Quantum-Heat Fluctuation Relations in Three-Level Systems Under Projective Measurements

Year: 2020

Authors: Giachetti G., Gherardini S., Trombettoni A., Ruffo S.

Autors Affiliation: SISSA, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy; INFN, Sezione di Trieste, I-34151 Trieste, Italy. Department of Physics and Astronomy & LENS, University of Florence, via G. Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy. Department of Physics, University of Trieste, Strada Costiera 11, I-34151 Trieste, Italy; CNR-IOM DEMOCRITOS Simulation Center, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy. SISSA, Via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy; INFN, Sezione di Trieste, I-34151 Trieste, Italy; Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Madonna del Piano 10, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract: 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 latter condition is trivially satisfied for two-level systems, while this is generally no longer true for N-level systems, with N>2. Focusing on three-level systems, we discuss the occurrence of a unique energy scale factor beta eff that formally plays the role of an effective inverse temperature in the Jarzynski equality. To this aim, we introduce a suitable parametrization of the initial state in terms of a thermal and a non-thermal component. We determine the value of beta eff for a large number of measurements and study its dependence on the initial state. Our predictions could be checked experimentally in quantum optics.

Journal/Review: CONDENSED MATTER

Volume: 5 (1)      Pages from: 17  to:

More Information: This research was funded by MISTI Global Seed Funds MIT-FVG: NV centers for the test of the Quantum Jarzynski Equality (NVQJE).
KeyWords: fluctuation theorems, nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, quantum thermodynamics
DOI: 10.3390/condmat5010017