Publisher
AMER INST PHYSICSCitation
J. Chem. Phys. 151, 064115 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5100182Journal
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICSRights
Copyright © 2019 Author(s).Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
We consider open quantum systems consisting of a finite system of independent fermions with arbitrary Hamiltonian coupled to one or more equilibrium fermion reservoirs (which need not be in equilibrium with each other). A strong form of the third law of thermodynamics, S(T) -> 0 as T -> 0, is proven for fully open quantum systems in thermal equilibrium with their environment, defined as systems where all states are broadened due to environmental coupling. For generic open quantum systems, it is shown that S(T) -> g ln 2 as T -> 0, where g is the number of localized states lying exactly at the chemical potential of the reservoir. For driven open quantum systems in a nonequilibrium steady state, it is shown that the local entropy S(x; T) -> 0 as T(x) -> 0, except for cases of measure zero arising due to localized states, where T(x) is the temperature measured by a local thermometer. Published under license by AIP Publishing.Note
12 month embargo; published online: 13 August 2019ISSN
0021-9606Version
Final published versionSponsors
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science [DE-SC0006699]ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1063/1.5100182