Relations between Heat Exchange and R\'{e}nyi Divergences

TL;DR

This paper establishes a precise relation linking heat exchange in thermodynamic systems to Rényi divergences, providing a unified framework for classical and quantum systems to understand non-equilibrium thermodynamics.

Contribution

It introduces an exact relation connecting heat exchange moments to Rényi divergences between initial and final states, applicable to both classical and quantum finite systems.

Findings

Average heat exchange equals the relative entropy between initial and final states.

The moments of heat statistics are determined by Rényi divergences.

The relation applies to finite classical and quantum systems.

Abstract

In this work, we establish an exact relation which connects the heat exchange between two systems initialized in their thermodynamic equilibrium states at different temperatures and the R\'{e}nyi divergences between the initial thermodynamic equilibrium state and the final non-equilibrium state of the total system. The relation tells us that the various moments of the heat statistics are determined by the Renyi divergences between the initial equilibrium state and the final non-equilibrium state of the global system. In particular the average heat exchange is quantified by the relative entropy between the initial equilibrium state and the final non-equilibrium state of the global system. The relation is applicable to both finite classical systems and finite quantum systems.