Emergence of energy-avoiding and energy-seeking behaviours in nonequilibrium dissipative quantum systems

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that simple nonequilibrium quantum systems can spontaneously develop behaviors similar to living organisms, such as energy avoidance and seeking, with potential links to dissipative adaptation.

Contribution

It reveals that elementary dissipative quantum systems can exhibit lifelike behaviors and functionalities, expanding understanding of self-organization at the quantum level.

Findings

Energy-avoiding and energy-seeking behaviors emerge in quantum systems.

Self-organized thermal gradients are observed in energy-seeking mode.

Active thermal gradient regulation occurs in energy-avoiding mode.

Abstract

A longstanding challenge in nonequilibrium thermodynamics is to predict the emergence of self-organized behaviours and functionalities typical of living matter. Despite the progress with classical complex systems, it remains far from obvious how to extrapolate these results down to the quantum scale. Here, we employ the paradigmatic master equation framework to establish that some lifelike behaviours and functionalities can indeed emerge in elementary dissipative quantum systems driven out of equilibrium. Specifically, we find both energy-avoiding (low steady dissipation) and energy-seeking behaviours (high steady dissipation), as well as self-adaptive shifts between these modes, in generic few-level systems. We also find emergent functionalities, namely, a self-organized thermal gradient in the system's environment (in the energy-seeking mode) and an active equilibration against thermal gradients (in the energy-avoiding mode). Finally, we discuss the possibility that our results could be related to the concept of dissipative adaptation.