Understanding quantum work in a quantum many-body system

Abstract

Based on previous studies in a single particle system in both the integrable [Jarzynski, Quan, and Rahav, Phys.~Rev.~X {\bf 5}, 031038 (2015)] and the chaotic systems [Zhu, Gong, Wu, and Quan, Phys.~Rev.~E {\bf 93}, 062108 (2016)], we study the the correspondence principle between quantum and classical work distributions in a quantum many-body system. Even though the interaction and the indistinguishability of identical particles increase the complexity of the system, we find that for a quantum many-body system the cumulative quantum work distribution still converges to its classical counterpart in the semiclassical limit. Our results imply that there exists a correspondence principle between quantum and classical work distributions in an interacting quantum many-body system, especially in the large particle number limit, and further justify the definition of quantum work via two point energy measurements in quantum many-body systems.