Revealing the fuel of a quantum continuous measurement-based refrigerator

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elouard, Cyril, Manikandan, Sreenath K., Jordan, Andrew N., Haack, Geraldine
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911415110991872
author Elouard, Cyril
Manikandan, Sreenath K.
Jordan, Andrew N.
Haack, Geraldine
author_facet Elouard, Cyril
Manikandan, Sreenath K.
Jordan, Andrew N.
Haack, Geraldine
contents While quantum measurements have been shown to constitute a resource for operating quantum thermal machines, the nature of the energy exchanges involved in the interaction between system and measurement apparatus is still under debate. In this work, we show that a microscopic model of the apparatus is necessary to unambiguously determine whether quantum measurements provide energy in the form of heat or work. We illustrate this result by considering a measurement-based refrigerator, made of a double quantum dot embedded in a two-terminal device, with the charge of one of the dots being continuously monitored. Tuning the parameters of the measurement device interpolates between a heat- and a work-fueled regimes with very different thermodynamic efficiency. Notably, we demonstrate a trade-off between a maximal thermodynamic efficiency when the measurement-based refrigerator is fueled by heat and a maximal measurement efficiency quantified by the signal-to-noise ratio in the work-fueled regime. Our analysis offers a new perspective on the nature of the energy exchanges occurring during a quantum measurement, paving the way for energy optimization in quantum protocols and quantum machines.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_10349
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Revealing the fuel of a quantum continuous measurement-based refrigerator
Elouard, Cyril
Manikandan, Sreenath K.
Jordan, Andrew N.
Haack, Geraldine
Quantum Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
While quantum measurements have been shown to constitute a resource for operating quantum thermal machines, the nature of the energy exchanges involved in the interaction between system and measurement apparatus is still under debate. In this work, we show that a microscopic model of the apparatus is necessary to unambiguously determine whether quantum measurements provide energy in the form of heat or work. We illustrate this result by considering a measurement-based refrigerator, made of a double quantum dot embedded in a two-terminal device, with the charge of one of the dots being continuously monitored. Tuning the parameters of the measurement device interpolates between a heat- and a work-fueled regimes with very different thermodynamic efficiency. Notably, we demonstrate a trade-off between a maximal thermodynamic efficiency when the measurement-based refrigerator is fueled by heat and a maximal measurement efficiency quantified by the signal-to-noise ratio in the work-fueled regime. Our analysis offers a new perspective on the nature of the energy exchanges occurring during a quantum measurement, paving the way for energy optimization in quantum protocols and quantum machines.
title Revealing the fuel of a quantum continuous measurement-based refrigerator
topic Quantum Physics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.10349