Demonstrating Quantum Microscopic Reversibility Using Coherent States of Light

Year: 2022

Authors: Bellini M., Kwon H., Biagi N., Francesconi S., Zavatta A., Kim MS.

Autors Affiliation: Ist Nazl Ott CNR INO, Largo Enr Fermi 6, I-50125 Florence, Italy; Univ Firenze, LENS, I-50019 Florence, Italy; Univ Firenze, Dept Phys & Astron, I-50019 Florence, Italy; Korea Inst Adv Study, Seoul 02455, South Korea; Imperial Coll London, Blackett Lab, QOLS, London SW7 2AZ, England.

Abstract: The principle of microscopic reversibility lies at the core of fluctuation theorems, which have extended our understanding of the second law of thermodynamics to the statistical level. In the quantum regime, however, this elementary principle should be amended as the system energy cannot be sharply determined at a given quantum phase space point. In this Letter, we propose and experimentally test a quantum generalization of the microscopic reversibility when a quantum system interacts with a heat bath through energy-preserving unitary dynamics. Quantum effects can be identified by noting that the backward process is less likely to happen in the existence of quantum coherence between the system’s energy eigenstates. The experimental demonstration has been realized by mixing coherent and thermal states in a beam splitter, followed by heterodyne detection in an optical setup. We verify that the quantum modification for the principle of microscopic reversibility is critical in the low-temperature limit, while the quantum-to-classical transition is observed as the temperature of the thermal field gets higher.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

Volume: 129 (17)      Pages from: 170604-1  to: 170604-6

More Information: N. B., S. F., M. B., and A. Z. gratefully acknowledge thesupport of the EU under the ERA-NET QuantERA projectShoQC(Grant No. 731473) and the FET Flagshipon Quantum Technologies projectQombs(GrantNo. 820419). H. K. is supported by the KIAS Individual Grant No. CG085301 at Korea Institute for Advanced Study.M. S. K. acknowledges the KIST Open Research Program.
KeyWords: Fluctuation Theorem; Nonequilibrium; Statistics; Work
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.170604

Citations: 5
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