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SUMMARY:Variational principle for dissipative quantum systems
DESCRIPTION:Dissipative quantum many-body systems are extremely challenging to
analyze, as most theoretical tools developed for equilibrium systems
cannot be applied. I will present the initial steps towards a deeper
understanding of these systems by introducing a variational principle
for the non-equilibrium steady states of the quantum master equation
describing the dynamics [1]. In particular, I will apply this approach
to study phase transitions in dissipative extensions of the Ising
model and show their importance to ongoing experiments on ultracold
Rydberg atoms [2]. Finally, I will present first results on the
extension of the variational principle to the relaxation dynamics of
dissipative quantum many-body systems [3].

[1] H. Weimer, Phys. Rev. Lett. *114*, 040402 (2015).
[2] H. Weimer, Phys. Rev. A *91*, 063401 (2015).
[3] V. R. Overbeck, H. Weimer, Phys. Rev. A *93*, 012106 (2016).
LOCATION:Erwin Schrödinger Saal
DTSTART:20160420T100000
DTEND:20160420T110000
TZID: Europe/Vienna
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