Measuring the characteristic function of the work distribution

TL;DR

This paper introduces an interferometric method for measuring the characteristic function of work distribution in quantum systems, linking interferometer configuration to Hamiltonian symmetries and proposing feasible experimental setups.

Contribution

It presents a novel interferometric approach for ancilla-assisted measurement of quantum work distribution characteristic functions, with explicit operational details and potential experimental implementations.

Findings

Link between interferometer configuration and Hamiltonian symmetries

Explicit operations for measurement implementation

Potential experimental setups with hybrid opto-/electro-mechanical devices

Abstract

We propose an interferometric setting for the ancilla-assisted measurement of the characteristic function of the work distribution following a time-dependent process experienced by a quantum system. We identify how the configuration of the effective interferometer is linked to the symmetries enjoyed by the Hamiltonian ruling the process and provide the explicit form of the operations to implement in order to accomplish our task. We finally discuss two physical settings, based on hybrid opto-/electro-mechanical devices, where the theoretical proposals discussed in our work could find an experimental demonstration.