Uploaded July 2018 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago
According to the resource-theoretic approach, thermodynamics at the nanoscale behaves quite differently from its familiar counterpart in the regime of the thermodynamic limit: for example, the standard formulation of the second law (non-increase of the Helmholtz free energy) is replaced by an infinite family of “second laws” (cf. Brandao et al., PNAS 112, 2015). However, this result has been obtained under an auxiliary assumption that can be lifted in some circumstances. Namely, here I show that microscopic thermal machines can exploit a strategy that is unavailable in the thermodynamic limit: they can substantially increase their efficiency by correlating themselves with their working medium in clever ways. I show that this allows them to overcome the infinite family of “second laws”, and to extract (or invest) the Helmholtz free energy difference in arbitrary state transitions exactly and basically without any fluctuations.
This restores the standard formulation of the second law at the nanoscale. Moreover, it gives the standard free energy (and the von Neumann entropy) an operational interpretation that is valid without averaging and for *single* instances of a quantum system (not just, as usual, for many weakly interacting identical copies).
Based on arXiv:1707.03451
Annual UWO Philosophy of Physics Conference
Thermodynamics as a Resource Theory: Foundational and Philosophical Implications
June 20-22, 2018
philphysics.uwo.ca
Markus Müller Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Vienna
Visit the Rotman website for more information on applications, events, project descriptions, and openings. rotman.uwo.ca
Follow The Rotman Institute on Twitter: twitter.com/rotmanphilo
Like The Rotman Institute on Facebook: facebook.com/rotmanphilosophy
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According to the resource-theoretic approach, thermodynamics at the nanoscale behaves quite differently from its familiar counterpart in the regime of the thermodynamic limit: for example, the standard formulation of the second law (non-increase of the Helmholtz free energy) is replaced by an infinite family of “second laws” (cf. Brandao et al., PNAS 112, 2015). However, this result has been obtained under an auxiliary assumption that can be lifted in some circumstances. Namely, here I show that microscopic thermal machines can exploit a strategy that is unavailable in the thermodynamic limit: they can substantially increase their efficiency by correlating themselves with their working medium in clever ways. I show that this allows them to overcome the infinite family of “second laws”, and to extract (or invest) the Helmholtz free energy difference in arbitrary state transitions exactly and basically without any fluctuations.
This restores the standard formulation of the second law at the nanoscale. Moreover, it gives the standard free energy (and the von Neumann entropy) an operational interpretation that is valid without averaging and for *single* instances of a quantum system (not just, as usual, for many weakly interacting identical copies).
Based on arXiv:1707.03451
Annual UWO Philosophy of Physics Conference
Thermodynamics as a Resource Theory: Foundational and Philosophical Implications
June 20-22, 2018
philphysics.uwo.ca
Markus Müller Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Vienna
Visit the Rotman website for more information on applications, events, project descriptions, and openings. rotman.uwo.ca
Follow The Rotman Institute on Twitter: twitter.com/rotmanphilo
Like The Rotman Institute on Facebook: facebook.com/rotmanphilosophy
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/user/rotmanphilosophy
