Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: The separation of internal energy into heat and work in quantum thermodynamics is a controversial issue for a long time, and we revisit and solve this problem in this work. It is shown that the Hamiltonian plays dual roles for a quantum system, and by decomposing the interaction Hamiltonian between system and environment accordingly, an ``effective Hamiltonian" for an open quantum system can be proposed. The explicit expression of the effective Hamiltonian is obtained systematically, and as a consequence, the internal energy of an open quantum system can be well defined, leading to the reasonable definitions of work and heat for a general quantum process.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Zhou, Tao, Pu, Jiangyang, Wu, Xiaohua
Institutions: Southwest Jiaotong University, Sichuan University
Language: English
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1633799103, G4397211561
OpenAlex ID: W4406032557