Equilibrium and nonequilibrium steady states with the repeated interaction protocol: Relaxation dynamics and energetic cost

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Prositto, Alessandro, Forbes, Madeline, Segal, Dvira
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Prositto, Alessandro
Forbes, Madeline
Segal, Dvira
author_facet Prositto, Alessandro
Forbes, Madeline
Segal, Dvira
contents We study the dynamics of a qubit system interacting with thermalized bath-ancilla spins via a repeated interaction scheme. Considering generic initial conditions for the system and employing a Heisenberg-type interaction between the system and the ancillas, we analytically prove the following: (i) The population and coherences of the system qubit evolve independently toward a nonequilibrium steady-state solution, which is diagonal in the qubit's energy eigenbasis. The population relaxes to this state geometrically, whereas the coherences decay through a more compound behavior. (ii) In the long time limit, the system approaches a steady state that generally differs from the thermal state of the ancilla. We derive this steady-state solution and show its dependence on the interaction parameters and collision frequency. (iii) We bound the number of interaction steps required to achieve the steady state within a specified error tolerance, and we evaluate the energetic cost associated with the process. Our key finding is that deterministic system-ancilla interactions do not typically result in the system thermalizing to the thermal state of the ancilla. Instead, they generate a distinct nonequilibrium steady state, which we explicitly derive. However, we also identify an operational regime that leads to thermalization with a few long and possibly randomized collisions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_05392
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Equilibrium and nonequilibrium steady states with the repeated interaction protocol: Relaxation dynamics and energetic cost
Prositto, Alessandro
Forbes, Madeline
Segal, Dvira
Quantum Physics
We study the dynamics of a qubit system interacting with thermalized bath-ancilla spins via a repeated interaction scheme. Considering generic initial conditions for the system and employing a Heisenberg-type interaction between the system and the ancillas, we analytically prove the following: (i) The population and coherences of the system qubit evolve independently toward a nonequilibrium steady-state solution, which is diagonal in the qubit's energy eigenbasis. The population relaxes to this state geometrically, whereas the coherences decay through a more compound behavior. (ii) In the long time limit, the system approaches a steady state that generally differs from the thermal state of the ancilla. We derive this steady-state solution and show its dependence on the interaction parameters and collision frequency. (iii) We bound the number of interaction steps required to achieve the steady state within a specified error tolerance, and we evaluate the energetic cost associated with the process. Our key finding is that deterministic system-ancilla interactions do not typically result in the system thermalizing to the thermal state of the ancilla. Instead, they generate a distinct nonequilibrium steady state, which we explicitly derive. However, we also identify an operational regime that leads to thermalization with a few long and possibly randomized collisions.
title Equilibrium and nonequilibrium steady states with the repeated interaction protocol: Relaxation dynamics and energetic cost
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.05392