Extracting quantum work statistics and fluctuation theorems by single qubit interferometry

R. Dorner, S. R. Clark, L. Heaney, R. Fazio, J. Goold, V. Vedral

OAI: oai:purehost.bath.ac.uk:publications/73d52d53-b508-4109-8c92-507e6dd4d610 • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.230601

We propose an experimental scheme to verify the quantum non-equilibrium fluctuation relations using current technology. Specifically, we show that the characteristic function of the work distribution for a non-equilibrium quench of a general quantum system can be extracted from Ramsey interferometry of a single probe qubit. Our scheme paves the way for the full characterisation of non-equilibrium processes in a variety of complex quantum systems ranging from single particles to many-body atomic systems and spin chains. We demonstrate our idea using a time-dependent quench of the motional state of a trapped ion, where the internal pseudo-spin provides a convenient probe qubit.

quant-ph cond-mat.mes-hall cond-mat.stat-mech