Landauer-B\"uttiker approach to strongly coupled quantum thermodynamics: inside-outside duality of entropy evolution

Abstract

We develop a Landauer-B\"uttiker theory of entropy evolution in time-dependent strongly coupled electron systems. This formalism naturally avoids the problem of system-bath distinction caused by the strong hybridization of central system and surrounding reservoirs. In an adiabatic expansion up to first order beyond the quasistatic limit, it provides a clear understanding of the connection between heat and entropy currents generated by time-dependent potentials and shows their connection to the occurring dissipation. Combined with the work required to change the potential, the developed formalism provides a full thermodynamic description from an outside perspective, applicable to arbitrary non-interacting electron systems.