G. Zicari (QUB): Entropy production rate in a system of non-Markovian harmonic oscillators
Channel: Centrum Fizyki Teoretycznej PAN
Date: 16/04/2021

Giorgio Zicari (Queen’s University Belfast )
Initial correlations and entropy production rate in a system of non-Markovian harmonic oscillators
Entropy production plays a fundamental role in both classical and quantum thermodynamics: by being related to the second law at a fundamental level, itenables to identify and quantify the irreversibility of physical phenomena. This issue is of great interest in the case of an open quantum system, where we study the reduced dynamics of a system interacting with its environment. The theoretical description of this scenario is challenging, especially if one goes beyond the standard Born-Markov approximation and considers the possibility of a back-flow of information from the environment to the system. In our work, we focus on an open quantum system composed by two uncoupled harmonic oscillators undergoing non-Markovian dynamics. This minimal, yet insightful, setting allows us to investigate – both numerically and analytically – how different preparations of the initial state (separable, entangled, quantum correlated without being entangled) affect the entropy production rate. This sheds light on the interplay between initial correlations and thermodynamic irreversibility in a scenario of strong experimental relevance.
CTP Quantum Information Days (online), 22-24 February 2021.
Center for Theoretical Physics PAS (Warsaw, Poland)