Quantum thermodynamics for a model of an expanding universe

Abstract

We investigate the thermodynamical properties of quantum fields in curved spacetime. Our approach is to consider quantum fields in curved spacetime as a quantum system undergoing an out-of-equilibrium transformation. The non-equilibrium features are studied by using a formalism which has been developed to derive fluctuation relations and emergent irreversible features beyond the linear response regime. We apply these ideas to an expanding universe scenario, therefore avoiding assumptions on the relation between entropy and quantum matter. We provide a fluctuation theorem which allows us to understand particle production due to the expansion of the universe as an entropic increase. Our results pave the way towards a different understanding of the thermodynamics of relativistic and quantum systems in our universe.

13 pages, no figures. I. Fuentes previously published as I. Fuentes-Guridi and I. Fuentes-Schuller

References in corpus (7)

• Fluctuation theorems: Work is not an observable
• The Statistics of the Work Done on a Quantum Critical System by Quenching a Control Parameter
• Generalized Clausius inequality for nonequilibrium quantum processes
• Irreversible work and inner friction in quantum thermodynamic processes
• Entanglement in an expanding spacetime
• Continuous variable entanglement sharing in non-inertial frames
• Unitarity and ultraviolet regularity in cosmology

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Conditions for separability in multiqubit systems with an accelerating qubit using a conditional entropy
• Quantum thermodynamics of two bosonic systems
• Clausius inequality versus quantum coherence
• The role of quantum work statistics in many-body physics
• Quantum fluctuation theorem in a curved spacetime
• Quantum work fluctuations versus macrorealism in terms of non-extensive entropies
• Time evolution of interacting bosons through squeezing Hamiltonians
• Relativistic entropy production for quantum field in cavity