Work extraction and thermodynamics for individual quantum systems

@article{Skrzypczyk2013WorkEA,
  title={Work extraction and thermodynamics for individual quantum systems},
  author={Paul Skrzypczyk and Anthony J. Short and Sandu Popescu},
  journal={Nature Communications},
  year={2013},
  volume={5},
  url={https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:205326939}
}
It is proved that the second law of thermodynamics holds in this framework, and a simple protocol is given to extract the optimal amount of work from the system, equal to its change in free energy.

A theory of thermodynamics for nanoscale quantum systems

Thermodynamics is one of the main pillars of theoretical physics, and it has a special appeal of having wide applicability to a large variety of different physical systems. However, many assumptions

Coherence and measurement in quantum thermodynamics

Information processing tasks, the so-called projections, that can only be formulated within the framework of quantum mechanics are identified and it is shown that the physical realisation of such projections can come with a non-trivial thermodynamic work only for quantum states with coherences.

Quasi-autonomous quantum thermal machines and quantum to classical energy flow

There are both practical and foundational motivations to consider the thermodynamics of quantum systems at small scales. Here we address the issue of autonomous quantum thermal machines that are

Microcanonical and resource-theoretic derivations of the thermal state of a quantum system with noncommuting charges

This work defines a resource-theory model for thermodynamic exchanges of noncommuting observables and investigates the thermal state of the grand canonical ensemble, which is expected to be the equilibrium point of typical dynamics.

Autonomous thermal operations

We consider a completely isolated quantum thermal machine, where an explicit clock is used to implement time-dependent transformations on a system, bath, and work storage device. Based on previously

A Resource Theory for Work and Heat

This work proposes a resource theory of quantum thermodynamics without a background temperature, so that no states at all come for free, and applies this resource theory to the case of many non-interacting systems, and shows that states are classified by their entropy and average energy.

Thermodynamics of quantum systems with multiple conserved quantities

This work presents explicit protocols that allow us to perform arbitrarily good trade-offs and extract arbitrarily good combinations of conserved quantities from individual quantum systems.

Fundamental work cost of quantum processes

Information-theoretic approaches provide a promising avenue for extending the laws of thermodynamics to the nanoscale. Here, we provide a general fundamental lower limit, valid for systems with an

Quantum non-Markovianity, quantum coherence and extractable work in a general quantum process.

A key concept in quantum thermodynamics is extractable work, which specifies the maximum amount of work that can be extracted from a quantum system. Different quantities are used to measure

Extending the Laws of Thermodynamics for Arbitrary Autonomous Quantum Systems

Originally formulated for macroscopic machines, the laws of thermodynamics were recently shown to hold for quantum systems coupled to ideal sources of work (external classical fields) and heat
...

Fundamental limitations for quantum and nanoscale thermodynamics

It is found that there are fundamental limitations on work extraction from non-equilibrium states, owing to finite size effects and quantum coherences, which implies that thermodynamical transitions are generically irreversible at this scale.

Thermodynamics of Quantum Information Systems — Hamiltonian Description

This work proves the formula within Hamiltonian description of drawing work from a quantum system and a heat bath, at the cost of entropy of the system, and derives Landauer's principle as a consequence of the second law within the considered model.

Resource theory of quantum states out of thermal equilibrium.

It is shown that the free energy of thermodynamics emerges naturally from the resource theory of energy-preserving transformations, provided that a sublinear amount of coherent superposition over energy levels is available, a situation analogous to the sub linear amount of classical communication required for entanglement dilution.

The second laws of quantum thermodynamics

Here, it is found that for processes which are approximately cyclic, the second law for microscopic systems takes on a different form compared to the macroscopic scale, imposing not just one constraint on state transformations, but an entire family of constraints.

Work extremum principle: structure and function of quantum heat engines.

This work considers a class of quantum heat engines consisting of two subsystems interacting with a work-source and coupled to two separate baths at different temperatures Th>Tc, which extracts work due to the temperature difference by maximizing the extracted work under various constraints.

Autonomous quantum thermodynamic machines.

It is shown that the dynamics of a quantum system consisting of a single spin coupled to an oscillator and sandwiched between two thermal baths at different temperatures can function as a thermodynamic machine exhibiting Carnot-type cycles.

Work extraction from microcanonical bath

We determine the maximal work extractable via a cyclic Hamiltonian process from a positive-temperature (T> 0) microcanonical state of a N≫1 spin bath. The work is much smaller than the total energy

Virtual qubits, virtual temperatures, and the foundations of thermodynamics.

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

Quantum mechanical evolution towards thermal equilibrium.

It is proved, with virtually full generality, that reaching equilibrium is a universal property of quantum systems: almost any subsystem in interaction with a large enough bath will reach an equilibrium state and remain close to it for almost all times.

The quantum heat engine and heat pump: An irreversible thermodynamic analysis of the three-level amplifier

The manifestations of the three laws of thermodynamics are explored in a model of an irreversible quantum heat engine. The engine is composed of a three‐level system simultaneously coupled to hot and