Speaker: Nicole Yunger Halpern (NIST + QuICS + University of Maryland) – Title: Quantum thermodynamics for lattice gauge theories
January 23 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Research Progress Meeting
Date: January 23, 2025
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Nicole Yunger Halpern (NIST + QuICS + University of Maryland)
Title: Quantum thermodynamics for lattice gauge theories
Abstract: A key objective in nuclear and high-energy physics is to describe nonequilibrium dynamics of matter, e.g., in the early universe and in particle colliders, starting from the Standard Model. Classical-computing methods, via the framework of lattice gauge theory, have experienced limited success in this mission. Quantum simulation of lattice gauge theories holds promise for overcoming computational limitations. Because of local constraints (Gauss’s laws), lattice gauge theories have an intricate Hilbert-space structure. This structure complicates the definition of thermodynamic properties of systems coupled to reservoirs during equilibrium and nonequilibrium processes. We show how to define thermodynamic quantities such as work and heat using strong-coupling thermodynamics, a framework that has recently burgeoned within the field of quantum thermodynamics. Our definitions suit instantaneous quenches, simple nonequilibrium processes undertaken in quantum simulators. To illustrate our framework, we compute the work and heat exchanged during a quench in a Z2 lattice gauge theory coupled to matter in 1+1 dimensions. The thermodynamic quantities, as functions of the quench parameter, evidence an expected phase transition.
Reference: Davoudi, Jarzynski, Mueller, Oruganti, Powers, and NYH, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 250402 (2024). https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/ PhysRevLett.133.250402
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