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It is a central question in quantum thermodynamics to determine how irreversible is a process that transforms an initial state $\rho$ to a final state $\sigma$, and whether such irreversibility can be thought of as a useful resource. For…
We characterize finite-time thermodynamic processes of multidimensional quadratic overdamped systems. Analytic expressions are provided for heat, work, and dissipation for any evolution of the system covariance matrix. The Bures-Wasserstein…
We review a series of experimental studies of the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium processes at the microscale. In particular, in these experiments we studied the fluctuations of the thermodynamic properties of a single optically-trapped…
We argue that thermal machines can be understood from the perspective of `virtual qubits' at `virtual temperatures': The relevant way to view the two heat baths which drive a thermal machine is as a composite system. Virtual qubits are…
The treatment of quantum thermodynamic systems beyond weak coupling is of increasing relevance, yet extremely challenging. The evaluation of thermodynamic quantities in strong-coupling regimes requires a nonperturbative knowledge of the…
Classical systems placed in contact with a thermal bath will inevitably equilibrate to a thermal state at the bath temperature. The same is not generally true for open quantum systems, which place additional conditions on the structure of…
Thermal operations are quantum channels that have taken a prominent role in deriving fundamental thermodynamic limitations in quantum systems. We show that these channels are uniquely characterized by a purely quantum information theoretic…
Quantum coherence inherently affects the dynamics and the performances of a quantum machine. Coherent control can, at least in principle, enhance the work extraction and boost the velocity of evolution in an open quantum system. Using…
We develop a perturbation theory of quantum (and classical) master equations with slowly varying parameters, applicable to systems which are externally controlled on a time scale much longer than their characteristic relaxation time. We…
This work focuses on the response to an external field of a Brownian particle submerged in an Ohmic quantum thermal bath. The field only affects the dynamics of the central particle without affecting the thermal reservoir. The thermodynamic…
We model the dynamics of a closed quantum system brought out of mechanical equilibrium, undergoing a non-driven, spontaneous, thermodynamic transformation. In particular, we consider a quantum particle in a box with a moving and insulating…
In addition to the Riemannian metricization of the thermodynamic state space, local relaxation times offer a natural time scale, too. Generalizing existing proposals, we relate {\it thermodynamic} time scale to the standard kinetic…
Collision models provide a simple and versatile setting to capture the dynamics of open quantum systems. The standard approach to thermalisition in this setting involves an environment of independent and identically-prepared thermal qubits,…
We consider macroscopic systems in weak contact with boundary reservoirs and under the action of external fields. We present an explicit formula for the Hamiltonian of such systems, from which we deduce the equation of motions, the action…
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a hallmark of equilibrium systems, typically characterized by a single critical point separating ordered and disordered phases. Recently, a novel class of non-equilibrium phase transitions was uncovered…
The thermalization of an isolated quantum system is described by quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, while these two subjects are still not fully consistent with each other. This leaves a less-explored region where both quantum and…
Isothermal processes of a finitely extended, driven quantum system in contact with an infinite heat bath are studied from the point of view of quantum statistical mechanics. Notions like heat flux, work and entropy are defined for…
We study the performance of quantum thermal machines in which the working fluid of the model is represented by a many-body quantum system that is periodically connected with external baths via local couplings. A formal characterization of…
Obtaining dynamics of an interacting quantum many-body system connected to multiple baths initially at different, finite, temperatures and chemical potentials is a challenging problem. This is due to a combination of the prevalence of…
We investigate how to minimize the work dissipated during nonequilibrium processes. To this end, we employ methods from linear response theory to describe slowly varying processes, i.e., processes operating within the linear regime around…