English

Bounds on quantum Fisher information and uncertainty relations for thermodynamically conjugate variables

Quantum Physics 2025-11-10 v1 Statistical Mechanics

Abstract

Uncertainty relations represent a foundational principle in quantum mechanics, imposing inherent limits on the precision with which \textit{mechanically} conjugate variables such as position and momentum can be simultaneously determined. This work establishes analogous relations for \textit{thermodynamically} conjugate variables -- specifically, a classical intensive parameter θ\theta and its corresponding extensive quantum operator O^\hat{O} -- in equilibrium states. We develop a framework to derive a rigorous thermodynamic uncertainty relation for such pairs, where the uncertainty of the classical parameter θ\theta is quantified by its quantum Fisher information Fθ\mathcal{F}_\theta. The framework is based on an exact integral representation that relates Fθ\mathcal{F}_{\theta} to the autocorrelation function of operator O^\hat{O}. From this representation, we derive a tight upper bound for the quantum Fisher information, which yields a thermodynamic uncertainty relation: ΔθΔOkBT\Delta\theta\,\overline{\Delta O} \ge k_\text{B}T with ΔOθO^Δθ\overline{\Delta O}\equiv\partial_\theta\langle\hat{O}\rangle\,\Delta\theta and TT is the system temperature. The result establishes a fundamental precision limit for quantum sensing and metrology in thermal systems, directly connecting it to the thermodynamic properties of linear response and fluctuations.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2511.05042,
  title  = {Bounds on quantum Fisher information and uncertainty relations for thermodynamically conjugate variables},
  author = {Ye-Ming Meng and Zhe-Yu Shi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.05042},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

14 pages, 3 figures