2020/08/31 by Tian Qiu, H. T. Quan, Hai-Tao Quan
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Brownian motion #Classical limit #Classical mechanics #Entropy (arrow of time) #Joint quantum entropy #Non-equilibrium thermodynamics #Open quantum system #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum discord #Quantum entanglement #Quantum mechanics #Quantum relative entropy #Quantum thermodynamics #Statistical physics #Von Neumann entropy #cond-mat.stat-mech #quant-ph #stochastic dynamics and bifurcation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1572-9494/ac0813
arxiv created 2021/03/26 · openalex publication_date 2021/06/04 · crossref created 2021/06/04 · crossref issued 2021/07/16 · crossref published 2021/07/16 · crossref published-online 2021/07/16 · arxiv updated 2021/08/11 · crossref published-print 2021/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2025/11/29 · crossref indexed 2026/08/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract The quantum Brownian motion model is a typical model in the study of nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics. Entropy is one of the most fundamental physical concepts in thermodynamics. In this work, by solving the quantum Langevin equation, we study the von Neumann entropy of a particle undergoing quantum Brownian motion. We obtain the analytical expression of the time evolution of the Wigner function in terms of the initial Wigner function. The result is applied to the thermodynamic equilibrium initial state, which reproduces its classical counterpart in the high temperature limit. Based on these results, for those initial states having well-defined classical counterparts, we obtain the explicit expression of the quantum corrections to the entropy in the weak coupling limit. Moreover, we find that for the thermodynamic equilibrium initial state, all terms odd in ℏ are exactly zero. Our results bring important insights to the understanding of entropy in open quantum systems.