No Arabic abstract
We derive a general scheme to obtain quantum fluctuation relations for dynamical observables in open quantum systems. For concreteness we consider Markovian non-unitary dynamics that is unraveled in terms of quantum jump trajectories, and exploit techniques from the theory of large deviations like the tilted ensemble and the Doob transform. Our results here generalise to open quantum systems fluctuation relations previously obtained for classical Markovian systems, and add to the vast literature on fluctuation relations in the quantum domain, but without resorting to the standard two-point measurement scheme. We illustrate our findings with three examples in order to highlight and discuss the main features of our general result.
We formulate exact generalized nonequilibrium fluctuation relations for the quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator coupled to multiple harmonic baths. Each of the different baths is prepared in its own individual (in general nonthermal) state. Starting from the exact solution for the oscillator dynamics we study fluctuations of the oscillator position as well as of the energy current through the oscillator under general nonequilibrium conditions. In particular, we formulate a fluctuation-dissipation relation for the oscillator position autocorrelation function that generalizes the standard result for the case of a single bath at thermal equilibrium. Moreover, we show that the generating function for the position operator fullfills a generalized Gallavotti-Cohen-like relation. For the energy transfer through the oscillator, we determine the average energy current together with the current fluctuations. Finally, we discuss the generalization of the cumulant generating function for the energy transfer to nonthermal bath preparations.
We study the statistics of energy fluctuations in a three-level quantum system subject to a sequence of projective quantum measurements. We check that, as expected, the quantum Jarzynski equality holds provided that the initial state is thermal. The
Continuing our work on the nature and existence of fluctuation-dissipation relations (FDR) in linear and nonlinear open quantum systems [1-3], here we consider such relations when a linear system is in a nonequilibrium steady state (NESS). With the model of two-oscillators (considered as a short harmonic chain with the two ends) each connected to a thermal bath of different temperatures we find that when the chain is fully relaxed due to interaction with the baths, the relation that connects the noise kernel and the imaginary part of the dissipation kernel of the chain in one bath does not assume the conventional form for the FDR in equilibrium cases. There exists an additional term we call the `bias current that depends on the difference of the baths initial temperatures and the inter-oscillator coupling strength. We further show that this term is related to the steady heat flow between the two baths when the system is in NESS. The ability to know the real-time development of the inter-heat exchange (between the baths and the end-oscillators) and the intra-heat transfer (within the chain) and their dependence on the parameters in the system offers possibilities for quantifiable control and in the design of quantum heat engines or thermal devices.
In Newtonian mechanics, any closed-system dynamics of a composite system in a microstate will leave all its individual subsystems in distinct microstates, however this fails dramatically in quantum mechanics due to the existence of quantum entanglement. Here we introduce the notion of a `coherent work process, and show that it is the direct extension of a work process in classical mechanics into quantum theory. This leads to the notion of `decomposable and `non-decomposable quantum coherence and gives a new perspective on recent results in the theory of asymmetry as well as early analysis in the theory of classical random variables. Within the context of recent fluctuation relations, originally framed in terms of quantum channels, we show that coherent work processes play the same role as their classical counterparts, and so provide a simple physical primitive for quantum coherence in such systems. We also introduce a pure state effective potential as a tool with which to analyze the coherent component of these fluctuation relations, and which leads to a notion of temperature-dependent mean coherence, provides connections with multi-partite entanglement, and gives a hierarchy of quantum corrections to the classical Crooks relation in powers of inverse temperature.
The non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems is one of the most fascinating problems in physics. Open questions range from how they relax to equilibrium to how to extract useful work from them. A critical point lies in assessing whether a system has conserved quantities (or charges), as these can drastically influence its dynamics. Here we propose a general protocol to reveal the existence of charges based on a set of exact relations between out-of-equilibrium fluctuations and equilibrium properties of a quantum system. We apply these generalised quantum fluctuation relations to a driven quantum simulator, demonstrating their relevance to obtain unbiased temperature estimates from non-equilibrium measurements. Our findings will help guide research on the interplay of quantum and thermal fluctuations in quantum simulation, in studying the transition from integrability to chaos and in the design of new quantum devices.