A cycle decomposition and entropy production for circulant quantum Markov semigroups

Abstract

We propose a definition of cycle representation for quantum Markov semigroups (qms) and quantum entropy production rate (qepr) in terms of the $\rho$-adjoint. We introduce the class of circulant qms, which admit non-equilibrium steady states but exhibit symmetries that allow us to compute explicitly the qepr, gain a deeper insight into the notion of cycle decomposition and prove that quantum detailed balance holds if and only if the qepr equals zero.

Submitted to Infinite Dimensional Analysis, Quantum Probability and Related Topics