Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics of Harmonically Trapped Bosons

TL;DR

This paper explores non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics in small bosonic systems in a harmonic trap, revealing phenomena like dynamical orthogonality, its relation to spectral excitations, and the impact of initial interactions on system dynamics.

Contribution

It provides analytical and numerical insights into dynamical orthogonality, work, and entanglement in quenched bosonic systems, extending understanding from two to three particles.

Findings

Dynamical orthogonality can occur in strongly interacting bosonic systems.

The amount of irreversible work correlates with entanglement development.

Atomic density profiles serve as indicators of non-equilibrium behavior.

Abstract

We apply the framework of non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics to the physics of quenched small-sized bosonic quantum gases in a one-dimensional harmonic trap. We show that dynamical orthogonality can occur in these few-body systems with strong interactions after a quench and we find its occurrence analytically for an infinitely repulsive pair of atoms. We further show this phenomena is related to the fundamental excitations that dictate the dynamics from the spectral function. We establish a clear qualitative link between the amount of (irreversible) work performed on the system and the establishment of entanglement. We extend our analysis to multipartite systems by examining the case of three trapped atoms. We show the initial (pre-quench) interactions play a vital role in determining the dynamical features, while the qualitative features of the two particle case appear to remain valid. Finally, we propose the use of the atomic density profile as a readily accessible indicator of the non-equilibrium properties of the systems in question.