Entropy production and correlation spreading in the interaction between particle detector and thermal baths

Abstract

Entropy production is the key to the second law of thermodynamics, and it is well defined by considering a joint unitary evolution of a system $S$ and a thermal environment $E$. However, due to the diversity of the initial state and Hamiltonian of the system and environment, it is hard to evaluate the characterisation of entropy production. In the present work, we propose that the evolution of $S$ and $E$ can be solved non-perturbatively in the framework of Gaussian quantum mechanics (GQM). We study the entropy production and correlation spreading in the interaction between Unruh-DeWitt-like particle detector and thermal baths, where the particle detector is set to be a harmonic oscillator and the thermal baths are made of interacting and noninteracting Gaussian states. We can observe that the entropy production implies quantum recurrence and shows periodicity. In the case of interacting bath, the correlation propagates in a periodic system and leads to a revival of the initial state. Our analysis can be extended to any other models in the framework of GQM, and it may also shed some light on the AdS/CFT correspondence.

5 pages; v2: updated references, clarifications added

References in corpus (9)

• Entanglement in continuous variable systems: Recent advances and current perspectives
• Irreversible entropy production, from quantum to classical
• How often does the Unruh-DeWitt detector click? Regularisation by a spatial profile
• Thermalization and Revivals after a Quantum Quench in Conformal Field Theory
• The thermodynamics of creating correlations: Limitations and optimal protocols
• Entanglement and Complexity of Purification in (1+1)-dimensional free Conformal Field Theories
• Thermalization in open classical systems with finite heat baths
• Entropy dynamics of a dephasing model in a squeezed thermal bath
• Thermodynamic description of non-Markovian information flux of nonequilibrium open quantum systems

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Decoherence and thermalization of Unruh-DeWitt detector in arbitrary dimensions
• Distinguishing pure and thermal states by Landauer's principle in open systems
• Energy change and Landauer's principle in the interaction between qubit and quantum field theory