Many-body work distributions

The work distribution function for a non-relativistic, non-interacting quantum many-body system interacting with classical external sources is investigated. Exact expressions for the characteristic function corresponding to the work distribution function is obtained for arbitrary switching function and coupling functions. The many-body frequencies are assumed to be generally time-dependent in order to take into account the possibility of moving the boundaries of the system in a predefined process linking the characteristic function to the fluctuation-induced energies in confined geometries. Some limiting cases are considered and discussed. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.