Zeroth law of thermodynamics for thermalized open quantum systems having constants of motion

Abstract

We study the evolution of an open quantum system described by a dynamical semigroup having the Lindblad superoperator as a generator. This generator may have an eigenfunction with a zero eigenvalue referred to as a constant of motion (COM). An open quantum system has a unique stationary state if and only if it has no COMs. A system with multiple stationary states has a basis of COMs, any COM of the system is a linear combination of the basis COMs. The basis divides the space of system states into subspaces. In each subspace, its own stationary state is formed, and any stationary state of the system is a linear combination of these states. Usually, neither the basis of COMs nor even their number is known. We demonstrate that finding the stationary state of the system does not require looking for COMs. Instead, one can construct a set of "invariant" subspaces. If the system evolution begins from one of these subspaces, the system will remain in it, arriving at a stationary state independent of evolution in other subspaces. We suggest a direct way of finding the invariant subspaces by studying the evolution of the system. We show that the sets of invariant subspaces and subspaces generated by the basis of COMs are equivalent. A stationary state of the system is a weighted sum of stationary states in each invariant subspace; weighting factors are determined by the initial state of the system.