Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Anza F
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5339777 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Scientific reports 20170307
A crucial point in statistical mechanics is the definition of the notion of thermal equilibrium, which can be given as the state that maximises the von Neumann entropy, under the validity of some constraints. Arguing that such a notion can never be experimentally probed, in this paper we propose a new notion of thermal equilibrium, focused on observables rather than on the full state of the quantum system. We characterise such notion of thermal equilibrium for an arbitrary observable via the max ...[more]