What is the most general class of quasiprobabilities of work?
arXiv:2209.02527 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.106.054129
Abstract
How to give a statistical description of thermodynamics in quantum systems is an open fundamental question. Concerning the work, the presence of initial quantum coherence in the energy basis can give rise to a quasiprobability of work, which can take negative values. Our aim is to identify the most general quasiprobability of work satisfying some fundamental conditions. By doing so, we introduce a general notion of quasiprobability in analogy to the Gleason's theorem. Then, we use these quasiprobabilities to define the quasiprobability of work, and finally we discuss the contextuality of the protocol.
5 pages. Comments welcome