Detailed Balance and Free-energy

by R. F. Streater, pp 56-65, "Quantum Information Theory and Open Systems", (eds. H. Nagaoka and M. Ohya), Surikaisekikenkyusho-Kokyuroka, No 980, (Kyoto), 1997.

ABSTRACT

We formulate the notion of detailed balance at a given beta for a discrete Markov chain, and show that it implies that one time-step in the chain is a contraction in the norm ||bullet||{_beta}$; this is defined on the set of states as the dual to the norm on the random variables given by the classical KMS state. It is shown that if the initial state is close to equilibrium in a suitable sense, then an irreducible chain converges to equilibrium in the sense of the dual norm.

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© by Ray Streater, 13/6/00