Quantifying memory capacity as a quantum thermodynamic resource

Abstract

The information-carrying capacity of a memory is known to be a thermodynamic resource facilitating the conversion of heat to work. Szilard's engine explicates this connection through a toy example involving an energy-degenerate two-state memory. We devise a formalism to quantify the thermodynamic value of memory in general quantum systems with nontrivial energy landscapes. Calling this the thermal information capacity, we show that it converges to the non-equilibrium Helmholtz free energy in the thermodynamic limit. We compute the capacity exactly for a general two-state (qubit) memory away from the thermodynamic limit, and find it to be distinct from known free energies. We outline an explicit memory--bath coupling that can approximate the optimal qubit thermal information capacity arbitrarily well.

arXiv comment6 main + 7 appendix pages; 5 main + 2 appendix figures

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• Fluctuation-dissipation relations for thermodynamic distillation processes
• Dynamical Landauer Principle: Quantifying Information Transmission by Thermodynamics
• Thermodynamic Approach to Quantifying Incompatible Instruments
• Dynamical Landauer principle: Thermodynamic criteria of transmitting classical information
• Superdense Coding in Resource Theory of Asymmetry
• Complete characterisation of state conversions by work extraction
• Thermodynamic criteria for signaling in quantum channels
• Thermodynamic Constraints on Information Transmission in Quantum Ensembles
• Quantum-optimal information encoding using noisy passive linear optics
• General quantum resources providing advantages in work-extraction tasks