title: Irreversible work and inner friction in quantum thermodynamic processes.
abstract: We discuss the thermodynamics of closed quantum systems driven out of equilibrium by a change in a control parameter and undergoing a unitary process. We compare the work actually done on the system with the one that would be performed along ideal adiabatic and isothermal transformations. The comparison with the latter leads to the introduction of irreversible work, while that with the former leads to the introduction of inner friction. We show that these two quantities can be treated on an equal footing, as both can be linked with the heat exchanged in thermalization processes and both can be expressed as relative entropies. Furthermore, we show that a specific fluctuation relation for the entropy production associated with the inner friction exists, which allows the inner friction to be written in terms of its cumulants.
authors.affiliation: Dip. Fisica, Università della Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy and INFN-Gruppo collegato di Cosenza, Cosenza, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Plastina
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia "G. Galilei", Università degli Studi di Padova, via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova (Italy).
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alecce
authors.affiliation: Dip. Fisica, Università della Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy and INFN-Gruppo collegato di Cosenza, Cosenza, Italy and Centre for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: T J G
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Apollaro
authors.affiliation: Dip. Fisica, Università della Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy and INFN-Gruppo collegato di Cosenza, Cosenza, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Falcone
authors.affiliation: Dip. Fisica, Università della Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy and INFN-Gruppo collegato di Cosenza, Cosenza, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Francica
authors.affiliation: IFISC (UIB-CSIC), Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos, UIB Campus, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Galve
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia "G. Galilei", Università degli Studi di Padova, via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova (Italy) and CNISM, Sezione di Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lo Gullo
authors.affiliation: IFISC (UIB-CSIC), Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos, UIB Campus, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zambrini