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Auteurs principaux: Sousa, A. F., Vieira, C. H. S., Florez, H. M.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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Accès en ligne:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.09219
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author Sousa, A. F.
Vieira, C. H. S.
Florez, H. M.
author_facet Sousa, A. F.
Vieira, C. H. S.
Florez, H. M.
contents Optically Pumped Magnetometers use light to drive an atomic vapor into a Non-Equilibrium Steady State for sensing. This kind of state is achieved when spin-exchange collisions, together with optical pumping, dominate the relaxation dynamics, redistributing the atomic populations and thereby shaping the steady-state configuration. Despite the rapid advancement of atomic magnetometer technology, a comprehensive thermodynamic analysis of the state preparation is largely unexplored. We apply a thermodynamic framework to alkali atoms in a vapor cell, modeling their interactions with the pump laser and their relaxation via spin-exchange and spin-destruction collisions. We analyze how the pump rate and light polarization determine the non-equilibrium steady state, quantifying irreversibility via entropy production, assessing useful energy via ergotropy, and defining the spin-polarization efficiency. Finally, we establish a connection between metrological performance and the Quantum Fisher Information (QFI), demonstrating that a higher thermodynamic efficiency directly translates into an improved fundamental bound on magnetometer sensitivity. These results provide insights for optimizing state preparation in quantum sensors.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_09219
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Thermodynamical aspects of optically pumped dense atomic medium
Sousa, A. F.
Vieira, C. H. S.
Florez, H. M.
Quantum Physics
Optically Pumped Magnetometers use light to drive an atomic vapor into a Non-Equilibrium Steady State for sensing. This kind of state is achieved when spin-exchange collisions, together with optical pumping, dominate the relaxation dynamics, redistributing the atomic populations and thereby shaping the steady-state configuration. Despite the rapid advancement of atomic magnetometer technology, a comprehensive thermodynamic analysis of the state preparation is largely unexplored. We apply a thermodynamic framework to alkali atoms in a vapor cell, modeling their interactions with the pump laser and their relaxation via spin-exchange and spin-destruction collisions. We analyze how the pump rate and light polarization determine the non-equilibrium steady state, quantifying irreversibility via entropy production, assessing useful energy via ergotropy, and defining the spin-polarization efficiency. Finally, we establish a connection between metrological performance and the Quantum Fisher Information (QFI), demonstrating that a higher thermodynamic efficiency directly translates into an improved fundamental bound on magnetometer sensitivity. These results provide insights for optimizing state preparation in quantum sensors.
title Thermodynamical aspects of optically pumped dense atomic medium
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.09219