Autonomous control of open non-equilibrium systems
Final Report Abstract
The project has advanced methods to treat the strong-coupling and non-Markovian regime of systemreservoir interactions from the thermodynamics and control perspective. Whereas the master equation framework allows for a consistent framework of such interactions for weak couplings, even the correct basic thermodynamic definitions are ambiguous in the strong-coupling regime. The project has shown that exceptions from this are possible within the framework of repeated interactions, where it is possible to treat the strong-coupling limit without master equations. In addition, it is possible to approach this regime with the standard toolbox of quantum master equations and a re-defined system-reservoir boundary, when a reaction coordinate mapping is performed beforehand. When it is possible to apply the standard Markovian treatment of the supersystem – formed by including the reaction coordinate – the resulting Markovian generator captures non-Markovian dynamics of the embedded original system. Also from the perspective of thermodynamics and feedback control, consistent pictures arise within this parameter regime, such as equilibration to a state that is close to the global Gibbs state. In even narrower regimes, a Markovian description of the original system may arise in special cases, where an additive decomposition of the generator in the different reservoirs will in general not be expected. The ability to treat strong and non-Markovian system-reservoir interactions has within the project enabled the investigation of effects that are not accessible with standard Markovian and weakcoupling approaches. This included functions such as a heat rectification and refrigeration in the strong coupling limit, which were un-attainable in the weak-coupling regime. In addition, the project showed that for continuous measurements, Quantum-Zeno limitations have to be taken into account and that a simplified Markovian description with repeated measurements is not adequate in this limit. Popular summaries can be found at phys.org and have also been published in Scientia.
Publications
- Collective couplings: Rectification and supertransmittance, Physical Review E 94, 032135 (2016)
G. Schaller, G. G. Giusteri, and G. L. Celardo
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.94.032135) - Nonequilibrium thermodynamics in the strong coupling and non-Markovian regime based on a reaction coordinate mapping, New Journal of Physics 18, 073007 (2016)
P. Strasberg, G. Schaller, N. Lambert, and T. Brandes
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/7/073007) - Feedback-charging a metallic island, Physica Status Solidi 254, 1600549 (2017)
G. Schaller
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/pssb.201600549) - Quantum and Information Thermodynamics: A Unifying Framework Based on Repeated Interactions, Physical Review X 7, 021003 (2017)
P. Strasberg, G. Schaller, T. Brandes, and M. Esposito
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.7.021003)
