Related papers: Work, heat and entropy production along quantum tr…
In finite-dimensional quantum systems, temperature cannot be uniquely defined. This, in turn, implies that there are several ways to define entropy production in finite-dimensional quantum systems, because the classical entropy production…
We illustrate recent results concerning the validity of the work fluctuation theorem in open quantum systems [M. Campisi, P. Talkner, and P. H\"{a}nggi, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 102}, 210401 (2009)], by applying them to a solvable model of an…
Understanding thermodynamics far from equilibrium at the quantum scale remains a fundamental challenge, particularly in the presence of quantum coherence. Here we develop a first-principles framework for nonequilibrium quantum…
We consider open quantum systems weakly coupled to thermal reservoirs and subjected to quantum feedback operations triggered with or without delay by monitored quantum jumps. We establish a thermodynamic description of such system and…
Steady-state quantum thermal machines are typically characterized by a continuous flow of heat between different reservoirs. However, at the level of discrete stochastic realizations, heat flow is unraveled as a series of abrupt quantum…
We develop a martingale theory to describe fluctuations of entropy production for open quantum systems in nonequilbrium steady states. Using the formalism of quantum jump trajectories, we identify a decomposition of entropy production into…
A quantum engine fueled by quantum measurement is proposed. Under the finite-time adiabatic driving regime, the conversion of heat to work is realized without the compression and expansion of the resonance frequency. The work output,…
Understanding the thermodynamic properties of many-body quantum systems and their emergence from microscopic laws is a topic of great significance due to its profound fundamental implications and extensive practical applications. Recent…
Quantum thermodynamics studies how quantum systems and operations may be exploited as sources of work to perform useful thermodynamic tasks. In real-world conditions, the evolution of open quantum systems typically displays memory effects,…
The concept of entropy is fundamental to thermalization, yet appears at odds with basic principles in quantum mechanics. Statistical mechanics relies on the maximization of entropy for a system at thermal equilibrium. However, an isolated…
The standard approach for path integral Monte Carlo simulations of open quantum systems is extended as an efficient tool to monitor the time evolution of coherences (off-diagonal elements of the reduced density matrix) also for strong…
The evolution of a quantum system interacting with an environment can be described as a unitary process acting on both the system and the environment. In this framework, the system's evolution can be predicted by tracing out the…
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 energetic exchanges and fluctuations in two-stroke quantum thermodynamic engines where the working fluid is represented by two multilevel quantum systems, i.e. qudits, the heat flow is allowed by relaxation with two thermal…
Temperature is a deceptively simple concept that still raises deep questions at the forefront of quantum physics research. The observation of thermalisation in completely isolated quantum systems, such as cold-atom quantum simulators,…
The fundamentals of a quantum heat engine are derived from first principles. The study is based on the equation of motion of a minimum set of operators which is then used to define the state of the system. The relation between the quantum…
Quantum trajectories describe the stochastic evolution of an open quantum system conditioned on continuous monitoring of its output, such as by an ideal photodetector. In practice an experimenter has access to an output filtered through…
We discuss an approach to determine averages of the work, dissipated heat and variation of internal energy of an open quantum system driven by an external classical field. These quantities are measured by coupling the quantum system to a…
We provide a characterization of energy in the form of exchanged heat and work between two interacting constituents of a closed, bipartite, correlated quantum system. By defining a binding energy we derive a consistent quantum formulation…
How should one define thermodynamic quantities (internal energy, work, heat, etc.) for quantum systems coupled to their environments strongly? We examine three (classically equivalent) definitions of a quantum system's internal energy under…