Title: Quantum thermodynamics of nonequilibrium processes in lattice gauge theories, and the abstract is:

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. In this talk, I will discuss 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. Our framework will then be demonstrated by computing 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. I will also discuss a relation for general thermal states, derived in this work, between a quantum many-body system’s entanglement Hamiltonian, measurable with quantum-information-processing tools, and the Hamiltonian of mean force, used to define strong-coupling thermodynamic quantities.