A Thermodynamic Framework for Coherently Driven Systems

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Schrauwen, Max, Daniel, Aaron, Janovitch, Marcelo, Potts, Patrick P.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Schrauwen, Max
Daniel, Aaron
Janovitch, Marcelo
Potts, Patrick P.
author_facet Schrauwen, Max
Daniel, Aaron
Janovitch, Marcelo
Potts, Patrick P.
contents The laws of thermodynamics are a cornerstone of physics. At the nanoscale, where fluctuations and quantum effects matter, there is no unique thermodynamic framework because thermodynamic quantities such as heat and work depend on the accessibility of the degrees of freedom. We derive a thermodynamic framework for coherently driven systems, where the output light is assumed to be accessible. The resulting second law of thermodynamics is strictly tighter than the conventional one and it demands the output light to be more noisy than the input light. We illustrate our framework across several well-established models and we show how the three-level maser can be understood as an engine that reduces the noise of a coherent drive. Our framework opens a new avenue for investigating the noise properties of driven-dissipative quantum systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_08558
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Thermodynamic Framework for Coherently Driven Systems
Schrauwen, Max
Daniel, Aaron
Janovitch, Marcelo
Potts, Patrick P.
Quantum Physics
The laws of thermodynamics are a cornerstone of physics. At the nanoscale, where fluctuations and quantum effects matter, there is no unique thermodynamic framework because thermodynamic quantities such as heat and work depend on the accessibility of the degrees of freedom. We derive a thermodynamic framework for coherently driven systems, where the output light is assumed to be accessible. The resulting second law of thermodynamics is strictly tighter than the conventional one and it demands the output light to be more noisy than the input light. We illustrate our framework across several well-established models and we show how the three-level maser can be understood as an engine that reduces the noise of a coherent drive. Our framework opens a new avenue for investigating the noise properties of driven-dissipative quantum systems.
title A Thermodynamic Framework for Coherently Driven Systems
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.08558