6,952 research outputs found
H-Theorems from Autonomous Equations
The H-theorem is an extension of the Second Law to a time-sequence of states
that need not be equilibrium ones. In this paper we review and we rigorously
establish the connection with macroscopic autonomy.
If for a Hamiltonian dynamics for many particles, at all times the present
macrostate determines the future macrostate, then its entropy is non-decreasing
as a consequence of Liouville's theorem. That observation, made since long, is
here rigorously analyzed with special care to reconcile the application of
Liouville's theorem (for a finite number of particles) with the condition of
autonomous macroscopic evolution (sharp only in the limit of infinite scale
separation); and to evaluate the presumed necessity of a Markov property for
the macroscopic evolution.Comment: 13 pages; v1 -> v2: Sec. 1-2 considerably rewritten, minor
corrections in Sec. 3-
An extension of the Kac ring model
We introduce a unitary dynamics for quantum spins which is an extension of a
model introduced by Mark Kac to clarify the phenomenon of relaxation to
equilibrium. When the number of spins gets very large, the magnetization
satisfies an autonomous equation as function of time with exponentially fast
relaxation to the equilibrium magnetization as determined by the microcanonical
ensemble. This is proven as a law of large numbers with respect to a class of
initial data. The corresponding Gibbs-von Neumann entropy is also computed and
its monotonicity in time discussed.Comment: 15 pages, v2 -> v3: minor typographic correctio
Extended Weak Coupling Limit for Friedrichs Hamiltonians
We study a class of self-adjoint operators defined on the direct sum of two
Hilbert spaces: a finite dimensional one called sometimes a ``small subsystem''
and an infinite dimensional one -- a ``reservoir''. The operator, which we call
a ``Friedrichs Hamiltonian'', has a small coupling constant in front of its
off-diagonal term. It is well known that under some conditions in the weak
coupling limit the appropriately rescaled evolution in the interaction picture
converges to a contractive semigroup when restricted to the subsystem. We show
that in this model, the properly renormalized and rescaled evolution converges
on the whole space to a new unitary evolution, which is a dilation of the above
mentioned semigroup. Similar results have been studied before \cite{AFL} in
more complicated models and they are usually referred to as "stochastic Limit".Comment: changes in notation and title, minor correction
Derivation of some translation-invariant Lindblad equations for a quantum Brownian particle
We study the dynamics of a Brownian quantum particle hopping on an infinite
lattice with a spin degree of freedom. This particle is coupled to free boson
gases via a translation-invariant Hamiltonian which is linear in the creation
and annihilation operators of the bosons. We derive the time evolution of the
reduced density matrix of the particle in the van Hove limit in which we also
rescale the hopping rate. This corresponds to a situation in which both the
system-bath interactions and the hopping between neighboring sites are small
and they are effective on the same time scale. The reduced evolution is given
by a translation-invariant Lindblad master equation which is derived
explicitly.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, minor revisio
Quantum Macrostates, Equivalence of Ensembles and an H-Theorem
Before the thermodynamic limit, macroscopic averages need not commute for a
quantum system. As a consequence, aspects of macroscopic fluctuations or of
constrained equilibrium require a careful analysis, when dealing with several
observables. We propose an implementation of ideas that go back to John von
Neumann's writing about the macroscopic measurement. We apply our scheme to the
relation between macroscopic autonomy and an H-theorem, and to the problem of
equivalence of ensembles. In particular, we show how the latter is related to
the asymptotic equipartition theorem. The main point of departure is an
expression of a law of large numbers for a sequence of states that start to
concentrate, as the size of the system gets larger, on the macroscopic values
for the different macroscopic observables. Deviations from that law are
governed by the entropy.Comment: 16 pages; v1 -> v2: Sec. 3 slightly rewritten, 2 references adde
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