Moallison F. Cavalcante

Aug 5, 2024 | link.aps.org | Moallison F. Cavalcante |Eduardo Miranda |Sebastian Deffner

We consider the optimal control of switching on a coupling term between two quantum many-body systems. Specifically, we (i) quantify the energetic cost of establishing a weak junction between two quantum spin-1/2 chains in finite time τ and (ii) identify the energetically optimal protocol to realize it. For linear driving protocols, we find that for long times the excess (irreversible) work scales as τ−η, where η=1,2 or a nonuniversal number depending on the phase of the chains.