Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
Temperature Dependent Motion of a Massive Quantum Particle
Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 1 Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Journal of Modern Physics·Volume 03 (2012)·Pages 610–614·Published 17 July 2012·DOI10.4236/jmp.2012.37083
Copy link · social · email
Abstract
We report model calculations of the time-dependent internal energy and entropy for a single quasi-free massive quantum particle at a constant temperature. We show that the whole process started from a fully coherent quantum state to thermodynamic equilibrium can be understood, based on statistics of diffracted matter waves. As a result of thermal interaction between the particle and its surroundings, the motion of the particle shows new feature.
KeywordsThermodynamicsInternal EnergyEntropy Generation
- N. Piro, et al., “Heralded Single-Photon Absorption by a Single Atom,” Nature Physics, Vol. 7, 2011, pp. 17-20. doi:10.1038/nphys1805
- C. Zipkes, S. Palzer, C. Sias and M. Koehl, “A Trapped Single Ion inside a Bose-Einstein Condensate,” Nature, Vol. 464, No. 18, 2010, pp. 388-391. doi:10.1038/nature08865
- D. Serrate, et al., “Imaging and Manipulating the Spin Direction of Individual Atoms,” Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 5, 2010, pp. 350-353. doi:10.1038/nnano.2010.64
- L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, “Statistical Physics,” 3rd Edition, Pergamon Press Ltd, Oxford, 1980.
- A. E. Allahverdyan and Th. M. Nieuwenhuizen, “Extraction of Work from a Single Thermal Bath in the Quantum Regime,” Physical Review Letters, Vol. 85, No. 9, 2000, pp. 1799-1802. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1799
- G. W. Ford and R. F. O’Connell R, “A Quantum Violation of the Second Law,” Physical Review Letters, Vol. 96, No. 2, 2006, p. 020402. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.020402
- J. P. Peng, “Statistics of a Free Single Quantum Particle at a Finite Temperature,” Modern Physics Letters B, Vol. 24, No. 25, 2010, pp. 2541-2547. doi:10.1142/S0217984910024912
- R. M. Corless, G. H. Gonnet, D. E. G. Hare, D. J. Jeffrey and D. E. Knuth, “On the Lambert W Function,” Advances in Computational Mathematics, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1992, pp. 329-361. doi:10.1007/BF02124750
- R. Hildner, D. Brinks and N. F. van Hulst, “Femtosecond Coherence and Quantum Control of Single Molecules at Room Temperature,” Nature Physics, Vol. 7, 2011, pp. 172-177. doi:10.1038/nphys1858
- I. S. Gradshteyn and I. M. Rizhik, “Tables of Integrals, Series, and Products,” 7th Edition, Elservier Inc., London, 2007.
- A. Zeilinger, R. Gaehler, C. G. Shull, W. Treimer and W. Mampe, “Single- and Double-Slit Diffraction of Neutrons,” Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 60, No. 4, 1988, pp. 1067-1073. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.60.1067
- A. Tonomura, J. Endo, T. Matsuda and T. Kawasaki, “Demonstration of Single-Electron Buildup of an Interference Pattern,” American Journal of Physics, Vol. 57, No. 2, 1989, pp. 117-120. doi:10.1119/1.16104
- D. W. Keith, C. R. Ekstrom, Q. A. Turchtte and D. E. Pritchard, “An Interferometer for Atoms,” Physical Re- view Letters, Vol. 66, No. 21, 1991, pp. 2693-2696. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.66.2693
- C. Presilla, R. Onofrio and M. Patriarca, “Classical and Quantum Measurements of Position,” Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General, Vol. 30, No. 21, 1997, pp. 7385-7411. doi:10.1088/0305-4470/30/21/014