Title | Thermodynamic limits for optomechanical systems with conservative potentials |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2017 |
Authors | Ragole, S, Xu, H, Lawall, J, Taylor, JM |
Journal | Physical Review B |
Volume | 96 |
Issue | 18 |
Pages | 184106 |
Date Published | 2017/11/13 |
Abstract | The mechanical force from light – radiation pressure – provides an intrinsic nonlinear interaction. Consequently, optomechanical systems near their steady state, such as the canonical optical spring, can display non-analytic behavior as a function of external parameters. This non-analyticity, a key feature of thermodynamic phase transitions, suggests that there could be an effective thermodynamic description of optomechanical systems. Here we explicitly define the thermodynamic limit for optomechanical systems and derive a set of sufficient constraints on the system parameters as the mechanical system grows large. As an example, we show how these constraints can be satisfied in a system with Z2 symmetry and derive a free energy, allowing us to characterize this as an equilibrium phase transition. |
URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.05771 |
DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevB.96.184106 |