We introduce a type of quantum dissipation -- local quantum friction -- by adding to the Hamiltonian a local potential that breaks time-reversal invariance so as to cool the system. Unlike the Kossakowski-Lindblad master equation, local quantum friction directly effects unitary evolution of the wavefunctions rather than the density matrix: it may thus be used to cool fermionic many-body systems with thousands of wavefunctions that must remain orthogonal. In addition to providing an efficient way to simulate quantum dissipation and non-equilibrium dynamics, local quantum friction coupled with adiabatic state preparation significantly speeds up many-body simulations, making the solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation significantly simpler than the solution of its stationary counterpart.
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