A resource theoretical unification of Mpemba effects: classical and quantum

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Summer, Alessandro, Moroder, Mattia, Bettmann, Laetitia P., Turkeshi, Xhek, Marvian, Iman, Goold, John
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Summer, Alessandro
Moroder, Mattia
Bettmann, Laetitia P.
Turkeshi, Xhek
Marvian, Iman
Goold, John
author_facet Summer, Alessandro
Moroder, Mattia
Bettmann, Laetitia P.
Turkeshi, Xhek
Marvian, Iman
Goold, John
contents The Mpemba effect originally referred to the observation that, under certain thermalizing dynamics, initially hotter samples can cool faster than colder ones. This effect has since been generalized to other anomalous relaxation behaviors even beyond classical domains, such as symmetry restoration in quantum systems. This work demonstrates that resource theories, widely employed in information theory, provide a unified organizing principle to frame Mpemba physics. We show how the conventional thermal Mpemba effect arises naturally from the resource theory of athermality, while its symmetry-restoring counterpart is fully captured by the resource theories of asymmetry. Leveraging the framework of modes of asymmetry, we demonstrate that the Mpemba effect due to symmetry restoration is governed by the initial overlap with the slowest symmetry-restoring mode -- mirroring the role of the slowest Liouvillian eigenmode in thermal Mpemba dynamics. Through this resource-theoretical formalism, we uncover the connection between these seemingly disparate effects and show that the dynamics of thermalization naturally splits into a symmetry-respecting and a symmetry-breaking term.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_16976
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A resource theoretical unification of Mpemba effects: classical and quantum
Summer, Alessandro
Moroder, Mattia
Bettmann, Laetitia P.
Turkeshi, Xhek
Marvian, Iman
Goold, John
Quantum Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Classical Physics
The Mpemba effect originally referred to the observation that, under certain thermalizing dynamics, initially hotter samples can cool faster than colder ones. This effect has since been generalized to other anomalous relaxation behaviors even beyond classical domains, such as symmetry restoration in quantum systems. This work demonstrates that resource theories, widely employed in information theory, provide a unified organizing principle to frame Mpemba physics. We show how the conventional thermal Mpemba effect arises naturally from the resource theory of athermality, while its symmetry-restoring counterpart is fully captured by the resource theories of asymmetry. Leveraging the framework of modes of asymmetry, we demonstrate that the Mpemba effect due to symmetry restoration is governed by the initial overlap with the slowest symmetry-restoring mode -- mirroring the role of the slowest Liouvillian eigenmode in thermal Mpemba dynamics. Through this resource-theoretical formalism, we uncover the connection between these seemingly disparate effects and show that the dynamics of thermalization naturally splits into a symmetry-respecting and a symmetry-breaking term.
title A resource theoretical unification of Mpemba effects: classical and quantum
topic Quantum Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Classical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.16976