RT Journal Article
T1 Thermalization Induced by Quantum Scattering
A1 Jacob, Samuel L.
A1 Esposito, Massimiliano
A1 Rodríguez Parrondo, Juan Manuel
A1 Barra, Felipe
AB We use quantum scattering theory to study a fixed quantum system Y subject to collisions with massive particles X described by wave packets. We derive the scattering map for system Y and show that the induced evolution crucially depends on the width of the incident wave packets compared to the level spacing in Y. If Y is nondegenerate, sequential collisions with narrow wave packets cause Y to decohere. Moreover, an ensemble of narrow packets produced by thermal effusion causes Y to thermalize. On the other hand, broad wave packets can act as a source of coherences for Y, even in the case of an ensemble of incident wave packets given by the effusion distribution, preventing thermalization. We illustrate our findings on several simple examples and discuss the consequences of our results in realistic experimental situations.
PB Amer Physical Soc
SN 2691-3399
YR 2021
FD 2021-04-30
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/8445
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/8445
LA eng
NO S.L.J. is supported by the Doctoral Training Unit on Materials for Sensing and Energy Harvesting (MASSENA) with Grant No. FNR PRIDE/15/10935404. M.E. is also funded by the European Research Council (project NanoThermo, ERC-2015-CoG Agreement No. 681456). F.B. thanks Fondecyt project 1191441 and the Millennium Nucleus "Physics of active matter" of the Millennium Scientific Initiative. Part of this work is conducted at the KITP, a facility supported by the US National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF PHY-1748958. J.M.R.P. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Government (Grant Contract FIS-2017-83706-R) and from the Foundational Questions Institute Fund, a donor advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation (Grant No. FQXi-IAF19-01).
NO Unión Europea. H2020
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)
NO Doctoral Training Unit on Materials for Sensing and Energy Harvesting (MASSENA)
NO Fondecyt Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYT
NO US National Science Foundation (NSF)
NO Foundational Questions Institute Fund, a donor advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation
DS Docta Complutense
RD 16 abr 2025