📝 SummarXiv

Abstract

The Lindbladian formalism models open quantum systems using a 'bottom-up' approach, deriving linear dynamics from system-environment interactions. We present a 'top-down' approach starting with phenomenological constraints, focusing on system's structure, subsystems' interactions, environmental effects, and often using a non-equilibrium variational principle designed to enforce strict thermodynamic consistency. However, incorporating the second law's requirement -- that Gibbs states are the sole stable equilibria -- necessitates nonlinear dynamics, challenging no-signaling principles in composite systems. We reintroduce 'local perception operators' and show that they allow to model signaling-free non-local effects. Using the steepest-entropy-ascent variational principle as an example, we demonstrate the validity of the 'top-down' approach for integrating quantum mechanics and thermodynamics in phenomenological models, with potential applications in quantum computing and resource theories.