Nonequilibrium quantum Landauer principle.
Using the operational framework of completely positive, trace preserving operations and thermodynamic fluctuation relations, we derive a lower bound for the heat exchange in a Landauer erasure process on a quantum system. Our bound comes from a nonphenomenological derivation of the Landauer principle which holds for generic nonequilibrium dynamics. Furthermore, the bound depends on the nonunitality of dynamics, giving it a physical significance that differs from other derivations. We apply our framework to the model of a spin-1/2 system coupled to an interacting spin chain at finite temperature.
The Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics, Strada Costiera 11, 34151 Trieste, Italy.
John
J
Goold
Centre for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom.
Mauro
M
Paternostro
School of Physics, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia.
Kavan
K
Modi