Validity of nonequilibrium work relations for the rapidly expanding quantum piston

Abstract: Recent work by Teifel and Mahler [Eur. Phys. J. B 75, 275 (2010)] raises legitimate concerns regarding the validity of quantum nonequilibrium work relations in processes involving moving hard walls. We study this issue in the context of the rapidly expanding one-dimensional quantum piston. Utilizing exact solutions of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation, we find that the evolution of the wave function can be decomposed into static and dynamic components, which have simple semiclassical interpretations in terms of particle-piston collisions. We show that nonequilibrium work relations remains valid at any finite piston speed, provided both components are included, and we study explicitly the work distribution for this model system.