Information fluctuation theorem for an open quantum bipartite system

Fluctuation Theorem for Information Thermodynamics of Quantum Correlated Systems

We establish a fluctuation theorem for an open quantum bipartite system that explicitly manifests the role played by quantum correlation. Generally quantum correlations may substantially modify the universality of classical thermodynamic relations in composite systems. Our fluctuation theorem finds a non-equilibrium parameter of genuinely quantum nature that sheds light on the emerging quantum information thermodynamics. Specifically we show that the statistics of quantum correlation fluctuation obtained in a time-reversed process can provide a useful insight into addressing work and heat in the resulting thermodynamic evolution. We illustrate these quantum thermodynamic relations by two examples of quantum correlated systems.

Estimating Quantum Mutual Information of Continuous-Variable Quantum States by Measuring Purity and Covariance Matrix

We derive accessible upper and lower bounds for continuous-variable (CV) quantum states on quantum mutual information. The derivations are based on the observation that some functions of purities bound the difference between quantum mutual information of a quantum state and its Gaussian reference. The bounds are efficiently obtainable by measuring purities and the covariance matrix without multimode quantum state reconstruction. We extend our approach to the upper and lower bounds for the quantum total correlation of CV multimode quantum states. Furthermore, we investigate the relations of the bounds for the quantum mutual information with the bounds for the quantum conditional entropy.

Experimental Validation of Fully Quantum Fluctuation Theorems Using Dynamic Bayesian Networks

Fluctuation theorems are fundamental extensions of the second law of thermodynamics for small systems. Their general validity arbitrarily far from equilibrium makes them invaluable in nonequilibrium physics. So far, experimental studies of quantum fluctuation relations do not account for quantum correlations and quantum coherence, two essential quantum properties. We here apply a novel dynamic Bayesian network approach to experimentally test detailed and integral fully quantum fluctuation theorems for heat exchange between two quantum-correlated thermal spins-1/2 in a nuclear magnetic resonance setup. We concretely verify individual integral fluctuation relations for quantum correlations and quantum coherence, as well as for the sum of all quantum contributions. We further investigate the thermodynamic cost of creating correlations and coherence.