Heating, Cooling, and Equilibration of an Interacting Many-Fermion System

Abstract

We discuss the process of equilibrium?s attainment in an interacting many fermionssystem linked to a heat reservoir, whose temperature T is subject toa short-time disturbance of total duration 2τ . In this time-interval, its temperatureincreases up to a maximum value M T , cooling off afterward (alsogradually) to its original value. The process is described by a typical masterequation that leads eventually to equilibration. We discuss how the equilibrationprocess depends upon 1) the system?s fermion-number, 2) the fermion-fermioninteraction?s strength V, 3) the disturbance duration 2τ , and finally4) the maximum number of equations N of the master equation.