Entropy production of quantum reset models

Abstract

We analyze the entropy production of Quantum Reset Models (QRMs) corresponding to quantum dynamical semigroups driven by Lindbladians motivated by a probabilistic description of dissipation in an external environment. We investigate the strict positivity of entropy production for Lindbladians given as sums of QRMs, when the Hamiltonian of the total Lindbladian is split as an affine combination of Hamiltonians of the individual QRMs. In this setup, we derive conditions on the coefficients of the combination and on the reset states ensuring either positive or zero entropy production. Second, we deal with a tri-partite system subject at its ends to two independent QRMs and a weak coupling Hamiltonian. The latter is split as an affine combination of individual Hamiltonians, and we provide necessary and sufficient conditions ensuring strict positivity of the entropy production to leading order, with the possible exception of one affine combination. We apply these results to a physically motivated model and exhibit explicit expressions for the leading orders steady-state solution, entropy production and entropy fluxes. Moreover, these approximations are numerically shown to hold beyond the expected regimes.