Perspective: Quantum Thermodynamics

TL;DR

This paper discusses the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics, focusing on how quantum effects influence fluctuations, entanglement, and thermalization in microscopic systems, with implications for quantum heat engines and many-body physics.

Contribution

It provides an overview of recent developments and open questions in quantum thermodynamics, highlighting the transition from classical to quantum regimes and their potential applications.

Findings

Quantum fluctuations differ from thermal fluctuations.

Entanglement plays a key role in quantum thermalization.

Quantum thermodynamics can inform the design of quantum heat engines.

Abstract

Classical thermodynamics is unrivalled in its range of applications and relevance to everyday life. It enables a description of complex systems, made up of microscopic particles, in terms of a small number of macroscopic quantities, such as work and entropy. As systems get ever smaller, fluctuations of these quantities become increasingly relevant, prompting the development of stochastic thermodynamics. Recently we have seen a surge of interest in exploring the quantum regime, where the origin of fluctuations is quantum rather than thermal. Many questions, such as the role of entanglement and the emergence of thermalisation, lie wide open. Answering these questions may lead to the development of quantum heat engines and refrigerators, as well as to vitally needed simple descriptions of quantum many-body systems.