Heat flow through the quantum heat valve coupled to ohmic baths via a master equation approach

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Vaaranta, Antti, Cattaneo, Marco, Muratore-Ginanneschi, Paolo, Pekola, Jukka
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866914344180121600
author Vaaranta, Antti
Cattaneo, Marco
Muratore-Ginanneschi, Paolo
Pekola, Jukka
author_facet Vaaranta, Antti
Cattaneo, Marco
Muratore-Ginanneschi, Paolo
Pekola, Jukka
contents We provide a theoretical model for the non-equilibrium steady state heat flow through a quantum heat valve. The model is based on a master equation approach, where the partial secular approximation has been carefully performed in order to obtain accurate results. Our study assumes an ohmic spectral density for the two thermal baths of the model. This is in contrast with previous treatments of the quantum heat valve, where the baths have been assumed as being structured with a peaked spectral density near the resonance frequency of the resonator. These studies have also taken the resonator to be a part of the open quantum system of interest, which results in double counting of the resonator, as the latter appears both in the spectral density of the bath and as a part of the open system. Although this model accounts for the observations in a satisfactory way, it raises issues regarding its physical interpretation. Our method solves this conceptual problem. We apply it to describe an experiment on a quantum heat valve, showing that it successfully captures the experimental results and improves upon the previous theoretical model, which suffered from the resonator double-counting issue. Our findings confirm that the careful application of the master equation approach, in particular when it comes to the secular approximation, is a useful tool for explaining realistic experimental setups.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_19908
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Heat flow through the quantum heat valve coupled to ohmic baths via a master equation approach
Vaaranta, Antti
Cattaneo, Marco
Muratore-Ginanneschi, Paolo
Pekola, Jukka
Quantum Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
We provide a theoretical model for the non-equilibrium steady state heat flow through a quantum heat valve. The model is based on a master equation approach, where the partial secular approximation has been carefully performed in order to obtain accurate results. Our study assumes an ohmic spectral density for the two thermal baths of the model. This is in contrast with previous treatments of the quantum heat valve, where the baths have been assumed as being structured with a peaked spectral density near the resonance frequency of the resonator. These studies have also taken the resonator to be a part of the open quantum system of interest, which results in double counting of the resonator, as the latter appears both in the spectral density of the bath and as a part of the open system. Although this model accounts for the observations in a satisfactory way, it raises issues regarding its physical interpretation. Our method solves this conceptual problem. We apply it to describe an experiment on a quantum heat valve, showing that it successfully captures the experimental results and improves upon the previous theoretical model, which suffered from the resonator double-counting issue. Our findings confirm that the careful application of the master equation approach, in particular when it comes to the secular approximation, is a useful tool for explaining realistic experimental setups.
title Heat flow through the quantum heat valve coupled to ohmic baths via a master equation approach
topic Quantum Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.19908