Entropy, the Wigner Distribution Function, and the Approach to Equilibrium of a System of Coupled Harmonic Oscillators
- 1 February 1971
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review A
- Vol. 3 (2) , 828-831
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.3.828
Abstract
The entropy is determined of a quantum-mechanical system whose statistical state is characterized by a Wigner distribution function that is Gaussian in form. It is found to depend only on the variance of the distribution function. This enables us to study quantum mechanically the approach to equilibrium of coupled harmonic-oscillator chains, a system for which a classical treatment has been given recently by Robertson and Huerta.Keywords
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