Inspired by the primary goal of quantum thermodynamics-to characterize quantum signatures and leverage their benefits in thermodynamic scenarios-we design a work extraction task within a bipartite framework that exhibits a quantum thermodynamic advantage. The steerability of quantum correlations between the two parties is the key resource enabling such an advantage. In designing the task, we exploit the correspondence between steerability and the incompatibility of observables. Our work extraction protocol involves mutually unbiased bases, which exhibit maximum incompatibility and therefore maximum steerability, showcased in maximally entangled quantum states. The work extraction protocols consist of quenches and thermalization processes, which serve as fundamental building blocks for various thermodynamic protocols, such as heat engines. We derive upper bounds on the extractable work for unsteerable and steerable correlations and devise a protocol that saturates the latter. The ratio between the extractable work in steerable and unsteerable scenarios, which encapsulates the quantum advantage, increases with the dimension of the underlying system (sometimes referred to as an unbounded advantage). This proves a quantum thermodynamic advantage arising from steerable quantum correlations.
Inspired by the primary goal of quantum thermodynamics-to characterize quantum signatures and leverage their benefits in thermodynamic scenarios-we design a work extraction task within a bipartite framework that exhibits a quantum thermodynamic advantage. The steerability of quantum correlations between the two parties is the key resource enabling such an advantage. In designing the task, we exploit the correspondence between steerability and the incompatibility of observables. Our work extraction protocol involves mutually unbiased bases, which exhibit maximum incompatibility and therefore maximum steerability, showcased in maximally entangled quantum states. The work extraction protocols consist of quenches and thermalization processes, which serve as fundamental building blocks for various thermodynamic protocols, such as heat engines. We derive upper bounds on the extractable work for unsteerable and steerable correlations and devise a protocol that saturates the latter. The ratio between the extractable work in steerable and unsteerable scenarios, which encapsulates the quantum advantage, increases with the dimension of the underlying system (sometimes referred to as an unbounded advantage). This proves a quantum thermodynamic advantage arising from steerable quantum correlations.
The removal of heat generated during computation poses a major challenge for both classical and quantum computation and information processing. In particular, removal of this heat is intrinsically tied to one of the fundamental requirements of quantum computation - the need to reset the system to a pure state before computation. Therefore, efficient cooling is of paramount importance, not only for deepening our understanding of thermodynamics in the quantum regime but also for advancing the development of modern quantum technologies. In this letter, we devise a cooling task that exploits steerability - a fundamental feature of quantum correlations - to demonstrate a provable quantum thermodynamic advantage over classically correlated scenarios where steerability is absent. We quantify the advantage by the ratio of the amount of heat removed using steerable quantum correlations to that obtained with unsteerable classical correlations. Specifically, we show that steerable quantum correlations always yield a thermodynamic advantage in a cooling task over their classical counterparts. Remarkably, we further establish that the maximum achievable advantage is directly related to a geometric measure of steerability called steerability robustness. Our results suggest that this thermodynamic advantage can be interpreted as a witness of steerability. Finally, we present examples in which the advantage grows with the dimension of the underlying system.
Understanding whether uniquely quantum features can provide concrete advantages in thermodynamic processes is a central objective of quantum thermodynamics. A key challenge is quantifying how different forms of non-classicality can be systematically harnessed to enhance thermodynamic tasks. In light of this, we prove that any form of non-classicality can serve as a thermodynamic resource. In particular, any system that possesses quantum magic, coherence, or non-classical correlations can be leveraged to extract higher amounts of work than if the system does not possess such resources. The quantum thermodynamic advantages--quantified by the ratio between work extractable from a resource state and work extractable in its absence--increase with the resource robustness. We show that for any convex quantum resource theory, any resourceful state can yield a work-extraction advantage over all free states via a cyclic quench/thermalization protocol whose Hamiltonian is engineered from an optimal robustness witness. We illustrate concrete examples in which the robustness measures increase with the system's dimension, yielding quantum thermodynamic advantages that scale with it. In contrast, we also show that preparing a resource state (e.g., one with magic, coherence, or non-classical correlations) can be significantly more thermodynamically costly than preparing any state without such a resource. Concretely, there always exists a protocol that can prepare any non-resourceful state at significantly less work than it takes to prepare a resourceful state. Overall, our results provide operational meaning to robustness measures of quantum resources in terms of their thermodynamic costs and advantages.
The study of quantum thermodynamics aims to elucidate the role played by quantum principles in the emergent features of quantum thermodynamic processes. Specifically, it is of fundamental importance to understand how quantum correlation among different parties enables thermodynamic features distinguishable from those arising in classical thermodynamics. In this work, we investigate the relation between extractable work and quantum correlations for two-mode Gaussian states. We examine the change in local energy occurring at one party due to a Gaussian measurement performed on the other in relation to the quantum correlations of two-mode states classified as separable, entangled, and steerable states. Our analysis reveals a clear quantitative difference in the extractable work, depending on the class of states to which the two-mode state belongs.
Free energy fixes the maximum work of a thermodynamic process once the state and Hamiltonian are specified. A work-extraction task asks a different question: how much average work can a single device realize across several preparations and Hamiltonian settings? A classical work device is one whose Hamiltonian settings are mutually commuting. We place every branch at its best free-energy-limited work envelope and derive the corresponding classical limit on the task average. For pure preparations, the source is specified only by pairwise maximal-energy constraints: for each pair, the intrinsic maximal average energy under one common normalized Hamiltonian is bounded as part of the task data, while the work device is otherwise microscopically unrestricted. The benchmark is optimized over arbitrary-dimensional classical implementations. Incompatible Hamiltonian settings exceed this limit, even though every branch remains bounded by its own free-energy maximum. The advantage therefore does not arise in any single process, but in the average work of the task: incompatible Hamiltonians realize a value that no classical work device can attain. Hamiltonian incompatibility is thus a thermodynamic resource for work extraction.
Quantum thermodynamics studies how quantum systems and operations may be exploited as sources of work to perform useful thermodynamic tasks. In real-world conditions, the evolution of open quantum systems typically displays memory effects, resulting in a non-Markovian dynamics. The associated information backflow has been observed to provide advantage in certain thermodynamic tasks. However, a general operational connection between non-Markovianity and thermodynamics in the quantum regime has remained elusive. Here, we analyze the role of non-Markovianity in the central task of extracting work via thermal operations from general multitime quantum processes, as described by process tensors. By defining a hierarchy of four classes of extraction protocols, expressed as quantum combs, we reveal three different physical mechanisms (work investment, multitime correlations, and system-environment correlations) through which non-Markovianity increases the work distillable from the process. The advantages arising from these mechanisms are linked precisely to a quantifier of the non-Markovianity of the process. These results show in very general terms how non-Markovianity of any given quantum process is a fundamental resource that unlocks an enhanced performance in thermodynamics.
We investigate the interplay between quantum thermodynamics, quantum correlations, and quantum coherence within the framework of the Unruh-DeWitt (UdW) detector model. By analyzing both the steady and dynamical states of various quantum resources (including steerability, entanglement, quantum discord, and coherence), we study how these resources evolve under Markovian and non-Markovian environments. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of both the Unruh temperature and the energy levels on three key quantum phenomena: thermodynamic evolution, quantum correlations, and quantum coherence, considering different initial state preparations. The hierarchical structure relating quantum correlations and quantum coherence is determined. We further examine the thermodynamic performance of a quantum heat engine, highlighting the influence of memory effects and classical correlations on heat exchange, work extraction, and efficiency. Our results reveal that non-Markovian dynamics can enhance the preservation of quantum correlations and improve the engine's efficiency compared to purely Markovian regime. These findings provide insights into the role of quantum correlations and quantum coherence in quantum thermodynamic processes and open avenues for optimizing quantum devices operating in relativistic or open-system settings.