The standard approach to deriving fluctuation theorems fails to capture the effect of quantum correlation and coherence in the initial state of the system. Here, we overcome this difficulty and derive the heat-exchange-fluctuation theorem in the full quantum regime by showing that the energy exchange between two locally thermal states in the presence of initial quantum correlations is faithfully captured by a quasiprobability distribution. Its negativities, being associated with proofs of contextuality, are proxies of nonclassicality. We discuss the thermodynamic interpretation of negative probabilities and provide heat-flow inequalities that can only be violated in their presence. Remarkably, testing these fully quantum inequalities, at an arbitrary dimension, is no more difficult than testing traditional fluctuation theorems. We test these results on data collected in a recent experiment studying the heat transfer between two qubits and give examples for the capability of witnessing negative probabilities at higher dimensions.

Various engine types are thermodynamically equivalent in the quantum limit of small “engine action”. Our previous derivation of the equivalence is restricted to Markovian heat baths and to implicit classical work repository (e.g., laser light in the semi-classical approximation). In this paper, all the components, baths, batteries, and engines, are explicitly taken into account. To neatly treat non-Markovian dynamics, we use mediating particles that function as a heat exchanger. We find that, on top of the previously observed equivalence, there is a higher degree of equivalence that cannot be achieved in the Markovian regime. Next, we focus on the quality of the battery charging process. A condition for positive energy increase and zero entropy increase (work) is given. Moreover, it is shown that, in the strong coupling regime, it is possible to super-charge a battery. With super-charging, the energy of the battery is increased while its entropy is being reduced at the same time.

Quantum correlation functions are a natural way to encode multitime information, as they are ubiquitous in analysis from fluctuation theorems to information scrambling. Correlation functions can be identified with quasiprobabilities associated to quantum processes. In this work we show how these can be measured via error-cancellation techniques, using projective measurements only and no ancillae. The scheme is implemented in a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond undergoing a unitary quantum work protocol. We reconstruct quantum-mechanical time correlations encoded in the Margenau-Hills quasiprobabilities by observing work extraction peaks five times those of sequential projective energy measurement schemes and in violation of newly derived stochastic bounds. We interpret the phenomenon via anomalous energy exchanges due to the underlying negativity of the quasiprobability distribution. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

We propose employing a quantum heat engine as a sensitive probe for thermal baths. In particular, we study a single-atom Otto engine operating in an open thermodynamic cycle. Owing to its cyclic nature, the engine is capable of translating small temperature differences between two baths into a macroscopic oscillation in a flywheel. We present analytical and numerical modeling of the quantum dynamics of the engine and estimate it to be capable of detecting temperature differences as small as 2 μK. This sensitivity can be further improved by utilizing quantum resources such as squeezing of the ion motion. The proposed scheme does not require quantum state initialization and is able to detect small temperature differences in a wide range of base temperatures.