Work measurement as a generalized quantum measurement

Abstract

We present a new method to measure the work $w$ performed on a driven quantum system and to sample its probability distribution $P(w)$. The method is based on a simple fact that remained unnoticed until now: Work on a quantum system can be measured by performing a generalized quantum measurement at a single time. Such measurement, which technically speaking is denoted as a POVM (positive operator valued measure) reduces to an ordinary projective measurement on an enlarged system. This observation not only demystifies work measurement but also suggests a new quantum algorithm to efficiently sample the distribution $P(w)$. This can be used, in combination with fluctuation theorems, to estimate free energies of quantum states on a quantum computer.

4 pages

References in corpus (4)

• Fluctuation theorems: Work is not an observable
• Employing trapped cold ions to verify the quantum Jarzynski equality
• Fluctuation theorems for continuously monitored quantum fluxes
• Assessing the non-equilibrium thermodynamics in a quenched quantum many-body system via single projective measurements

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• Quantum mechanical work
• Power of an optical Maxwell's demon in the presence of photon-number correlations
• Self-consistency of the two-point energy measurement protocol
• Testing Time Reversal Symmetry in Artificial Atoms
• Reduction and extremality of finite observables
• Quantum thermodynamics under continuous monitoring: a general framework