Dissipation in Periodically Driven Quantum Systems: Partial Secularization and Thermodynamic Consistency

Quantum Physics arXiv:2608.00225 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 31 Jul 2026] Title:Dissipation in Periodically Driven Quantum Systems: Partial Secularization and Thermodynamic Consistency Authors:Luísa T. Tude, Carlos Ortega-Taberner, Roberta Zambrini, Gonzalo Manzano View a PDF of the paper titled Dissipation in Periodically Driven Quantum Systems: Partial Secularization and Thermodynamic Consistency, by Lu\'isa T. Tude and 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Periodically driven open quantum systems are central to quantum thermodynamics and quantum control. These systems are typically described using Floquet-Born-Markov master equations, derived with the use of a full secular approximation, and whose thermodynamic implications are often overlooked. In this context, we show that such a strong secular approximation may lead to unphysical predictions for steady state energy currents. We then demonstrate that a coarse-grained formulation of the master equation can regularize these issues while yielding completely positive dynamics and consistent energy currents. The coarse-graining time has a clear physical interpretation, as it defines the temporal resolution at which a Markovian master equation can describe the evolution of the periodically driven system. We show the consistency and validity of our approach by comparing to an exact non-Markovian simulation in paradigmatic examples: a driven two-level system and a three-level maser coupled to hot and cold thermal reservoirs. Our work provides a practical framework for correctly applying the secular approximation in periodically driven-dissipative systems and for assessing the accuracy of master equations of the GKSL form. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) Cite as: arXiv:2608.00225 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2608.00225v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.00225 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Luísa Toledo Tude [view email] [v1] Fri, 31 Jul 2026 19:14:59 UTC (1,462 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Dissipation in Periodically Driven Quantum Systems: Partial Secularization and Thermodynamic Consistency, by Lu\'isa T. Tude and 3 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.stat-mech References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)