Developing a quantum thermodynamic theory for driven and heated spin systems.

Quantum thermodynamics is a new research field, where thermodynamics is studied in the small-system size limit where fluctuations become non-negligible, weak coupling between system and environment cannot be assumed, and a fully quantum mechanical description may be needed [1]. This project is concerned with the application of theoretical tools from the fields of quantum thermodynamics and open quantum systems to the problem of modelling the dynamics, the equilibrium state, and the timescale of equilibration, of a collection of interacting spins that are strongly coupled to their environment. The aim of this project is to find analytical equations that describe the spin dynamics when they are driven by a changing magnetic field and exposed to a heated environment (with potentially multiple temperatures). These will then be used to quantify the importance of quantum mechanical and strong coupling effects in the magnetization dynamics and in the long-time steady state of the spins