title: Extracting quantum work statistics and fluctuation theorems by single-qubit interferometry.
abstract: We propose an experimental scheme to verify the quantum nonequilibrium fluctuation relations using current technology. Specifically, we show that the characteristic function of the work distribution for a nonequilibrium quench of a general quantum system can be extracted by Ramsey interferometry of a single probe qubit. Our scheme paves the way for the full characterization of nonequilibrium processes in a variety of quantum systems, ranging from single particles to many-body atomic systems and spin chains. We demonstrate our idea using a time-dependent quench of the motional state of a trapped ion, where the internal pseudospin provides a convenient probe qubit.
authors.affiliation: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom and Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dorner
authors.affiliation: Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom and Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heaney
authors.affiliation: Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543 and NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore and Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fazio
authors.affiliation: Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom and Department of Physics, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goold
authors.affiliation: Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom and Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vedral