Thermalization and temperature distribution in a driven ion chain

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a driven ion chain reaches thermal equilibrium, revealing complex temperature patterns influenced by system parameters, with results that can be experimentally tested.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of non-equilibrium temperature distributions in a dissipative quantum ion chain, highlighting effects beyond classical expectations.

Findings

Temperature patterns depend on ion-bath coupling and dissipation rates.

Unusual temperature distributions can be experimentally observed.

Simulation results match realistic experimental time scales.

Abstract

We study thermalization and non-equilibrium dynamics in a dissipative quantum many-body system -- a chain of ions with two points of the chain driven by thermal bath under different temperature. Instead of a simple linear temperature gradient as one expects from the classical heat diffusion process, the temperature distribution in the ion chain shows surprisingly rich patterns, which depend on the ion coupling rate to the bath, the location of the driven ions, and the dissipation rates of the other ions in the chain. Through simulation of the temperature evolution, we show that these unusual temperature distribution patterns in the ion chain can be quantitatively tested in experiments within a realistic time scale.