2024/04/11 by Samuel Plesnik, Plesnik, Samuel, Maria Violaris +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2404.07786
openalex publication_date 2024/04/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We compare how the impossibility of a universal work extractor from coherence arises from different approaches to quantum thermodynamics: an explicit protocol accounting for all relevant quantum resources, and axiomatic, information-theoretic constraints imposed by constructor theory. We first explain how the impossibility of a universal work extractor from coherence is directly implied by a recently proposed constructor-theoretic theorem based on distinguishability, which is scale- and dynamics- independent. Then we give an explicit demonstration of this result within quantum theory, by proving the impossibility of generalising a proposed quantum protocol for deterministically extracting work from coherence. We demonstrate a new connection between the impossibility of universal work extractors and constructor-based irreversibility, which was recently shown using the quantum homogenizer. Finally we discuss additional avenues for applying the constructor-theoretic formulation of work extraction to quantum thermodynamics, including the irreversibility of quantum computation and thermodynamics of multiple conserved quantities.