Quantum mechanics

Algorithm

Phase (matter)

Equidistant

Social psychology

Phase space

Computer science

Statistical physics

Thermodynamics

Physics

Database

Psychology

Mathematics

Thermal

Maxima and minima

Relaxation (psychology)

Work (physics)

Condensed matter physics

Phase diagram

Mathematical analysis

Geometry

Quantum

Measure (data warehouse)

Thermalisation

State (computer science)

Physical Review Research

A recent work [A. Lapolla and A. Godec, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 110602 (2020)] showed that among a pair of thermodynamically equidistant quenches from a colder and a hotter initial state at a fixed ambient temperature, the relaxation from the colder initial state (uphill relaxation) is always faster, for dynamics close to stable minima. Here we show that this is not generically the case for open quantum systems with two or three energy levels. We find that both faster uphill and faster downhill relaxation and symmetric thermal relaxation can be observed in equidistant quenches, depending on the transition rates and the choice of the distance measure used. Furthermore, we obtain a phase diagram in the parameter space for the three-level system corresponding to different thermalization behaviors.

Equidistant quenches in few-level quantum systems