2018/06/21 by Erick Hinds Mingo, Yelena Guryanova, Philippe Faist +1
Physics and Astronomy · #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99046-0_31
18 pages, 3 figures; Chapter for the book "Thermodynamics in the Quantum Regime - Recent Progress and Outlook", eds. F. Binder, L. A. Correa, C. Gogolin, J. Anders and G. Adesso
arxiv created 2018/06/21 · arxiv updated 2019/05/01
In this chapter we address the topic of quantum thermodynamics in the presence of additional observables beyond the energy of the system. In particular we discuss the special role that the generalized Gibbs ensemble plays in this theory, and derive this state from the perspectives of a micro-canonical ensemble, dynamical typicality and a resource-theory formulation. A notable obstacle occurs when some of the observables do not commute, and so it is impossible for the observables to simultaneously take on sharp microscopic values. We show how this can be circumvented, discuss information-theoretic aspects of the setting, and explain how thermodynamic costs can be traded between the different observables. Finally, we discuss open problems and future directions for the topic.