RIGOROUS RESULTS IN NON-EXTENSIVE THERMODYNAMICS

Abstract

This paper studies quantum systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom in the context of non-extensive thermodynamics. A trial density matrix, obtained by heuristic methods, is proved to be the equilibrium density matrix. If the entropic index q is larger than 1 then existence of the trial equilibrium density matrix requires that q is less than some critical value qc which depends on the rate by which the eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian diverge. Existence of a unique equilibrium density matrix is proved if in addition q < 2 holds. For q between 0 and 1, such that 2 < q + qc, the free energy has at least one minimum in the set of trial density matrices. If a unique equilibrium density matrix exists then it is necessarily one of the trial density matrices. Note that this is a finite rank operator, which means that in equilibrium high energy levels have zero probability of occupancy.