arXiv subjects

Janet Anders

Publications and source records attributed to Janet Anders.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Enhanced energy transfer to an optomechanical piston from indistinguishable photons

Thought experiments involving gases and pistons, such as Maxwell's demon and Gibbs' mixing, are central to our understanding of thermodynamics. Here we present a quantum thermodynamic thought experiment in which the energy transfer from two photonic gases to a piston membrane grows quadratically with the number of photons for indistinguishable gases, while linearly for distinguishable gases. This signature of Bosonic bunching may be observed in optomechanical experiments, highlighting the potential of these systems for the realisation of thermodynamic thought experiments in the quantum realm.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Quantum work statistics close to equilibrium

We study the statistics of work, dissipation, and entropy production of a quantum quasi-isothermal process, where the system remains close to the thermal equilibrium along the transformation. We derive a general analytic expression for the work distribution and the cumulant generating function. All work cumulants split into a classical (non-coherent) and quantum (coherent) term, implying that close to equilibrium there are two independent channels of dissipation at all levels of the statistics. For non-coherent or commuting protocols, only the first two cumulants survive, leading to a Gaussian distribution with its first two moments related through the classical fluctuation-dissipation relation. On the other hand, quantum coherence leads to positive skewness and excess kurtosis in the distribution, and we demonstrate that these non-Gaussian effects are a manifestation of asymmetry in relation to the resource theory of thermodynamics. Furthermore, we also show that the non-coherent and coherent contributions satisfy independently the Evans-Searles fluctuation theorem, which sets strong bounds on the statistics, with negative values of the dissipation being exponentially suppressed. Our findings are illustrated in a driven two-level system and an Ising chain, where quantum signatures of the work distribution in the macroscopic limit are discussed.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Work fluctuations in slow processes: quantum signatures and optimal control

An important result in classical stochastic thermodynamics is the work fluctuation--dissipation relation (FDR), which states that the dissipated work done along a slow process is proportional to the resulting work fluctuations. Here we show that slowly driven quantum systems violate this FDR whenever quantum coherence is generated along the protocol, and derive a quantum generalisation of the work FDR. The additional quantum terms in the FDR are found to lead to a non-Gaussian work distribution. Fundamentally, our result shows that quantum fluctuations prohibit finding slow protocols that minimise both dissipation and fluctuations simultaneously, in contrast to classical slow processes. Instead, we develop a quantum geometric framework to find processes with an optimal trade-off between the two quantities.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Energy-temperature uncertainty relation in quantum thermodynamics

It is known that temperature estimates of macroscopic systems in equilibrium are most precise when their energy fluctuations are large. However, for nanoscale systems deviations from standard thermodynamics arise due to their interactions with the environment. Here we include such interactions and, using quantum estimation theory, derive a generalised thermodynamic uncertainty relation valid for classical and quantum systems at all coupling strengths. We show that the non-commutativity between the system's state and its effective energy operator gives rise to quantum fluctuations that increase the temperature uncertainty. Surprisingly, these additional fluctuations are described by the average Wigner-Yanase-Dyson skew information. We demonstrate that the temperature's signal-to-noise ratio is constrained by the heat capacity plus a dissipative term arising from the non-negligible interactions. These findings shed light on the interplay between classical and non-classical fluctuations in quantum thermodynamics and will inform the design of optimal nanoscale thermometers.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Leggett-Garg inequalities for quantum fluctuating work

The Leggett-Garg inequalities serve to test whether or not quantum correlations in time can be explained within a classical macrorealistic framework. We apply this test to thermodynamics and derive a set of Leggett- Garg inequalities for the statistics of fluctuating work done on a quantum system unitarily driven in time. It is shown that these inequalities can be violated in a driven two-level system, thereby demonstrating that there exists no general macrorealistic description of quantum work. These violations are shown to emerge within the standard Two-Projective-Measurement scheme as well as for alternative definitions of fluctuating work that are based on weak measurement. Our results elucidate the influences of temporal correlations on work extraction in the quantum regime and highlight a key difference between quantum and classical thermodynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Quantum Work in the Bohmian framework

At non-zero temperature classical systems exhibit statistical fluctuations of thermodynamic quantities arising from the variation of the system's initial conditions and its interaction with the environment. The fluctuating work, for example, is characterised by the ensemble of system trajectories in phase space and, by including the probabilities for various trajectories to occur, a work distribution can be constructed. However, without phase space trajectories, the task of constructing a work probability distribution in the quantum regime has proven elusive. Here we use quantum trajectories in phase space and define fluctuating work as power integrated along the trajectories, in complete analogy to classical statistical physics. The resulting work probability distribution is valid for any quantum evolution, including cases with coherences in the energy basis. We demonstrate the quantum work probability distribution and its properties with an exactly solvable example of a driven quantum harmonic oscillator. An important feature of the work distribution is its dependence on the initial statistical mixture of pure states, which is reflected in higher moments of the work. The proposed approach introduces a fundamentally different perspective on quantum thermodynamics, allowing full thermodynamic characterisation of the dynamics of quantum systems, including the measurement process.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

A quantum Szilard engine without heat from a thermal reservoir

We study a quantum Szilard engine that is not powered by heat drawn from a thermal reservoir, but rather by projective measurements. The engine is constituted of a system $\mathcal{S}$, a weight $\mathcal{W}$, and a Maxwell demon $\mathcal{D}$, and extracts work via measurement-assisted feedback control. By imposing natural constraints on the measurement and feedback processes, such as energy conservation and leaving the memory of the demon intact, we show that while the engine can function without heat from a thermal reservoir, it must give up at least one of the following features that are satisfied by a standard Szilard engine: (i) repeatability of measurements; (ii) invariant weight entropy; or (iii) positive work extraction for all measurement outcomes. This result is shown to be a consequence of the Wigner-Araki-Yanase (WAY) theorem, which imposes restrictions on the observables that can be measured under additive conservation laws. This observation is a first-step towards developing "second-law-like" relations for measurement-assisted feedback control beyond thermality.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Time-reversal symmetric work distributions for closed quantum dynamics in the histories framework

A central topic in the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics is the definition of thermodynamic work in the quantum regime. One widely used solution is to define work for a closed system undergoing non-equilibrium dynamics according to the two-point energy measurement scheme. However, due to the invasive nature of measurement the two-point quantum work probability distribution leads to inconsistencies with two pillars of thermodynamics: it breaks the first law and the time-reversal symmetry expected for closed dynamics. We here introduce the quantum histories framework as a method to characterise the thermodynamic properties of the unmeasured, closed dynamics. Extending the classical phase space trajectories to continuous power operator trajectories allows us to derive an alternative quantum work distribution for closed quantum dynamics that fulfils the first law and is time-reversal symmetric. We find that the work distribution of the unmeasured dynamics leads to deviations from the classical Jarzynski equality and can have negative values highlighting distinctly non-classical features of quantum work.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Entropy production and time-asymmetry in the presence of strong interactions

It is known that the equilibrium properties of open classical systems that are strongly coupled to a heat bath are described by a set of thermodynamic potentials related to the system's Hamiltonian of mean force. By adapting this framework to a more general class of non-equilibrium states, we show that the equilibrium properties of the bath can be well-defined, even when the system is arbitrarily far from equilibrium and correlated with the bath. These states, which retain a notion of temperature, take the form of conditional equilibrium distributions. For out-of-equilibrium processes we show that the average entropy production quantifies the extent to which the system-bath state is driven away from the conditional equilibrium distribution. In addition, we show that the stochastic entropy production satisfies a generalised Crooks relation and can be used to quantify time-asymmetry of correlated non-equilibrium processes. These results naturally extend the familiar properties of entropy production in weakly-coupled systems to the strong coupling regime. Experimental measurements of the entropy production at strong coupling could be pursued using optomechanics or trapped ion systems, which allow strong coupling to be engineered.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2016

A sufficient set of experimentally implementable thermal operations

Recent work using tools from quantum information theory has shown that at the nanoscale where quantum effects become prevalent, there is not one thermodynamical second law but many. Derivations of these laws assume that an experimenter has very precise control of the system and heat bath. Here we show that these multitude of laws can be saturated using two very simple operations: changing the energy levels of the system and thermalizing over any two system energy levels. Using these two operations, one can distill the optimal amount of work from a system, as well as perform the reverse formation process. Even more surprisingly, using only these two operations and one ancilla qubit in a thermal state, one can transform any state into any other state allowable by the second laws. We thus have the remarkable result that the second laws hold for fine-grained manipulation of system and bath, but can be achieved using very coarse control. This brings the full array of thermal operations into a regime accessible by experiment, and establishes the physical relevance of these second laws.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Quantum Thermodynamics

Quantum thermodynamics is an emerging research field aiming to extend standard thermodynamics and non-equilibrium statistical physics to ensembles of sizes well below the thermodynamic limit, in non-equilibrium situations, and with the full inclusion of quantum effects. Fuelled by experimental advances and the potential of future nanoscale applications this research effort is pursued by scientists with different backgrounds, including statistical physics, many-body theory, mesoscopic physics and quantum information theory, who bring various tools and methods to the field. A multitude of theoretical questions are being addressed ranging from issues of thermalisation of quantum systems and various definitions of "work", to the efficiency and power of quantum engines. This overview provides a perspective on a selection of these current trends accessible to postgraduate students and researchers alike.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Quantum correlation of light scattered by disordered media

We study theoretically how multiple scattering of light in a disordered medium can spontaneously generate quantum correlations. In particular we focus on the case where the input state is Gaussian and characterize the correlations between two arbitrary output modes. As there is not a single all-inclusive measure of correlation, we characterise the output correlations with three measures: intensity fluctuations, entanglement, and quantum discord. We found that, while a single mode coherent state input can not produce quantum correlations, any other Gaussian input will produce them in one form or another. This includes input states that are usually regarded as more classical than coherent ones, such as thermal states, which will produce a non zero quantum discord.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Duality relation for a generalized interferometer

It is well known that the Mach-Zender interferometer exhibits a trade-off between the a priori which-path knowledge and the visibility of its interference pattern. This trade-off is expressed by the inequality $\mathcal{P}^2 + \mathcal{V}^2 \leq 1$, constraining the predictability $\mathcal{P}$ and visibility $\mathcal{V}$ of the interferometer. In this paper we extend the Mach-Zender scheme to a setup where the central phase shifter is substituted by a generic unitary operator. We find that the sum $\mathcal{P}^2 + \mathcal{V}^2$ is in general no longer upper bounded by $1$, and that there exists a whole class of interferometers such that the full fringe visibility and the full which-way information are not mutually exclusive. We show that $\mathcal{P}^2 + \mathcal{V}^2 \leq L_U$, with $1 \leq L_U \leq 2$, and we illustrate how the tight bound $L_U$ depends on the choice of the unitary operation $U$ replacing the central phase shifter.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Coherence and measurement in quantum thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is a highly successful macroscopic theory widely used across the natural sciences and for the construction of everyday devices, from car engines and fridges to power plants and solar cells. With thermodynamics predating quantum theory, research now aims to uncover the thermodynamic laws that govern finite size systems which may in addition host quantum effects. Here we identify information processing tasks, the so-called "projections", that can only be formulated within the framework of quantum mechanics. We show that the physical realisation of such projections can come with a non-trivial thermodynamic work only for quantum states with coherences. This contrasts with information erasure, first investigated by Landauer, for which a thermodynamic work cost applies for classical and quantum erasure alike. Implications are far-reaching, adding a thermodynamic dimension to measurements performed in quantum thermodynamics experiments, and providing key input for the construction of a future quantum thermodynamic framework. Repercussions are discussed for quantum work fluctuation relations and thermodynamic single-shot approaches.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Adiabatic graph-state quantum computation

Measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC) and holonomic quantum computation (HQC) are two very different computational methods. The computation in MBQC is driven by adaptive measurements executed in a particular order on a large entangled state. In contrast in HQC the system starts in the ground subspace of a Hamiltonian which is slowly changed such that a transformation occurs within the subspace. Following the approach of Bacon and Flammia, we show that any measurement-based quantum computation on a graph state with \emph{gflow} can be converted into an adiabatically driven holonomic computation, which we call \emph{adiabatic graph-state quantum computation} (AGQC). We then investigate how properties of AGQC relate to the properties of MBQC, such as computational depth. We identify a trade-off that can be made between the number of adiabatic steps in AGQC and the norm of $\dot{H}$ as well as the degree of $H$, in analogy to the trade-off between the number of measurements and classical post-processing seen in MBQC. Finally the effects of performing AGQC with orderings that differ from standard MBQC are investigated.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Thermodynamics of discrete quantum processes

We define thermodynamic configurations and identify two primitives of discrete quantum processes between configurations for which heat and work can be defined in a natural way. This allows us to uncover a general second law for any discrete trajectory that consists of a sequence of these primitives, linking both equilibrium and non-equilibrium configurations. Moreover, in the limit of a discrete trajectory that passes through an infinite number of configurations, i.e. in the reversible limit, we recover the saturation of the second law. Finally, we show that for a discrete Carnot cycle operating between four configurations one recovers Carnot's thermal efficiency.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Increasing complexity with quantum physics

We argue that complex systems science and the rules of quantum physics are intricately related. We discuss a range of quantum phenomena, such as cryptography, computation and quantum phases, and the rules responsible for their complexity. We identify correlations as a central concept connecting quantum information and complex systems science. We present two examples for the power of correlations: using quantum resources to simulate the correlations of a stochastic process and to implement a classically impossible computational task.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Quantum entanglement between the electron clouds of nucleic acids in DNA

We model the electron clouds of nucleic acids in DNA as a chain of coupled quantum harmonic oscillators with dipole-dipole interaction between nearest neighbours resulting in a van der Waals type bonding. Crucial parameters in our model are the distances between the acids and the coupling between them, which we estimate from numerical simulations [1]. We show that for realistic parameters nearest neighbour entanglement is present even at room temperature. We quantify the amount of entanglement in terms of negativity and single base von Neumann entropy. We find that the strength of the single base von Neumann entropy depends on the neighbouring sites, thus questioning the notion of treating single bases as logically independent units. We derive an analytical expression for the binding energy of the coupled chain in terms of entanglement and show the connection between entanglement and correlation energy, a quantity commonly used in quantum chemistry.

quant-ph↗