Related papers: Using a quantum work meter to test non-equilibrium…
In this paper we give a pedagogical introduction to the ideas of quantum thermodynamics and work fluctuations, using only basic concepts from quantum and statistical mechanics. After reviewing the concept of work, as usually taught in…
Work is a process-based quantity, and its measurement typically requires interaction with a measuring device multiple times. While classical systems allow for non-invasive and accurate measurements, quantum systems present unique challenges…
At non-zero temperature classical systems exhibit statistical fluctuations of thermodynamic quantities arising from the variation of the system's initial conditions and its interaction with the environment. The fluctuating work, for…
Of indisputable relevance for non-equilibrium thermodynamics, fluctuations theorems have been generalized to the framework of quantum thermodynamics, with the notion of work playing a key role in such contexts. The typical approach consists…
The classical Jarzynski equality establishes an exact relation between the stochastic work performed on a system driven out of thermal equilibrium and the free energy difference in a corresponding quasi-static process. This fluctuation…
Thermodynamics constrains changes to the energy of a system, both deliberate and random, via its first and second laws. When the system is not in equilibrium, fluctuation theorems such as the Jarzynski equality further restrict the…
In this Letter we investigate the concept of quantum work and its measurability from the viewpoint of quantum measurement theory. Very often, quantum work and fluctuation theorems are discussed in the framework of projective two-point…
The concept of work is basic for statistical thermodynamics. To gain a fuller understanding of work and its (quantum) features, it needs to be represented as an average of a fluctuating quantity. Here I focus on the work done between two…
The work is a concept of fundamental importance in thermodynamics. An open question is how to describe the work fluctuation for quantum coherent processes in the presence of initial quantum coherence in the energy basis. With the aim of…
To define the work performed on a driven quantum system in a physically sound way has turned out to be a truly non-trivial task, except in some special cases of limited applicability. This topic has been in a focus of intense research…
A result of great theoretical and experimental interest, Jarzynski equality predicts a free energy change $\Delta F$ of a system at inverse temperature $\beta$ from an ensemble average of non-equilibrium exponential work, i.e., $\langle…
In this review paper, we discuss the statistical description in non-equilibrium regimes of energy fluctuations originated by the interaction between a quantum system and a measurement apparatus applying a sequence of repeated quantum…
Research on the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of quantum systems has so far produced important statements on the thermodynamics of small systems undergoing quantum mechanical evolutions. Key examples are provided by the Crooks and Jarzynski…
Thermodynamics is the phenomenological theory of heat and work. Here we analyze to what extent quantum thermodynamic relations are immune to the underlying mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics. As a main result, we show that the…
According to the Second Law of thermodynamics, the evolution of physical systems has a preferred direction, that is characterized by some positive entropy production. Here we propose a direct way to measure the stochastic entropy produced…
The fluctuation theorem, where the central quantity is the work distribution, is an important characterization of nonequilibrium thermodynamics. In this work, based on the dissipaton-equation-of-motion theory, we develop an exact method to…
One of the most important goals in quantum thermodynamics is to demonstrate advantages of thermodynamic protocols over their classical counterparts. For that, it is necessary to (i) develop theoretical tools and experimental set-ups to deal…
Fluctuations of thermodynamic observables, such as heat and work, contain relevant information on the underlying physical process. These fluctuations are however not taken into account in the traditional laws of thermodynamics. While the…
Quantum thermodynamics allows for the interconversion of quantum coherence and mechanical work. Quantum coherence is thus a potential physical resource for quantum machines. However, formulating a general nonequilibrium thermodynamics of…
An open question of fundamental importance in thermodynamics is how to describe the fluctuations of work for quantum coherent processes. In the standard approach, based on a projective energy measurement both at the beginning and at the end…