Quantum thermodynamics with fast driving and strong coupling via the mesoscopic leads approach

Abstract

Understanding the thermodynamics of driven quantum systems strongly coupled to thermal baths is a central focus of quantum thermodynamics and mesoscopic physics. A variety of different methodological approaches exist in the literature, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. The mesoscopic leads approach was recently generalised to steady state thermal machines and has the ability to replicate Landauer B\"uttiker theory in the non-interacting limit. In this approach a set of discretised lead modes, each locally damped, provide a markovian embedding for the baths. In this work we further generalise this approach to incorporate an arbitrary time dependence in the system Hamiltonian. Following a careful discussion of the calculation of thermodynamic quantities we illustrate the power of our approach by studying several driven mesoscopic examples coupled to finite temperature fermionic baths, replicating known results in various limits. In the case of a driven non interacting quantum dot we show how fast driving can be used to induce heat rectification.