Catalytic Gaussian thermal operations

Abstract

We examine the problem of state transformations in the framework of Gaussian thermal resource theory in the presence of catalysts. To this end, we introduce an expedient parametrisation of covariance matrices in terms of principal mode temperatures and asymmetries, and consider both weak and strong catalytic scenarios. We show that strong catalysts (where final correlations with the system are forbidden) are useless for the single mode case, in that they do not expand the set of states reachable from a given initial state through Gaussian thermal operations. We then go on to prove that weak catalysts (where final correlations with the system are allowed) are instead capable of reaching more final system states, and determine exact conditions for state transformations of a single-mode in their presence. Next, we derive necessary conditions for Gaussian thermal state transformations holding for any number of modes, for strong catalysts and approximate transformations, and for weak catalysts with and without the addition of a thermal bath. We discuss the implications of these results for devices operating with Gaussian elements.

12+10 pages, 4 figures. Comments welcome

References in corpus (5)

• Quantum coherence, time-translation symmetry and thermodynamics
• Passivity and practical work extraction using Gaussian operations
• Quantum thermodynamics of correlated-catalytic state conversion at small-scale
• Fundamental limits for cooling of linear quantum refrigerators
• All states are universal catalysts in quantum thermodynamics

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Catalysis of entanglement and other quantum resources
• Catalysis in Action via Elementary Thermal Operations