Ground-state energy fluctuations of a system coupled to a bath

and

2002 EDP Sciences
, , Citation K. E. Nagaev and M. Büttiker 2002 EPL 58 475 DOI 10.1209/epl/i2002-00420-8

0295-5075/58/4/475

Abstract

It is often argued that a small non-degenerate quantum system coupled to a bath has a fixed energy in its ground state since a fluctuation in energy would require an energy supply from the bath. We consider a simple model of a harmonic oscillator (the system) coupled to a linear string and determine the mean-squared energy fluctuations. We also analyze the two-time correlator of the energy and discuss its behavior for a finite string.

Export citation and abstract BibTeX RIS

10.1209/epl/i2002-00420-8