Energy Full Counting Statistics and Return to Equilibrium

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the energy fluctuations in a quantum system coupled to a thermal reservoir, proving convergence of full counting statistics in the long-time and weak-coupling limits, and refines the first law of thermodynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a refined understanding of energy fluctuations in quantum systems, establishing convergence of full counting statistics under combined long-time and weak-coupling limits.

Findings

Weak convergence of FCS as t→∞ and λ→0

Refinement of the first law of thermodynamics in quantum systems

Demonstration of return to equilibrium property

Abstract

We consider a finite dimensional quantum system $S$ in an arbitrary initial state coupled to an infinitely extended quantum thermal reservoir $R$ in equilibrium at inverse temperature $\beta$. The coupling is given by a bounded perturbation of the dynamics and the coupling strength is controlled by a parameter $\lambda$. We assume the system $S + R$ has the property of return to equilibrium, which means that after sufficiently long time, the joint system will have reached equilibrium at inverse temperature $\beta$. In this context, we prove a refinement to the first law of thermodynamics, which states that the total energy of the system and reservoir is conserved. Specifically, we define two measures which encode all the information about the fluctuations of the system and reservoir energy when two measurements are made at time $0$ and time $t$. These measures are called the full counting statistics (FCS). We prove weak convergence of the system and reservoir FCS in the double limit $t \rightarrow \infty$ and $\lambda \rightarrow 0$.