A Palamara, Francesco Plastina, A. Sindona, Irene D'Amico
Abstract The non-equilibrium thermodynamics of interacting quantum many-body systems is investigated within the framework of thermal time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) using a generalized linear-response formulation for the full quantum work statistics. A first-principles route is established to reconstruct the relaxation function that underlies linear-response theory, thereby moving beyond phenomenological descriptions and enabling a consistent evaluation of all moments of the dissipated-work distribution in interacting systems. The predictive power of the approach is demonstrated for the Hubbard model subject to a staggered external potential, where the evolution of the relaxation dynamics during the Mott-to-band-insulator crossover reveals how distinct many-body phases shape the out-of-equilibrium thermodynamic response. These results provide a microscopic and transferable framework for quantum thermodynamics in correlated systems, bridging thermal DFT and non-equilibrium work statistics.