Janet Anders, University of Exeter

I will give an introductory talk on quantum thermodynamics [1] covering a selection of my group’s results in recent years. We will first ask what is “quantum” in quantum thermodynamics. To answer this question we set up a quantum thermodynamic process that removes quantum information in analogy to Landauer’s erasure of classical information. The thermodynamic analysis of such a process uncovers that work can be extracted from quantum coherences in addition to the work that can be extracted from classical non-equilibrium states [2]. In the later part of the talk, I will report on a new thermodynamic uncertainty relation that limits the accuracy of measuring the temperature and energy of a thermal quantum system [3]. Corrections to the standard uncertainty relation arise here because, unlike in standard thermodynamics, a small system’s interaction with its environment is not negligible. The emerging relation unites thermodynamic and quantum uncertainties for the first time.

[1] Quantum thermodynamics, S. Vinjanampathy, J. Anders, Contemporary Physics 57, 545 (2016).
[2] Coherence and measurement in quantum thermodynamics, P. Kammerlander, J. Anders, Scientific Reports 6, 22174 (2016).
[3] Energy-temperature uncertainty relation in quantum thermodynamics, H. Miller, J. Anders, Nature Communications 9:2203 (2018).

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Host: Mark Hillery, Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY