Thermodynamics of trajectories of open quantum systems, step by step

TL;DR

This paper introduces a sequential method to analyze the thermodynamics of trajectories in open quantum systems by focusing on the first few moments of counting statistics, enabling analytical insights and reinterpretation of known results.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel sequential approach to access moments of counting statistics in open quantum systems, simplifying the analysis of their dynamical properties.

Findings

Method provides analytical results in multiple cases

Enables reinterpretation of existing large deviation results

Facilitates analysis of dynamical properties using moments

Abstract

Thermodynamics of trajectories promises to make possible the thorough analysis of the dynamical properties of an open quantum system, a sought-after goal in modern physics. Unfortunately, calculation of the relevant quantities presents severe challenges. Determining the large-deviation function that gives access to the full counting statistics associated with a dynamical order parameter is challenging, if not impossible, even for systems evolving in a restricted Liouville space. Acting on the realisation that the salient features of most dynamical systems are encoded in the first few moments of the counting statistics, in this article we present a method that gives sequential access to these moments. Our method allows for obtaining analytical result in several cases, as we illustrate, and allows using large deviation theory to reinterpret certain well-known results.