
Quantum Fluctuation Theorems — •Michele Campisi — Pisa, Italy — Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg, Germany
The second law of thermodynamics poses a stringent constraint on the direction that physical processes may take in macroscopic systems. As their size shrinks, processes taking the opposite direction, apparently defying the second law, become possible and the fluctuation theorems quantify the likelihood of their occurrence. We will address the following issues concerning quantum fluctuation theorems i) the problem of gauge freedom affecting the definitions of work and free energy, ii) the notions of inclusive, exclusive and dissipated work [1], iii) the absence of a work operator in quantum mechanics and the notion of two-point quantum observable iv) the difficulties related to the experimental verification of quantum fluctuation theorems and the possibility to overcome them [2].
[1] M. Campisi et al. ``Quantum Bochkov-Kuzovlev work fluctuation theorem'' arXiv:1003.1052.
[2] M. Campisi, et al. ``Fluctuation theorems for continuously monitored quantum fluxes'' Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 104601 (2010)