Quantum classical correspondence for work distributions

by Saar Rahav

at Condensed Matter Theory Seminar

Wed, 09 Nov 2016, 13:30
Physics building (#54) room 207

Abstract

Work plays a central role in thermodynamics and is also a well understood concept in classical mechanics Defining quantum work has proven to be more challenging One popular definition is based on the difference between initial and final energy measurements This two measurement definition was found to satisfy nonequilibrium work relations just like its classical counterpart but one may wonder whether it is used solely for this reason To clarify this we employed semiclassical methods to study the quantum work distribution of a driven quartic oscillator The quantum work distribution is found to be built from the same classical trajectories that would contribute to its classical counterpart However in the quantum case these trajectories carry phases and are allowed to interfere Our results clarify the correspondence between quantum and classical notions of work and gives further evidence that the two measurement definition of work is physically meaningful

Created on 30-10-2016 by Bar Lev, Yevgeny (ybarlev)
Updaded on 30-10-2016 by Bar Lev, Yevgeny (ybarlev)