2016/09/30 by Kamil Korzekwa
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Arrow #Arrow of time #Classical limit #Computer science #Erasure #Material properties #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum mechanics #Quantum thermodynamics #Statistical physics #Theoretical physics #Thermal equilibrium #Thermodynamic equilibrium #Thermodynamic limit #Thermodynamic process #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.95.052318
published as Phys. Rev. A 95, 052318 (2017) · 14 pages, 10 figures. Published version. Expanded discussion and a new section on history erasure process added
openalex publication_date 2017/05/10 · arxiv created 2017/05/11 · arxiv updated 2017/05/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In this work we analyze the structure of the thermodynamic arrow of time, defined by transformations that leave the thermal equilibrium state unchanged, in classical (incoherent) and quantum (coherent) regimes. We note that in the infinite-temperature limit, the thermodynamic ordering of states in both regimes exhibits a lattice structure. This means that when energy does not matter and the only thermodynamic resource is given by information, the thermodynamic arrow of time has a very specific structure. Namely, for any two states at present there exists a unique state in the past consistent with them and with all possible joint pasts. Similarly, there also exists a unique state in the future consistent with those states and with all possible joint futures. We also show that the lattice structure in the classical regime is broken at finite temperatures, i.e., when energy is a relevant thermodynamic resource. Surprisingly, however, we prove that in the simplest quantum scenario of a two-dimensional system, this structure is preserved at finite temperatures. We provide the physical interpretation of these results by introducing and analyzing the history erasure process, and point out that quantum coherence may be a necessary resource for the existence of an optimal erasure process.