Temperature Dependent Motion of a Massive Quantum Particle

Abstract

We report model calculations of the time-dependent internal energy and entropy for a single quasi-free massive quantum particle at a constant temperature. We show that the whole process started from a fully coherent quantum state to thermodynamic equilibrium can be understood, based on statistics of diffracted matter waves. As a result of thermal interaction between the particle and its surroundings, the motion of the particle shows new feature.

3 figures

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• Quantum particles passing through a matter-wave aperture