Operational Work Fluctuation Theorem for Open Quantum Systems

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

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 quasistatic process. This fluctuation theorem bears experimental relevance, as it enables the determination of the free energy difference through the measurement of externally applied work in a nonequilibrium process. In the quantum case, the Jarzynski equality only holds if the measurement procedure of the stochastic work is drastically changed: it is replaced by a so-called two-point measurement scheme that requires the knowledge of the initial and final Hamiltonian and therefore lacks the predictive power for the free energy difference that the classical Jarzynski equation is known for. Here, we propose a quantum fluctuation theorem that is valid for externally measurable quantum work determined during the driving protocol. In contrast to the two-point measurement case, the theorem also applies to open quantum systems and the scenario can be realized without knowing the system Hamiltonian. Our fluctuation theorem comes in the form of an inequality and therefore only yields bounds to the true free energy difference. The inequality is saturated in the quasiclassical case of vanishing energy coherences at the beginning and at the end of the protocol. Thus, there is a clear quantum disadvantage.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number140403
Number of pages9
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume134
Issue number14
Publication statusPublished - 9 Apr 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 105002326694
ORCID /0000-0002-1864-4520/work/190133931
ORCID /0000-0002-7806-3525/work/190134393

Keywords

Keywords

  • Open Quantum Systems, Fluctuation Theorem, quantum fluctuation theorem, quantum thermodynamics