Opening the system to the environment: new theories and tools in classical and quantum settings

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Summary: Theoretical physics PhD project in the field of quantum thermodynamics. Investigating the impact of strong coupling and quantum effects on thermodynamic properties and laws using tools from quantum information theory and statistical physics. Project details: Following initial literature review the student will be guided to understand how the global time-independent Hamiltonian gives rise to a local time-dependent Hamiltonian. The student will establish in what situations the notion of a local system Hamiltonian is sensible when the system is strongly coupled and a prescription of how to experimentally confirm its form. For the remaining situations they will be guided in seeking reasons why the association of a system Hamiltonian is in principle impossible for these cases. Based on these findings the student will then be able to reformulate laws of thermodynamics for strongly coupled open systems and identify any differences to standard thermodynamics. The developed theoretical framework will have applications for a number of recent experimental developments that push towards the strongly coupled quantum regime. Controlled nanomechanical oscillators, that are useful as mass sensors for single molecules, are exactly in this regime.