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arXiv · 1406.3618

Gibbs-Preserving Maps outperform Thermal Operations in the quantum regime

Philippe Faist·Jonathan Oppenheim·Renato Renner
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Abstract

In this brief note, we compare two frameworks for characterizing possible operations in quantum thermodynamics. One framework considers Thermal Operations---unitaries which conserve energy. The other framework considers all maps which preserve the Gibbs state at a given temperature. Thermal Operations preserve the Gibbs state; hence a natural question which arises is whether the two frameworks are equivalent. Classically, this is true---Gibbs-Preserving Maps are no more powerful than Thermal Operations. Here, we show that this no longer holds in the quantum regime: a Gibbs-Preserving Map can generate coherent superpositions of energy levels while Thermal Operations cannot. This gap has an impact on clarifying a mathematical framework for quantum thermodynamics.

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Philippe Faist, Jonathan Oppenheim, Renato Renner. 2014-06-13. Gibbs-Preserving Maps outperform Thermal Operations in the quantum regime. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/4/043003

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