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PhyslibAlpha.ProbabilisticTheory.LocalNet.Thermodynamic

The thermodynamic limit

Limits of finite-volume expectations define compatible states of the infinite system.

i. Overview

Macroscopic equilibrium is idealised as a state of the infinite system, obtained as a limit of states of larger and larger finite boxes. That such limits exist is a compactness statement: the set of states of each local system is compact, so along an ultrafilter of boxes exhausting the system the expectation values of every local observable converge. The limits are automatically compatible with enlargement of regions, because inclusions compose, so the limit is a state of the net with no further assumption.

The finite-volume states need not be equilibrium states. The theorem constructs a limit along a chosen exhausting ultrafilter; it does not assert convergence along the full family of volumes or uniqueness of the thermodynamic limit.

Properties that survive the limit are inherited by it. In particular if the finite-volume states become invariant under translations in the limit of large boxes, the limit is homogeneous. This is the standard route to translation-invariant states of the infinite system, and it applies to classical and quantum systems alike.

ii. Key results

- `ThermodynamicFamily` : states of larger and larger boxes exhausting the system. - `ThermodynamicFamily.exists_limit` : a state of the infinite system exists as a limit. - `ThermodynamicFamily.limitState` : a chosen limit of the finite-volume states. - `ThermodynamicFamily.isInvariant_limitState` : asymptotic homogeneity gives a homogeneous limit.

iii. Table of contents

  • A. Finite-volume expectations
  • B. Existence of limit points
  • C. Invariance of limit points

iv. References

* O. Bratteli & D. Robinson, Operator Algebras and Quantum Statistical Mechanics 1, 2nd ed., Chapter 2. * O. Bratteli & D. Robinson, Operator Algebras and Quantum Statistical Mechanics 2, 2nd ed., Chapter 5.

A. Finite-volume expectations

B. Existence of limit points

C. Invariance of limit points

11 declarations

definition

Expectation value of a local observable aa in finite volume Λi\Lambda_i

Given a thermodynamic family FF indexed by i∈ιi \in \iota, a region XX, and a local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), this function returns the expectation value of aa with respect to the finite-volume state ωi\omega_i if the region XX is contained within the finite volume Λi\Lambda_i (i.e., X≤ΛiX \le \Lambda_i). If XX is not contained in Λi\Lambda_i, the value is 00. Specifically, the value is given by ωi(ιX→Λi(a))\omega_i(\iota_{X \to \Lambda_i}(a)) when X≤ΛiX \le \Lambda_i, where ιX→Λi\iota_{X \to \Lambda_i} is the inclusion of the local observable into the algebra of the larger volume.

theorem

Expectation value F.val(X,a,i)=ωi(ιX→Λi(a))F.\text{val}(X, a, i) = \omega_i(\iota_{X \to \Lambda_i}(a)) for X≤ΛiX \le \Lambda_i

For a thermodynamic family FF with states ωi\omega_i on finite volumes Λi\Lambda_i, let XX be a region and a∈A(X)a \in A(X) be a local observable. If XX is contained within the finite volume Λi\Lambda_i (i.e., X≤ΛiX \le \Lambda_i), then the expectation value F.val(X,a,i)F.\text{val}(X, a, i) is given by ωi(ιX→Λi(a))\omega_i(\iota_{X \to \Lambda_i}(a)), where ιX→Λi\iota_{X \to \Lambda_i} is the inclusion map of the local observable into the algebra of the larger volume Λi\Lambda_i.

definition

σ\sigma is the thermodynamic limit of the family FF

A state σ\sigma of the infinite system (represented as a `NetState`) is the thermodynamic limit of a family FF if, for every region XX and every local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), the expectation values F.val(X,a,i)F.\text{val}(X, a, i) converge to the expectation value σ.ω(X,a)\sigma.\omega(X, a) along the filter U\mathcal{U} associated with FF. Specifically, σ\sigma satisfies: ∀X,∀a∈A(X),lim⁡i→UF.val(X,a,i)=σ.ω(X,a) \forall X, \forall a \in A(X), \lim_{i \to \mathcal{U}} F.\text{val}(X, a, i) = \sigma.\omega(X, a) where F.val(X,a,i)F.\text{val}(X, a, i) denotes the expectation of the observable aa in the finite volume Λi\Lambda_i (vanishing if XX is not contained in Λi\Lambda_i).

theorem

Uniqueness of the Thermodynamic Limit State

Let FF be a thermodynamic family of states on a net of observables. If σ\sigma and τ\tau are two states of the infinite system (net states) that both satisfy the condition of being a thermodynamic limit of FF, then σ=τ\sigma = \tau. Specifically, if for every region XX and every local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), the limit of the finite-volume expectation values along the associated ultrafilter U\mathcal{U} converges to both σ(a)\sigma(a) and τ(a)\tau(a), then the states σ\sigma and τ\tau are identical.

theorem

Existence of a local limit state for a thermodynamic family

Let FF be a thermodynamic family of states indexed by i∈ιi \in \iota with an associated filter U\mathcal{U} on ι\iota. For any local region XX in the set of regions RR, there exists a state ϕ\phi in the state space S(A(X))\mathcal{S}(A(X)) of the local algebra A(X)A(X) such that for every local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), the finite-volume expectation values converge to ϕ(a)\phi(a) along the filter U\mathcal{U}. That is, lim⁡i→UvalF(X,a,i)=ϕ(a),\lim_{i \to \mathcal{U}} \text{val}_F(X, a, i) = \phi(a), where valF(X,a,i)\text{val}_F(X, a, i) denotes the expectation value of the observable aa in the ii-th finite-volume state.

theorem

Existence of a Thermodynamic Limit State

Let FF be a thermodynamic family of states (ωi)i∈I(\omega_i)_{i \in I} on a net of observables, and let U\mathcal{U} be an ultrafilter on the index set II. There exists a state σ\sigma of the infinite system (a net state) such that for every local region XX and every local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), the limit of the expectation values of aa along the ultrafilter U\mathcal{U} converges to the expectation value of aa in the state σ\sigma. That is, lim⁡i→Uωi(a)=σ(a) \lim_{i \to \mathcal{U}} \omega_i(a) = \sigma(a) where ωi(a)\omega_i(a) represents the expectation value of aa in the finite-volume state indexed by ii (formally defined as the value of aa under ωi\omega_i when the region XX is contained in the finite volume Λi\Lambda_i).

definition

Thermodynamic limit state

Let FF be a thermodynamic family of states (ωi)i∈I(\omega_i)_{i \in I} defined on a net of observables NN, and let U\mathcal{U} be its associated ultrafilter. The thermodynamic limit state is a specific state σ\sigma of the infinite system (a net state) chosen such that for every local region XX and every local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), the expectation value σ(a)\sigma(a) is the limit of the finite-volume expectation values along the ultrafilter U\mathcal{U}: σ(a)=lim⁡i→UvalF(X,a,i) \sigma(a) = \lim_{i \to \mathcal{U}} \text{val}_F(X, a, i) where valF(X,a,i)\text{val}_F(X, a, i) is the expectation value of aa in the ii-th finite-volume state.

theorem

Expectation Values Converge to the Thermodynamic Limit State σ(a)=lim⁡i→Uωi(a)\sigma(a) = \lim_{i \to \mathcal{U}} \omega_i(a)

Let FF be a thermodynamic family of states (ωi)i∈I(\omega_i)_{i \in I} and let U\mathcal{U} be its associated ultrafilter. For any local region XX and any local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), the expectation values of aa in the finite-volume states (given by valF(X,a,i)\text{val}_F(X, a, i)) converge along the ultrafilter U\mathcal{U} to the expectation value of aa in the thermodynamic limit state σ\sigma (denoted `F.limitState`). That is: lim⁡i→UvalF(X,a,i)=σ(a) \lim_{i \to \mathcal{U}} \text{val}_F(X, a, i) = \sigma(a) where valF(X,a,i)\text{val}_F(X, a, i) is the expectation value of aa in the ii-th finite-volume state ωi\omega_i if the region XX is contained within the volume Λi\Lambda_i, and 00 otherwise.

theorem

The thermodynamic limit state is a limit of its family

Let FF be a thermodynamic family of states defined on a net of observables NN with an associated ultrafilter U\mathcal{U}. Let σ\sigma be the thermodynamic limit state (denoted by `limitState`) of the family FF. Then σ\sigma is a limit of FF in the sense that for every local region XX and every local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), the expectation value of aa in the state σ\sigma, denoted σ.ω(X,a)\sigma.\omega(X, a), is the limit of the finite-volume expectation values F.val(X,a,i)F.\text{val}(X, a, i) along the ultrafilter U\mathcal{U}: lim⁡i→UF.val(X,a,i)=σ.ω(X,a) \lim_{i \to \mathcal{U}} F.\text{val}(X, a, i) = \sigma.\omega(X, a)

theorem

The thermodynamic limit of a family of restricted states is the original state

Let NN be a net of observables and σ\sigma be a state of the infinite system (a net state). Suppose FF is a thermodynamic family of states (ωi)i∈I(\omega_i)_{i \in I} defined on regions (Λi)i∈I(\Lambda_i)_{i \in I}. If for every index ii, the local state ωi\omega_i is equal to the restriction of the global state σ\sigma to the region Λi\Lambda_i (i.e., ωi=σ∣Λi\omega_i = \sigma|_{\Lambda_i}), then the thermodynamic limit state of the family FF is equal to σ\sigma.

theorem

Asymptotic Invariance of Finite-Volume States Implies Invariance of the Thermodynamic Limit State

Let FF be a thermodynamic family of finite-volume states (ωi)i∈I(\omega_i)_{i \in I} on a local net of observables NN, and let σ\sigma be the thermodynamic limit state associated with the ultrafilter U\mathcal{U} on II. Let α\alpha be a symmetry action of a group GG on the net, where τg,X\tau_{g,X} denotes the transformation mapping an observable aa in region XX to its translate in region g⋅Xg \cdot X. If for every group element g∈Gg \in G, every local region XX, and every local observable a∈A(X)a \in A(X), the expectation values satisfy the asymptotic invariance condition lim⁡i→U(valF(g⋅X,τg,X(a),i)−valF(X,a,i))=0,\lim_{i \to \mathcal{U}} \left( \text{val}_F(g \cdot X, \tau_{g,X}(a), i) - \text{val}_F(X, a, i) \right) = 0, where valF(X,a,i)\text{val}_F(X, a, i) is the expectation value of aa in the ii-th finite-volume state (defined as ωi(a)\omega_i(a) if XX is contained in the ii-th volume and 00 otherwise), then the thermodynamic limit state σ\sigma is invariant under the action α\alpha.