English

Stochastic thermodynamics in the quantum regime: From quantum measurement to quantum trajectories

Quantum Physics 2016-10-17 v2 Statistical Mechanics

Abstract

This article sets up a new formalism to investigate stochastic thermodynamics of out-of-equilibrium quantum systems, where stochasticity primarily comes from quantum measurement. In the absence of any bath, we define a purely quantum component to heat exchange, that corresponds to energy fluctuations induced by measurement back-action. By providing a central position to quantum measurement, our formalism bridges the gap between quantum optics and quantum thermodynamics: Thermal signatures of measurement induced irreversibility are identified in a simple implementation of Jarzynski equality, while quantum thermodynamics sheds new light on textbook paradoxical trajectories in quantum optics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1603.07266,
  title  = {Stochastic thermodynamics in the quantum regime: From quantum measurement to quantum trajectories},
  author = {Cyril Elouard and David Herrera Marti and Maxime Clusel and Alexia Auffèves},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.07266},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

This article has been withdrawn by the authors to be replaced by a new version available at: arXiv:1607.02404