Quantum Thermodynamics in the Refined Weak Coupling Limit

Entropy (Basel). 2019 Jul 25;21(8):725. doi: 10.3390/e21080725.

Abstract

We present a thermodynamic framework for the refined weak coupling limit. In this limit, the interaction between system and environment is weak, but not negligible. As a result, the system dynamics becomes non-Markovian breaking divisibility conditions. Nevertheless, we propose a derivation of the first and second law just in terms of the reduced system dynamics. To this end, we extend the refined weak coupling limit for allowing slowly-varying external drivings and reconsider the definition of internal energy due to the non-negligible interaction.

Keywords: non-Markovian quantum dynamics; open quantum systems; quantum thermodynamics.