Non-conjugate quantum subsystems

Abstract

We introduce an alternative way to understand the decomposition of a quantum system into interacting parts and show that it is natural in several physical models. This enables us to define a reduced density operator for a working system interacting with a thermal bath that is consistent with the inclusion of the interaction Hamiltonian within the working system's energy. We subsequently provide a self-consistent formulation of quantum thermodynamics that incurs non-trivial physical corrections to thermodynamic relations and quantities previously defined within the literature.

14 pages + Appendix, 2 figures in main text, 2 figures in Appendix

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