\(C^*\)-Fermi systems and detailed balance (Q2221130)

The article under review formulates and studies a detailed balanced condition for quantum dynamical system in the setting of fermionic $C^*$ and von Neumann algebras, which basically means $\mathbb Z_2$-graded $C^*$ or von Neumann algebras. Given a von Neumann algebra $\mathcal{M}\subseteq\mathcal{B}(\mathcal{H})$ and a self-adjoint unitary $\Gamma$ such that $\Gamma\mathcal{M}\Gamma = \mathcal{M}$, we equip $\mathcal{M}$ with the $\mathbb Z_2$-grading coming from conjugation by $\Gamma$ and denote by $\mathcal{M}'_\Gamma$ the corresponding twisted commutant (i.e., commutant in the sense of graded algebra). Let $\chi:\mathcal{M}\to \mathcal{M}'_\Gamma$ be an isomorphism, which is usually assumed to be grading equivariant. For a positive map $\psi$ from $\mathcal{M}$ to $\mathcal{M}$, one considers $\psi^\chi= \chi\circ\psi\circ\chi^{-1}: \mathcal{M}'_\Gamma\to \mathcal{M}'_\Gamma$. On the other hand, there is a canonical `twisted dual' $\psi' : \mathcal{M}'_\Gamma\to \mathcal{M}'_\Gamma$. The authors call $\psi$ to satisfy (fermionic) detailed balance if these two maps coincide, i.e., $\psi^\chi=\psi'$. The authors go on to discuss several examples of such maps and discuss other related issues. The article also has a self-contained and detailed discussion of the relevant mathematical concepts including graded tensor product (both algebraic and analytic) and also tensor product of states on such algebras. From a mathematical point of view, these are more or less standard, but the article has nicely woven them into a physically interesting concept of detailed balance and its applications.