Maximal work extraction from quantum systems

Details Maximal work extraction from quantum systems Maximal work extraction from quantum systems

2004-01-28

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0401574v1

Physics

Condensed Matter

Statistical Mechanics

5 pages, 0 figures, revtex4

Scientific paper

10.1209/epl/i2004-10101-2

Thermodynamics teaches that if a system initially off-equilibrium is coupled to work sources, the maximum work that it may yield is governed by its energy and entropy. For finite systems this bound is usually not reachable. The maximum extractable work compatible with quantum mechanics (``ergotropy'') is derived and expressed in terms of the density matrix and the Hamiltonian. It is related to the property of majorization: more major states can provide more work. Scenarios of work extraction that contrast the thermodynamic intuition are discussed, e.g. a state with larger entropy than another may produce more work, while correlations may increase or reduce the ergotropy.

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