Thermalizing quantum machines: Dissipation and entanglement

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Authors	SCARANI Valerio ZIMAN Mario STELMACHOVIC Peter GISIN Nicolas BŮŽEK Vladimír
Year of publication	2002
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Physical Review Letters
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Informatics
Citation
Field	Theoretical physics
Keywords	quantum information theory; entanglement; dynamics of open quantum systems
Description	We study the relaxation of a quantum system towards the thermal equilibrium using tools developed within the context of quantum information theory. We consider a model in which the system is a qubit, and reaches equilibrium after several successive two-qubit interactions (thermalizing machines) with qubits of a reservoir. We characterize completely the family of thermalizing machines. The model shows a tight link between dissipation, fluctuations, and the maximal entanglement that can be generated by the machines. The interplay of quantum and classical information processes that give rise to practical irreversibility is discussed.
Related projects:	Informatics as the third methodology Non-sequential Models of Computing -- Quantum and Concurrent Distributed Models of Computing