Microscopic Features of Bosonic Quantum Transport and Entropy Production

Abstract

The microscopic features of bosonic quantum transport in a nonequilibrium steady state, which breaks time reversal invariance spontaneously, are investigated. The analysis is based on the probability distributions, generated by the correlation functions of the particle current and the entropy production operator. The general approach is applied to an exactly solvable model with a point-like interaction driving the system away from equilibrium. The quantum fluctuations of the particle current and the entropy production are explicitly evaluated in the zero frequency limit. It is shown that all moments of the entropy production distribution are non-negative, which provides a microscopic version of the second law of thermodynamics. On this basis a concept of efficiency, taking into account all quantum fluctuations, is proposed and analyzed. The role of the quantum statistics in this context is also discussed.