Work distribution in a photonic system

Abstract

We present a proposal of a set-up to measure the work distribution of a process acting on a quantum system emulated by the transverse degrees of freedom of classical light. Hermite-Gaussian optical modes are used to represent the energy eigenstates of a quantum harmonic oscillator prepared in a thermal state. The Fourier transform of the work distribution, or the characteristic function, can be obtained by measuring the light intensity at the output of a properly designed interferometer. The usefulness of the approach is illustrated by calculating the work distribution for a unitary operation that displaces the linear momentum of the oscillator. Other types of processes and quantum systems can be implemented with the same scheme. We also show that the set-up can be used to investigate the energy distribution for open dynamics described by completely positive maps. We discuss the feasibility of the experiment, which can be realized with simple linear optical components.

Experimental study of quantum thermodynamics using optical vortices

“…It is possible to simulate a class of quantum systems using classical light and the analogy between the paraxial wave equation and the two-dimension Schrdinger equation. This analogy has been explored experimentally to investigate the quantum limit of a chaotic harmonic oscillator [21] and to propose a study, similar to the one done here, in which the characteristic function of the work distribution could be measured [47]. OAM optical modes emulate the energy eigenstates of the harmonic oscillator in the sense that the transverse distribution of the electric field of LG beams has the same form as the energy eigenfunctions of the 2D quantum harmonic oscillator.…”

“…OAM optical modes emulate the energy eigenstates of the harmonic oscillator in the sense that the transverse distribution of the electric field of LG beams has the same form as the energy eigenfunctions of the 2D quantum harmonic oscillator. Moreover, under appropriate conditions, the propagation of the light beams is equivalent to the Hamiltonian evolution of the harmonic oscillator [21,47,48].…”

Contributions from populations and coherences in non-equilibrium entropy production

“…The non-equilibrium lag is directly proportional to the irreversible work [46][47][48], Σ = β W − ∆F , where W = tr H τ ρ τ − H 0 ρ th 0 is the work performed in the process and ∆F = F(g τ ) − F(g 0 ) is the change in equilibrium free energy, F(g) = tr H(g)ρ th (g) − T S (ρ th (g)) (with S (ρ) = − tr(ρ ln ρ) being the von Neumann entropy). Due to its clear thermodynamic interpretation, Σ has been widely used as a quantifier of irreversibility, both theoretically [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] and experimentally [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65].…”

Experimental Quantum Thermodynamics with Linear Optics

“…In Ref. [43] it was reported the work distribution when the linear momentum of the oscillator is displaced by a constant value p → p+p 0 with ∆F = 0.…”