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Thermodynamics of Quantum Jump Trajectories

Juan P. Garrahan and Igor Lesanovsky
Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 160601 – Published 19 April 2010
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Abstract

We apply the large-deviation method to study trajectories in dissipative quantum systems. We show that in the long time limit the statistics of quantum jumps can be understood from thermodynamic arguments in terms of dynamical phases and transitions between them in trajectory space. We illustrate our approach with three simple examples: a driven 2-level system where we find a particular scale invariance point in the ensemble of trajectories of emitted photons; a blinking 3-level system, where we argue that intermittency in the photon count is related to a crossover between distinct dynamical phases; and a micromaser, where we find an actual first-order phase transition in the ensemble of trajectories.

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  • Received 17 November 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.160601

©2010 American Physical Society

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Quantum trajectories face a transition

Published 19 April 2010

Quantum jumps such as those observed in photon emission from single molecules show a complex behavior that may indicate a phase transition between different kinds of temporal dynamics.

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Authors & Affiliations

Juan P. Garrahan and Igor Lesanovsky

  • School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 104, Iss. 16 — 23 April 2010

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