Hidden Dynamical Symmetry and Quantum Thermodynamics from the First Principles: Quantized Small Environment

Abstract

Evolution of a self-consistent joint system (JS), i.e., a quantum system (QS) + thermal bath (TB), is considered within the framework of the Langevin–Schrödinger (L-Sch) type equation. As a tested QS, we considered two linearly coupled quantum oscillators that interact with TB. The influence of TB on QS is described by the white noise type autocorrelation function. Using the reference differential equation, the original L-Sch equation is reduced to an autonomous form on a random space–time continuum, which reflects the fact of the existence of a hidden symmetry of JS. It is proven that, as a result of JS relaxation, a two-dimensional quantized small environment is formed, which is an integral part of QS. The possibility of constructing quantum thermodynamics from the first principles of non-Hermitian quantum mechanics without using any additional axioms has been proven. A numerical algorithm has been developed for modeling various properties and parameters of the QS and its environment.

Keywords

• open quantum system
• Langevin–Schrödinger equation
• non-Hermitian quantum mechanics
• functional integral representation
• small quantized environment
• Bell states