Quantum thermodynamics of driven-dissipative condensates

Abstract

Polariton condensates occur away from thermal equilibrium, in an open system where heat and particles are continually exchanged with reservoirs. These phenomena have been extensively analyzed in terms of kinetic equations. Based on the collection of knowledge about polariton kinetics provided by these simulations and by experimental studies, we constructed a few-level model that captures the main processes involved in the buildup of a ground-state population of polaritons. This allows condensation to be understood as the output of a thermal machine and exposes the thermodynamic constraints on its occurrence. The model consists of a three-level system interacting with a field and connected to a hot and a cold thermal reservoir that represent a non-resonant pump and the lattice phonons. This subsystem can drive a condensate, through polariton–polariton scattering, which produces work in the form of coherent light emission from the microcavity. We obtain a phase diagram as a function of the temperatures of the two baths and investigate the possible types of phase transition that lead to the condensate phase.