A Perspective on Lindblad's Non-Equilibrium Entropy

Abstract

In 1983 Göran Lindblad published a monograph on nonequilibrium thermodynamics. We here summarize the contents of this book, and provide a perspective on its relation to later developments in statistical physics and quantum physics. We high-light two aspects. The first is the idea that while all unitaries can be allowed in principle, different theories result from limiting which unitary evolutions are realized in the real world. The second is that Lindblad’s proposal for thermodynamic entropy (as opposed to information-theoretic entropy) foreshadows much more recent investigations into optimal quantum transport which is a current research focus in several fields.