Metastability in the BCS model

TL;DR

This paper investigates metastable states in a quantum BCS model, analyzing their stability and evolution under a Lindblad dynamics, and introduces a framework for understanding metastability in quantum systems.

Contribution

It provides explicit construction and stability analysis of metastable states in a mean-field quantum BCS model under Lindblad dynamics, a novel approach in quantum metastability.

Findings

Explicit metastable states are constructed.

Stability properties are derived for these states.

Energy-entropy balance inequalities characterize metastability.

Abstract

We discuss metastable states in the mean-field version of the strong coupling BCS-model and study the evolution of a superconducting equilibrium state subjected to a dynamical semi-group with Lindblad generator in detailed balance w.r.t. another equilibrium state. The intermediate states are explicitly constructed and their stability properties are derived. The notion of metastability in this genuine quantum system, is expressed by means of energy-entropy balance inequalities and canonical coordinates of observables.