Ergotropy provides a fundamental measure of the extractable work from a quantum system and, consequently, of the maximal useful energy, or charge, stored within it. Understanding how this quantity can be manipulated and transformed efficiently is crucial for advancing quantum energy management technologies. Here, we introduce and formalize the concepts of isoergotropic states and ergotropy-preserving operations, which reorganize the internal structure of ergotropy while keeping its total value unchanged. These ideas are illustrated for both discrete (two-level systems) and continuous-variable systems (single-mode Gaussian states). In each case, we show how ergotropy-preserving operations redistribute the respective coherent-incoherent and displacement-squeezing components. We further examine the thermodynamic exchanges accompanying ergotropy-preserving operations, including variations in energy and entropy, and demonstrate that these transformations can be dynamically implemented through standard beam-splitter-type interactions with an auxiliary system. Finally, we discuss the practical implications of isoergotropic states and operations in optimizing charging protocols and mitigating charge loss in open quantum batteries.
Ergotropy provides a fundamental measure of the extractable work from a quantum system and, consequently, of the maximal useful energy, or charge, stored within it. Understanding how this quantity can be manipulated and transformed efficiently is crucial for advancing quantum energy management technologies. Here, we introduce and formalize the concepts of isoergotropic states and ergotropy-preserving operations, which reorganize the internal structure of ergotropy while keeping its total value unchanged. These ideas are illustrated for both discrete (two-level systems) and continuous-variable systems (single-mode Gaussian states). In each case, we show how ergotropy-preserving operations redistribute the respective coherent-incoherent and displacement-squeezing components. We further examine the thermodynamic exchanges accompanying ergotropy-preserving operations, including variations in energy and entropy, and demonstrate that these transformations can be dynamically implemented through standard beam-splitter-type interactions with an auxiliary system. Finally, we discuss the practical implications of isoergotropic states and operations in optimizing charging protocols and mitigating charge loss in open quantum batteries.
Ergotropy--a key figure of merit for quantum battery (QB) performance--plays a crucial role. However, the dynamics and physical mechanisms governing ergotropy evolution remain open challenges. Here, we investigate the ergotropy of a general QB model and find that the charging process is accompanied by the variation and inversion of the energy level populations. In the absence of population inversion, the ergotropy is fully consistent with coherent ergotropy; in local and global population inversion, it is determined by both coherent and incoherent ergotropy. Via random sampling of quantum states and Hamiltonians, we show that coherence and the participation ratio enhance coherent ergotropy, whereas incoherent ergotropy--whether enhanced, unchanged, or suppressed--depends on diagonal entropy, the participation ratio, and energy level population ordering. We demonstrate that the ergotropy lower bound is incoherent ergotropy, the upper bound is the QB stored energy, and enhanced QB purity suppresses locked energy and boosts charging efficiency. Furthermore, we use the Tavis-Cummings (TC) and Jaynes-Cummings (JC) batteries as paradigms to validate our findings. Our work elucidates ergotropy underlying mechanisms in general QBs and establishes a rigorous framework for optimizing ergotropy and charging efficiency, paving the way for high-performance quantum energy-storage devices.
Quantum batteries are emerging as highly efficient energy-storage devices that can exceed classical performance limits. Although there have been significant advancements in controlling these systems, challenges remain in stabilizing stored energy and minimizing losses due to inevitable environmental interaction. In this paper, we propose a protocol that employs selective weak measurements to protect quantum states from such influence and mitigate battery discharging and that is feasible in state-of-the-art technologies. We establish thermodynamic constraints that allow this method to be implemented without disrupting the overall energy and ergotropy balance of the system, i.e., with no extra net recharging. Our findings demonstrate that appropriately chosen measurement intensity can reduce unwanted discharging effects, thereby preserving ergotropy and improving the stability of quantum batteries. We illustrate the protocol with single- and two-qubit systems and establish the generalization for N -cell batteries. Additionally, we explore how weak measurements influence the coherent and incoherent components of ergotropy, providing new insights into the practical application of quantum coherence in energy-storage technologies.
Quantum batteries utilize nonclassical resources to achieve charging speed and energy storage performances that surpass classical thermodynamic limits. However, the practical realization of quantum batteries is often constrained by the inevitable environment-induced dissipation of both stored ergotropy and coherence. To actively counteract these losses, we propose a dual-channel coherence framework that exploits dark-state protection to stabilize ergotropy. We conduct, for the first time, an investigation of the synergistic interplay between internal charger coherence and reservoir squeezing, the latter acting as a source of external coherence. In the resource-efficient regime where charger and battery sizes are comparable, our study shows that internal charger coherence and reservoir squeezing jointly enhance the transient charging power. Crucially, initial charger coherence is the fundamental resource for maximizing and stabilizing steady-state ergotropy through dark-state protection. Our analysis reveals that these advantages are driven by the buildup of local battery coherence, which emerges from the integration of both internal and external coherence sources. These results offer a robust pathway for high-power, stabilized energy storage in quantum architectures.
In recent years, quantum battery (QB) models have emerged as crucial platforms for exploring the connections between quantum effects and energy within the framework of quantum thermodynamics. Inspired by the physical implementation of quantum switch (QS), we, in this work, present a simple QB model in which a two-level system as battery, under a series of coherent chargers, performs the indefinite causal order (ICO) charging by introducing a control qubit as QS. Within the energy-preserving collision interaction framework, we analyze the charging ICO and conventional definite causal order (DCO) dynamics, respectively, and discover the underlying connection between the final charged states of battery in ICO and DCO charging modes. That is, the ICO charged state can be understood as a split of the DCO charged state, accompanied by an offset caused by the interference component characterizing the ICO effect. That provides direct theoretical evidence that the ICO effect positively influences the ergotropy (i.e., the maximum extractable work) of QB only when quantum coherence is present in the charging process, and it is independent of the average stored energy of the QB. By combining numerical simulations, we examine that quantum coherence in our model is a strong quantum resource contributing to the ergotropy of QB, while the ICO effect plays a catalyst-like role, assisting quantum coherence in further enhancing the ergotropy of the battery. In addition, we also demonstrate that increasing the number of chargers also benefits the optimal ergotropy of QB. Finally, we reveal that, when the coherent chargers are subject to the dephasing channel, the ICO charging mode is more robust against dephasing noise than the DCO charging mode. This investigation deepens our understanding of quantum coherence and the ICO effect in the context of quantum thermodynamics.
With intensive studies of quantum thermodynamics, quantum batteries (QBs) have been proposed to store and transfer energy via quantum effects. Despite many theoretical models, decoherence remains a severe challenge and practical platforms are still rare. Here, we propose a QB based on the coherent Ising machine, in which the signal field acts as the core energy-storage unit. To clarify the role of quantum coherence in resisting dissipation, we decompose the ergotropy, i.e., the maximum extractable work from the QB, into its coherent and incoherent components. We find that the coherent part decays at a rate roughly half that of the incoherent part, exhibiting much stronger robustness against decoherence. More importantly, the coherent ergotropy and the average charging power reach their respective maxima at essentially the same moment, which defines the optimal instant to switch off the pump field. Finally, by coupling the QB to a two-level system as the load, we demonstrate an efficient energy discharge process of the proposed QB. Our work establishes a realistic and immediately-implementable QB architecture on a mature optical platform, laying a foundation for experimental exploration of quantum energy storage.
Ergotropic-gap relations provide thermodynamic witnesses of quantum correlations, but a direct dynamical connection between extractable work and entanglement remains largely unexplored in multipartite non-Gaussian bosonic systems. Here, we establish such a connection for a bosonic quantum battery driven by a coherent-state superposition. Despite the infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, the dynamics retains a simple structure that allows the relevant work and correlation measures to be obtained exactly. We show that the loss of extractable work associated with the passive part of the battery energy is directly determined by charger-battery entanglement. This relation also separates the charging power into contributions from energy transfer and from changes in the battery spectrum. At the same time, multipartite correlations are progressively redistributed from charger-involving correlations to correlations internal to the battery. For a symmetric resonant protocol, complete energy transfer coincides with charger-battery disentanglement and fully extractable stored energy, while multipartite correlations within the battery are maximal. Individual cells, however, remain mixed, revealing a distinction between global and local work extraction. We further show that, in the regime considered, locally extractable work is entirely supported by energetic coherence. Under single-photon loss, the analytical structure survives, but environmental correlations separate charger disentanglement from maximal work extraction.