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Contents - Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme

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AdvancedStudyGroup2010:Quantumthermodynamicsoffinitesystems<br />

(Convenor:Prof.Dr.GerhardC.Hegerfeldt)<br />

Members: J.GonzaloMuga(UniversidaddelPasVasco,Spain),LarrySchulman(ClarksonUniversity,<br />

USA),BernardGaveau(UniversitParisVI,France),GiulioCasati(UniversitdegliStudidell’Insubria,<br />

Italia),RafaelSala-Mayato(UniversidaddeLaLaguna,Spain)<br />

TheAdvancedStudyGrouptookplacefromJunetoSeptember2010. Thecompositionofthegroup<br />

changedwithtimeandasaconsequencetheresearchpersuedandtheemphasisputondifferentresearch<br />

topicsalsochangedwithtime.<br />

FromthestartoftheASG,Gaveau,Schulmanandtheconvenorwerepresent.Thetwoformercontinued<br />

towrestlewiththeirthermodynamicsresearchonpower,smallenginesandentanglement. Interpreting<br />

the“study”mandatebroadly,therewasanintenseinteractionforaweekwithavisitorfromAthens,<br />

AntigoneNounou,aphilosopherwithphysicsbackgroundandinterestsingaugefieldsandtheAharonov-<br />

Bohmeffect. AntigoneNounouisoneofthoseparticipatinginacurrentdebateinthephilosophy<br />

communityontherealityofgaugefields.Duringhervisittothe mpipksshegavearousingseminaron<br />

“explanation”,“rousing”inthesensethatsomeofthosewhoattendedwererousedfromskepticismand<br />

self-assurance,torealizethatitcansometimesbedifficulttoknowwhatwemeanasexplanation.The<br />

realitydebatecanlikewisebedifficultforthephysicisttoappreciate,butinanycasethequestionshe<br />

raisedchallengedSchulman’snotionofhowtodealwithmultipleconnectnessinthepathintegral.The<br />

outcomewasapreprint,co-authoredbyGaveau,NounouandSchulman,inwhichtheoriginalhomotopy<br />

ideasretaintheirvalidityinthecontextofthetime-dependentAharonov-Bohmeffect. Therewasalso<br />

overlapwiththeconvenor’srecentexplanationoftheAharonov-Bohmeffectthroughforces.<br />

Whiletheadvancedstudygroupwasinsessionquiteanumberofworkshopsandconferenceswereheld<br />

atthe mpipks,andofcoursetheparticipantsoftheASGtooktheopportunitytoattendsomeofthe<br />

lectures.InaworkshoponBECatthe mpipkstherewasatalkbyJ.Schmiedmayer(Vienna)reporting<br />

experimentalworkrelatingtothermalizationforatomsintraps.Thiswasofobviousinterestforus,and<br />

duringdiscussionswithhimhesuggestedinvitingI.MazetsfromhisgroupasavisitortotheASG.The<br />

latter’svisitledtoanintenseinterchangeonthermalizationinquantumoptics.<br />

Asregardsthenumberofmembersandvisitorspresent,Augustwasthebusiestmonth. Themembers<br />

GonzaloMuga,LarrySchulman,BernardGaveau,RafaelSala-Mayatoandtheconvenorwerejoined<br />

towardtheendofAugustbyGiulioCasati.ThevisitorsinAugustincludedYairEzer,ErikKosloff,Erik<br />

Torrontegui,DavidGuery-Odelin,AndreasRuschhaupt,DanielAlonso,andGünterMahlerwhovisited<br />

forthreeweeks.<br />

ThecollaborationofA.RuschhauptandG.MugawithG.Mahler,withhisexpertise,clarifiedathermodynamicaldescriptionofone-waybarriersandatomdiodes.TheoverlapwithCasatisgroupwasalso<br />

stimulating,astheyproposeheat-one-waybarriers.Thesearemostlyclassicaldevices,andthechallenge<br />

wastofindaquantumphysicalimplementation.<br />

DuringaninformaltalkbyR.Sala-MayatoontheproblemshewasinvestigatingwithG.Mugathe<br />

convenorremarkedonaconnectiontothemeasuringproblemasformulatedbyvonNeumannandlater<br />

somewhatdifferentlybyLüders. Outofthisremarkhasgrownacollaborationonhowtopossibly<br />

distinguishexperimentallybetweenthesetwoapproaches.<br />

InthelastmonthoftheASG,thethermoelectriceffectandtheassociatedthermodynamicefficiency,<br />

writtenintermsoftheso-calledfigureofmerit ZT,wasexaminedingreatdetailinjointdiscussionsby<br />

CasatiandparticipantsoftheASG.Inparticulartheincreaseof ZTwasinvestigated.Theunderstanding<br />

ofthepossiblemicroscopicmechanismleadingtoanincreaseof ZT isatpresentquitelimited. These<br />

commonsessionstookplaceeverydayandlastedseveralhourseachday. Themainpointisthat<br />

dynamicalnonlinearsystemsmayprovideanewapproachtotheproblemandmayallowtounveilthe<br />

physicalmechanismswhichmayleadtohighthermoelectricefficiency. Asaresultofthesediscussions<br />

severallinesoffutureresearchhavebeenproposed,discussedanddetermined.Researchalongtheselines<br />

isnowinprogressasacollaborationamongdifferentscientistswhohaveparticipatedinthestudygroup.<br />

ParticipantsoftheASGestablishedfruitfulinteractionswithotherresearchersofthe mpipksandwith<br />

membersoftheTechnicalUniversityofDresden,inparticularwithMasudulHaque,IngridRotterand<br />

MarkMineev-Weinsteinfromthe mpipksaswellaswithAlexanderEisfeldandRolandKetzmerickfrom<br />

theuniversity.<br />

1.10. AdvancedStudyGroups 37

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