![[Logo] Mathematics @ Instituto Superior Técnico](/img/DM_Ersatz.svg "Mathematics @ Instituto Superior Técnico")
27/02/2014, 10:30 — 11:30 — Seminar room (2.8.3), Physics Building
César Rodríguez-Rosario, University of Bremen
Thermodynamics of quantum coherence
Quantum decoherence is seen as an undesired source of
irreversibility that destroys quantum resources. Quantum coherences
are a property that vanishes at thermodynamic equilibrium. Away
from equilibrium, quantum coherences challenge the classical
notions of a thermodynamic bath in a Carnot engines, affect the
efficiency of quantum transport, lead to violations of Fourier's
law, and can be used to dynamically control the temperature of a
state. However, the role of quantum coherence in thermodynamics is
not fully understood.
We will show that the relative entropy of a state with quantum
coherence with respect to its decohered state captures its
deviation from thermodynamic equilibrium. As a result, changes in
quantum coherence can lead to a heat flow with no associated
temperature, and affect the entropy production rate. From this, we
derive a quantum version of the Onsager reciprocal relations that
shows that there is a reciprocal relation between thermodynamic
forces from coherence and quantum transport. Quantum decoherence
can be useful and offers new possibilities of thermodynamic control
for quantum transport and to understand transport in photosynthetic
complexes.
