Characterizing irreversibility in open quantum systems

T. B. Batalhao, S. Gherardini, J. P. Santos, G. T. Landi, M. Paternostro

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Irreversibility is a fundamental concept with important implications at many levels. It pinpoints the fundamental difference between the intrinsically reversible microscopic equations of motion and the unidirectional arrow of time that emerges at the macroscopic level. More pragmatically, a full quantification of the degree of irreversibility of a given process can help in the characterisation of the performance of thermo-machines operating at the quantum level. Here, we review the concept of entropy production, which is commonly intended as {\it the} measure of thermodynamic irreversibility of a process, pinpointing the features and shortcomings of its current formulation.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThermodynamics in the quantum regime - Recent Progress and Outlook
PublisherSpringer
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Jun 2018

Publication series

NameFundamental Aspects and New Directions
PublisherSpringer

Bibliographical note

8 pages, no figure, RevTeX4-1. To appear as a chapter of "Thermodynamics in the quantum regime - Recent Progress and Outlook", F. Binder, L. A. Correa, C. Gogolin, J. Anders, and G. Adesso eds., Springer International Publishing

Keywords

  • quant-ph
  • cond-mat.stat-mech

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