Related papers: Autonomous quantum clocks using athermal resources

We consider an isolated autonomous quantum machine, where an explicit quantum clock is responsible for performing all transformations on an arbitrary quantum system (the engine), via a time-independent Hamiltonian. In a general context, we…

In classical physics, clocks are open dissipative systems driven from thermal equilibrium and necessarily subject to thermal noise. We describe a quantum clock driven by entropy reduction through measurement. The mechanism consists of a…

Time remains one of the least well understood concepts in physics, most notably in quantum mechanics. A central goal is to find the fundamental limits of measuring time. One of the main obstacles is the fact that time is not an observable…

Understanding different aspects of time is at the core of many areas in theoretical physics. Minimal models of continuous stochastic and quantum clocks have been proposed to explore fundamental limitations on the performance of timekeeping…

Atomic frequency standards have achieved steadily increasing precision over the past seventy years, enabled in part by feedback mechanisms that stabilise their output. In parallel, the timekeeping capabilities of quantum systems have been…

We experimentally realize a quantum clock by using a charge sensor to count charges tunneling through a double quantum dot (DQD). Individual tunneling events are used as the clock's ticks. We quantify the clock's precision while measuring…

Thermal machines are physical systems designed to convert thermal energy into practical work through cyclic state transformations. A key component in such a machine is a clock-equipped control element that dictates which interaction…

The development of precise atomic clocks has led to many scientific and technological advances that play an increasingly important role in modern society. Shared timing information constitutes a key resource for positioning and navigation…

We consider a periodic quantum clock based on cooperative resonance fluorescence at zero temperature. In the quantum case, this system has an exact steady state and the limit cycle appears in conditional quantum dynamics under homodyne…

We theoretically analyse an autonomous clock comprising a nanoelectromechanical system, which undergoes self-oscillations driven by electron tunnelling. The periodic mechanical motion behaves as the clockwork, similar to the swinging of a…

A clock is, from an information-theoretic perspective, a system that emits information about time. One may therefore ask whether the theory of information imposes any constraints on the maximum precision of clocks. Here we show a…

The inexorable miniaturisation of technologies, the relentless drive to improve efficiency and the enticing prospect of boosting performance through quantum effects are all compelling reasons to investigate microscopic machines. Thermal…

Time plays a crucial role in the intuitive understanding of the world around us. Within quantum mechanics, however, time is not usually treated as an observable quantity; it enters merely as a parameter in the laws of motion of physical…

All clocks, classical or quantum, are open non equilibrium irreversible systems subject to the constraints of thermodynamics. Using examples I show that these constraints necessarily limit the performance of clocks and that good clocks…

Quantum mechanics imposes a fundamental tradeoff between the accuracy of time measurements and the size of the systems used as clocks. When the measurements of different time intervals are combined, the errors due to the finite clock size…

Atomic clock interferometers are a valuable tool to test the interface between quantum theory and gravity, in particular via the measurement of gravitational time dilation in the quantum regime. Here, we investigate whether gravitational…

We investigate an optomechanical system as a model of an autonomous mechanical pendulum clock in the quantum regime, whose operation relies only on incoherent (thermal) resources. The escapement of the clock, the mechanism that translates…

Quantum coherence has been shown to impact the operational capabilities of quantum systems performing thermodynamic tasks in a significant way, and yet the possibility and conditions for genuine coherence-enhanced thermodynamic operation…

We report that entangled pairs of quantum clocks (non-degenerate quantum bits) can be used as a specialized detector for precisely measuring difference of proper-times that each constituent quantum clock experiences. We describe why the…

All clocks, in some form or another, use the evolution of nature towards higher entropy states to quantify the passage of time. Due to the statistical nature of the second law and corresponding entropy flows, fluctuations fundamentally…