Quantum Coherence and Chaotic Dynamics: Guiding Molecular Machines Toward Low-Entropy States

TL;DR

This paper explores how quantum coherence and chaos-assisted tunneling can significantly increase the likelihood of transitions to low-entropy states in molecular machines, challenging classical thermodynamic expectations.

Contribution

It introduces a framework combining semiclassical approximations and phase engineering to enhance low-entropy transitions via quantum coherence in chaotic systems.

Findings

Quantum coherence reduces local entropy by creating correlations among states.

Interference effects from coherence modify classical fluctuation theorems.

Enhanced low-entropy transitions enable potential quantum machine applications.

Abstract

Quantum coherence profoundly alters classical thermodynamic expectations by modifying the structure and accessibility of probability distributions. Classically, transitions to lower-entropy states (local second-law violations) are exponentially suppressed, as lower-entropy configurations have fewer available microstates and are statistically improbable. However, introducing quantum coherence and structured quantum interference among semiclassical trajectories significantly changes this scenario. Quantum coherence reduces local entropy by establishing correlations among states that are classically independent, effectively restructuring probability amplitudes to channel transitions toward otherwise improbable low-entropy states. We analyze this phenomenon explicitly within the framework of semiclassical approximations, employing the Van Vleck-Gutzwiller propagator to quantify how interference terms arising from coherent superpositions modify classical fluctuation theorems. We demonstrate that quantum coherence, especially when combined with chaos-assisted dynamical tunneling, greatly enhances the probability of transitions to low-entropy configurations, creating pronounced counter-ergodic effects. Furthermore, by considering purification of mixed quantum states, we propose methodologies for deliberately engineering quantum phases among interfering pathways. This phase engineering can explicitly enhance coherence-driven transitions into lower-entropy states, providing a novel thermodynamic resource. Finally, we explore the feasibility of molecular-scale quantum machines exploiting these principles, highlighting their potential applications in quantum thermodynamics and quantum biology for performing useful work through coherence-mediated entropy reduction.