Alessandra Colla - University of Freiburg

Thermodynamic fluctuations in open quantum systems

We propose a method to evaluate general thermodynamic fluctuations in open quantum systems, based on performing a two-point measurement scheme on the system using dynamics-dependent thermodynamic observables. Our approach allows one to obtain exact equalities for fluctuations of path-dependent thermodynamic quantities such as work and heat, and to isolate correction factors to Jarzynski's equality, requiring only access to the system degrees of freedom. The formalism admits a straightforward extension to strongly coupled open quantum systems via the minimal dissipation approach to quantum thermodynamics.