Macroscopic realism of quantum work fluctuations

Ralf Blattmann and Klaus Mølmer
Phys. Rev. A 96, 012115 – Published 13 July 2017

Abstract

We study the fluctuations of the work performed on a driven quantum system, defined as the difference between subsequent measurements of energy eigenvalues. These work fluctuations are governed by statistical theorems with similar expressions in classical and quantum physics. We show that we can distinguish quantum and classical work fluctuations, as the latter can be described by a macrorealistic theory and hence obey Leggett-Garg inequalities. We show that these inequalities are violated by quantum processes in a driven two-level system and in a harmonic oscillator subject to a squeezing transformation.

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  • Received 4 March 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.96.012115

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsQuantum Information, Science & TechnologyGeneral Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Ralf Blattmann and Klaus Mølmer

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 1 — July 2017

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